Last month, Marvel Comics announced that Ms. Marvel would be killed in an upcoming issue prompting outrage from fans. Unfortunately, the issue in question has finally arrived - and Kamala Khan hardly gets the most heroic of deaths.
Ms. Marvel was popularised in last year’s Disney Plus series of the same name where the young hero is portrayed by the delightful Iman Vellani. If you haven’t yet watched the show, I urge you to. It was recently revealed though that the character would be killed off in an issue of The Amazing Spider-Man comics, written by Zeb Wells and drawn by John Romita Jr. The death was teased as “the most shocking issue of The Amazing Spider-Man in 50 years”. The good news is, the death doesn’t spell the end of Kamala Khan, but fans are still rightfully angry with how the whole affair has been handled.
In the world of the MCU, Ms. Marvel will next appear in The Marvels, due out in November. Take a look at the trailer below.
In the MCU, it’s revealed that Kamala is a mutant, so it’s assumed that in the comic books, she’ll now return as a mutant to match her MCU counterpart. The issue is though, fans are angered that the character was used as cannon fodder to add excitement to a Spidey story, instead of carrying out the storyline in her own comic book series, surrounded by the character’s usual supporting cast. Many also pointed out that the announcement came during AAPI heritage month, with fans arguing that the disrespectful storyline exploited sexist and racist tropes.
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Now, we know exactly how the character went out. As reported by ComicBook, in Issue #26, Ms. Marvel is quite literally stabbed in the back by villain Rabin who mistakes her for Mary Jane. Instead, it was actually Kamala wearing a Mary Jane disguise. Kamala reveals her true identity to Spidey and thus dies in his arms. A tad underwhelming for such an epic character, I think you’d agree?
As I said, I’m sure Kamala will return in the comic - perhaps with the timing coinciding with the release of The Marvels later this year. Having such an epic female character out of action for quite some time though feels like a great shame.