Ms. Marvel appeared in 2013 Marvel Comics called Captain Marvel. Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, is a Muslim Pakistani-American teenager from New Jersey. She possess latent Inhuman lineage activated by the Terrigen Bomb. When she was exposed to the Terrigen Mist she became a polymorph with the ability to stretch her body in almost any way imaginable. Kamala was a huge fan of superheroes, especially Carol Danvers, the former Ms. Marvel. She went on to become the newest holder of the Ms. Marvel identity.
Kamala was born in Jersey City, the daughter of Yusuf Khan and Muneeba Khan. Her parents and her older brother, Aamir Khan moved to the United States from Karachi, Pakistan. In kindergarten, Kamala met Nakia Bahadir, who went on to become Kamala's best friend. Like Kamala, Nakia was a practicing Muslim and the daughter of immigrants.
Later, when Kamala was entering the second grade, the Khan family met one of her new classmates, Bruno Carrelli. The teacher, Ms. Bartholomew, told the Khans that Bruno's mother had recently lost custody of Bruno and his younger brother Vick. The Carrelli brothers had been sent to live with their grandparents, immigrants from Italy, and their family had been struggling to make ends meet. They had not been able to pay for Bruno's activities, and young Bruno had become something of a pariah. The Khans offered to pay the boy's fees and sent their daughter to play with him. Though reluctant at first, Kamala and Bruno soon formed a close bond over their shared background coming from immigrant families and their love for the animated TV series Tween Mutant Samurai Turtles.
Kamala found solace with her two best friends, Bruno and Nakia, something she sorely needed. Though proud and respectful of her heritage and faith, Kamala always felt different and was often mocked by her other peers for her nerdy interests and strict parents. In addition to her friendship with Nakia and Bruno, Kamala found escape in her love of video games, social media, fan fiction, and above all, superheroes. She devotedly followed the career of Carol Danvers, the former Ms. Marvel who had recently started going by the nom de guerre Captain Marvel.
One night, hoping to prove herself to be more than the odd duck, Kamala went against her parents' wishes -- and Bruno's -- to go to a party at the Jersey Waterfront; however, her classmates, particularly Zoe Zimmer and Zoe's boyfriend Josh Richardson, kept teasing and ostracizing her. Miserable, Kamala was on her way home when Jersey City was suddenly blanketed in the Terrigen Mists, and Kamala along with it.
Unconscious in her Terrigen cocoon, Kamala saw an unusual vision of three of her favorite super heroes -- Captain America, Iron Man, and, of course, Captain Marvel. The heroes scolded the girl for her disobedience and asked her what she wanted in life. Kamala mused that she wanted to be more like Captain Marvel, who she described as "beautiful and awesome and butt-kicking and less complicated." When the vision ended and Kamala emerged from her Terrigenesis, she was shocked to find that she had literally been transformed into a younger Carol Danvers in her Ms. Marvel costume.
Taken aback, Kamala struggled to gain control of her new powers. After giving herself some time to calm down, Kamala discovered she was now a polymorph and could change her body into virtually anything. As she ran through the neighborhood, she eventually found herself back at the Waterfront, where she saw a drunk Josh Richardson cause Zoe Zimmer to fall into the river. Instinctively, Kamala changed into Ms. Marvel and rescued Zoe by enlarging her arm to pull Zoe to safety. Needless to say, the residents of Jersey City and the local media were fairly surprised by such a sight, and Kamala fled the scene. Upon returning home, Kamala realized that there was more to being like Carol Danvers than looking like her. As horribly as Zoe had treated her, she was glad and proud that she had rescued her. She wanted to continue that, but it seemed unlikely that would happen, as she was promptly grounded by her parents, who had learned from Bruno that she had stolen away to the party without their permission.
Eventually her punishment ended and while Bruno was working at the neighborhood convenience store, Circle Q, Kamala went to visit him. There she encountered an armed robbery in progress, and abandoning her desire to reconcile with her friend over the circumstances her grounding, Kamala jumped into action in an attempt to stop the burglar, but was shot in the process.
