Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan)

Origin

Kamala Khan was a Pakistani-American born in Jersey City after her parents moved from Karachi, Pakistan. Though respectful of her heritage, Kamala always felt different; she had nerdy interests, strict parents, and did not meet the white Eurocentric standards of beauty.[1][2]

She was also a fan of superheroes, having devotedly followed the career of Carol Danvers, the former Ms. Marvel who had recently started going by the nom de guerre Captain Marvel.[3]

One night, Kamala snuck out of her house against her parents' wishes to attend a party on the Jersey Waterfront, only to be teased and ostracized by her classmates Zoe Zimmer and Josh. As Kamala walked home in anger and disappointment, Jersey City was suddenly enveloped in the Terrigen Mists, which had been released by the hand of the Inhuman king Black Bolt, and Kamala fell unconscious from exposure.

As her Terrigenesis began due to her Inhuman lineage, Kamala was presented with a vision of Carol Danvers chastising her for disobeying her parents and asking her what she wanted in life, to which she replied "I want to be you." Once the vision faded, Kamala woke up and broke out of her Terrigenesis cocoon wearing a replica of Danvers' previous Ms. Marvel costume as part of her subconscious desire.[1]

Shocked and scared at the sudden change, Kamala's body repeatedly altered itself as her mind and body struggled to gain control over her newly-developed shapeshifting powers. When she saw Zoe fall into the river while trying to keep a drunken Josh off of her, however, Kamala (still in the Ms. Marvel form) instinctively came to her rescue by enlarging her hand to pull her out of the water. As Kamala returned home, she realized that merely looking like her idol was not what she wanted at all, but also that rescuing Zoe made her feel happy. After returning home, she was grounded by her angry parents, as her friend Bruno had told them that she escaped to the party.[4]

Ms. Marvel

A few days later, Kamala went to visit Bruno at his work and clear the air with her friend, but she instead found him dealing with a thief trying to rob the place. Kamala morphed into Captain Marvel and stopped the thief by squashing him, only to be shot as he escaped.[5]

Unconsciously morphing back to her normal self as her body healed, Kamala told Bruno about what had happened to her and asked about the robber. Bruno told her that his brother Vick had gotten involved with someone called "The Inventor" and was robbing money for him. Wearing a swimming burkini and mask, Kamala traced Vick's escape to an abandoned house in Greenville, where he was tied up in the basement by The Inventor's subordinate Doyle as punishment for his botched heist.[6]

Kamala's initial rescue attempt failed as she was overpowered by Doyle and his army of robot spiders, and her escape to her home was met by her upset parents. After being told by her father that she was born when her mother was believed unable to conceive children and thus was considered to be special, 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. Though she earned The Inventor's wrath for her actions, Kamala swore that she would protect Jersey City from him as Ms. Marvel.[7]