This article has been updated since its publication.
Via Entertainment Weekly, Marvel have announced Kamala Khan will return from the dead next month in “Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant.” Originally solicited under the name “Classified,” the four-issue series is being written by the MCU’s Ms. Marvel herself, actress Iman Vellani, alongside the TV series’ co-writer Sabir Pirzada, and will feature art by Carlos Gomez (“Rogue & Gambit”) and Adam Gorham (“The Blue Flame”). As the name implies, the comic will see Kamala be resurrected as a mutant on Krakoa, and embark on a secret mission on the X-Men’s behalf, while sporting a new outfit designed by her co-creator Jamie McKelvie, that bears their symbol and colors, as well as the lightning bolt she inherited from Carol Danvers.
Vellani commented her comic book debut “was way scarier than joining the MCU for me. Those projects feel like they live in their own dimension, so I guess I can separate myself easier. But you can hold a comic book! I’ve never written anything before in my entire life, but I have read many comics, so I just wrote what I would want to read. I was given a very professional tool to write what is essentially my own fan fiction,” adding, “It’s so awesome to be able to contribute to the official Marvel comics canon.”
Co-writer Pirzada, whose credits include the comics series “Dark Web: Ms. Marvel” and “Cult of Carnage: Misery,” said, “It was actually a very humbling experience to work with Iman, because she knows her comics even better than I do, and that is saying something. She was throwing out references to specific comics that came out before either of us were born. She has a very great eye for what makes for a good sequence on the page as drawn by an artist. It was very impressive to me to see her throw out all these references to different artists that she’s been following through the years.”
While Kamala’s change in species brings her in-line with her MCU counterpart (and Sana Amanat and G. Willow Wilson’s original plans for the character), it does not mean they are changing her powers. Vellani said of getting to use the 616 version’s polymorphic abilities, “Oh my God, I love it. You can do anything with those stretchy powers. I like to make it a little vague enough for the artist to surprise me when I get the sketches back, and they always do. It’s honestly so liberating to be able to pitch ideas and everything gets accepted because they can just draw it. There’s no need to worry about budgets or effects.”
Moreover, Vellani says, “I want to make it very, very clear that we are not retconning her Inhuman origin. That’s a part of Kamala’s identity that Marvel editorial and myself would very much like to keep and protect. Our book will absolutely reflect all those core themes of identity that the ‘Ms. Marvel’ comics have consistently explored — only now there’s a whole new label that Kamala has to learn to accept. It’s going to be pretty crazy.”
“Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant” #1 will be released on August 30, with a main cover by Sara Pichelli, and a variant (pictured) by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau. A prelude will appear beforehand in the “X-Men: Hellfire Gala” special, due out July 26. Head to Entertainment Weekly for more from the writers, and to check out McKelvie’s design sheet in the meantime. Likewise, in case you missed it, you can read the additional page from this week’s “Fallen Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel,” that hinted at how Kamala would be resurrected, and was only released online, here.
