What an absolutely bonkers 12 months Kamala Khan has had; not only did she make her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Ms. Marvel before prepping for a big screen bow in The Marvels later this year, but her comic book iteration was killed off to the intense chagrin of fans, only to have been revived a month ago with a powerset matching her cinematic counterpart.
And who penned the revival? None other than Ms. Marvel herself, Iman Vellani. Indeed, while the comics debacle was burdened with more controversy than you could shake a bangle at – such as the fact that the character debuted to the world in 2014 and didn’t even last a full decade before dying, or how many pegged her revival as a publicity stunt to help push the MCU and Marvel as a whole as a product – Vellani getting an opportunity to expand her creative horizons this way is a small victory we’ll happily take from this development.
The actress poured her heart and soul into ensuring Kamala’s comeback was worthy of the Marvel Comics mythos, as anyone familiar with her attitude towards Marvel would assume, and, in a recent interview with Marvel, Vellani didn’t hold back on just how impactful the experience was, nor how highly she regarded the craft.
“I was learning a lot more about myself, actually, about how I deal with big changes in my life and the type of people I need in my environment, my support system, and I really relied on my family and my friends. The comic book process was actually pretty intimidating for me. I hold so much reverence for the creative process and the talent behind them. I felt so pressured to make something good and represent Ms. Marvel in a way that was true to the path paved by G. Willow Wilson and Sana [Amanat].”
The comic issue in question is Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #1, in which Kamala is brought back to life by Krakoan Resurrection Technology and recruited by the X-Men, only to find herself way in over her head when she enters the volatile world of human-mutant relations, top secret missions and all.