Ms. Marvel fans have had it good over the past couple of years. Following her very own Disney Plus series — which remains the MCU’s highest-rated show on Rotten Tomatoes — Iman Vellani’s teen heroine will be back on the big screen in this fall’s The Marvels. Unfortunately, according to a leak that’s leaving Kamala Khan fans aghast, the bubble is about to burst.
Those who keep up to date with Marvel Comics and don’t want to be spoiled should look away now. All right, here goes… As originally shared on Reddit, before being corroborated by Bleeding Cool, a leaked page from Amazing Spider-Man #26 — which releases later this May — depicts Kamala dying in Peter Parker’s arms while other Marvel characters, such as the Fantastic Four, look on in mourning.
While the current Amazing Spider-Man has been teasing that someone close to Spidey is going to die for months, it’s safe to say that readers were not expecting to to be Ms. Marvel — a hugely popular character in her own right and not a Spider-Man supporting player. Needless to say, then, this news is whipping the fandom up into a frenzy online, with folks listing the billion reasons why this is a terrible move for Marvel.
For starters, Kamala only made her comic book premiere in 2014. They couldn’t even give her a full decade without dying?
The fact that Kamala’s death is happening when she’s finally getting some love in live-action is truly head-scratching for some.
After her presence in the MCU and in other media like the Marvel’s Avengers game, this is the last thing we expected.
However, the poor timing of her demise is really the lesser sin on display here, as terms such as “racist” and “sexist” are also being thrown around to describe Kamala’s death. A furious tweet from @soccdraws claimed that it was “honestly ridiculous” that “one of the most famous faces of diversity in comics and a frontrunner for an entire generation of diverse heroes” was being killed off in order to “prop up and sales boost” a white male character.
Fridging really shouldn’t be a continuing issue in comic books in 2023, but here we are.
Of course, this is comics, so Kamala’s not going to be dead forever, but that’s not doing anything to quell the anger.
Speaking of which, the prevailing theory is that Marvel killing Kamala off at this point, mere months before The Marvels releases, is happening so that she can be resurrected and retooled as a mutant, to better connect the comic book character to the MCU version. Considering this was a widely controversial change in the first place, though, you can probably guess how this concept is going down with fans.
Even if Ms. Marvel does return as part of the X-Men, this could have a negative impact on her individual storyline and supporting cast.
Honestly, this sentiment probably sums it up best. “That amazing Spider-Man leak is too stupid to be real,” quipped one user.
And yet, sadly, it seems to be.
Marvel Comics has a long history of both controversially killing off beloved heroes and making dubious changes to reflect the movies, but the imminent fate of Kamala Khan may just be the most egregious of the lot. While it could be argued that Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios are two separate entities and the latter should not be tarred with the same brush as the first, it’s certainly fair to say that The Marvels will have to be extremely careful how it portrays Ms. Marvel after she has, quite frankly, been treated so shoddily and shamefully in the source material in this way. We all know the Brie Larson sequel doesn’t need to court any more contention.
Amazing Spider-Man #26 from writer Zeb Wells and artist Nick Lowe releases on May 31. The Marvels hits theaters this Nov. 10.