Luckily, Kamala discovered that she had a second power: she could heal from her injuries by simply shifting back to her true form, outing herself to her friend in the process. Bruno explained the thief she had just faced was his younger brother Vick, who had gotten involved with a mysterious person called the "Inventor" and was being forced to break the law for him. Concerned, the two friends traced Vick to a seemingly-abandoned house in Greenville. Kamala put together a makeshift super hero costume out of her swimsuit and a domino mask as she went to Vick's rescue. She soon realized that she was not alone, as the house filled with the Inventor's other teenage minions, led by a boy named Doyle with a small army worth of mechanical spiders.
Kamala's initial rescue attempt failed as she was overpowered by Doyle and his robot spiders, and on her arrival back home was met by her upset parents. Her father cheered her up by reminding her how much she meant to them, "perfect the way she is". Kamala took it to heart and spent the next day with Bruno developing her powers and making a costume. She later went back to successfully rescue Vick from Doyle, but earned the Inventor's wrath for her actions, Kamala swore that she would protect Jersey City from him as Ms. Marvel.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Inhuman Physiology: Kamala is a human with latent Inhuman heritage whose powers were activated by the Terrigen Bomb, causing her to become a polymorph, which grants her the following abilities:
- Morphogenetics: Kamala's cells manifest mutable properties due to the fact that she is able to share her mass through time with different versions of herself. On a molecular level, Ms. Marvel time-travels whenever she uses her powers. Kamala can stretch, deform, expand, or compress her entire body or parts thereof into any contiguous shape she can imagine for a variety of uses:
- Elongation: Kamala can extend her limbs, torso, or neck to great distances.
- Size Alteration: Kamala can adjust her height and stature adding upon her already impressive physical abilities,[citation needed] from shrinking to the size of an action figure, to grow as tall as a building structure. With this ability she has also made her body as thin as paper.
- Accelerated Healing Factor: Kamala is capable of rapidly healing from injuries such as bullet wounds; however, use of her other powers interrupts the healing process, requiring Kamala to maintain her normal appearance while recovering. Extensive healing also leaves Kamala heavily-fatigued and hungry; although, it appears the more she utilizes her healing ability, the less malleable her cells become, which prevents her from utilizing the full range of her morphogenic abilities.
- Appearance Alteration: Kamala possesses the power to alter her physical appearance including her hair and clothing, and could even alter her appearance enough to mimic inanimate objects. Ms. Marvel feared she had lost this ability due to her healing factor reducing the elasticity of her cells, but this power is still present and is used on rare occasions, such as when she impersonated James Rhodes during a conversation with Tony Stark, or when she impersonated MJ Watson in order to protect her from The Scribble Man.
- Bioluminescence: Kamala's body emits a glowing yellow energy signature when using her morphogenic powers.
- Morphogenetics: Kamala's cells manifest mutable properties due to the fact that she is able to share her mass through time with different versions of herself. On a molecular level, Ms. Marvel time-travels whenever she uses her powers. Kamala can stretch, deform, expand, or compress her entire body or parts thereof into any contiguous shape she can imagine for a variety of uses:
Arsenal[]
- Biokinetic Polymer Suit: Invented by Bruno as part of his scholarship application to Rutgers University, when the polymer (or "super snot") is applied to a flexible substance, the substance becomes extremely malleable. The increased elasticity allows Ms. Marvel to focus less on transforming her clothing during her metamorphoses. Unfortunately, the suit is highly susceptible to damage by exposure to water.
- Compartment Bracelet: A series of bangles with hollow compartments inside, modified by Bruno into a single bracelet worn on Kamala's left arm to hold her cell phone and other small items. They were originally used by Kamala's great-grandmother Aisha to smuggle money out of Bombay during Partition, and had since been passed down to her daughter and granddaughter, Muneeba.
- Locator Pendant: A gift from Captain Marvel during the incursion, this necklace allowed Kamala to signal Carol in an emergency with just the push of a button; however, it was discarded outside of the Jersey City Medical Center as a result of their falling out over the second superhero civil war. It was later rediscovered, but it is unknown if Kamala reclaimed it after repairing her friendship with Carol.
Weakness[]
- Electromagnetic Pulses: Ms. Marvel's body is vulnerable to EMPs, which can weaken her elasticity.
- Overexerted Healing: Overuse of her healing factor temporarily weakens Ms. Marvel's elasticity powers.