Marvel had previously teased a ‘Ms’ title coming as part of their All-New Marvel NOW! lineup in 2014. With Kelly Sue DeConnick relaunching Captain Marvel with Carol Danvers next year, the New York Times has revealed that an all-new character will be introduced to take up her former identity. Writer G. Willow Wilson and artist Adrian Alphona will unveil Kamala Khan, “a teenage Muslim girl living in Jersey City”.
The character will be a shapeshifter, and her origins are based on a conversation Marvel editors Sana Amanat and Steve Wacker had about the former’s life growing up in the US. “Captain Marvel represents an ideal that Kamala pines for,” Wilson is quoted as saying. “She’s strong, beautiful and doesn’t have any of the baggage of being Pakistani and ‘different.’ ”
Wilson is an American author who converted to Islam at university. She is known for her graphic novel Cairo (Vertigo) and comic series Air (also published through vertigo), and her debut novel Alif the Unseen, which has been nominated for a World Fantasy Award. Artist Adrian Alphona is perhaps best known for being the original artist on Runaways, and more recently on Uncanny X-Force.
“I do expect some negativity,” Amanat said to the source, “not only from people who are anti-Muslim, but people who are Muslim and might want the character portrayed in a particular light.” However, “this is not evangelism,” Wilson adds. “It was really important for me to portray Kamala as someone who is struggling with her faith.”
Ms. Marvel is released in February 2014. The character will first appear in the All-New Marvel NOW #.1.
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