SAN DIEGO–Among many exciting announcements at this weekend’s San Diego Comic Con comes one sure to please all Marvel fans. Ms. Marvel, recently revealed as the MCU’s first mutant, will begin appearing regularly in X-Men media, replacing Wolverine as the franchise’s flagship character.
The news follows the conclusion of the DisneyPlus series Ms. Marvel, which surprised fans by revealing that Ms. Marvel is not merely a descendant of the djinns but actually the MCU’s first mutant. Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige shed some light on the decision in a panel.
“Well, with Hugh Jackman out, there was really no one else to play Wolverine in future movies,” Feige explained. “So the next best thing was to replace him with an equally popular character. Given her longstanding history in the comics and universal popularity among fans of all demographics, Ms. Marvel was the obvious choice!”
According to Feige, Ms. Marvel will have a major role in the upcoming X-Men ’97 animated series. “I know she wasn’t in the original–heck, Kamala Khan wasn’t even in the comics back in ’97–but we now know she can time travel, so it all makes sense somehow.” Iman Vellani will return to voice the character.
Vellani will also portray Ms. Marvel in the upcoming Deadpool 3, replacing Negasonic Teenage Warhead as the obligatory angsty teenage girl sidekick, and helping to lend more of a family-friendly element to the Deadpool series. Following that, Ms. Marvel will star in Marvel’s revival of the X-Men live action films, in planned titles such as Newer Mutants (2024) and X-Men Origins: Days of First Past Future Class (2025). Patrick Stewart will also reprise his role as Professor X but is expected to be killed off during the first movie.
“While I love playing this character, I’ve been talking to Kevin, and he knows that this isn’t true to the comics,” Vellani told Marvelous Movies in an interview. “Kamala Khan is actually an Inhuman who gained her powers in 2014, after Black Bolt released the Terrigen Mists all over the Earth during the Infinity event. And it doesn’t even make sense for her to be a mutant, because we know from the Inhumans vs. X–Men storyline that Terrigen is actually poisonous to mutants. Oh, and there was this other cool storyline where–“
At publishing time, Vellani was vying for the coveted role of Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief, while also still planning to play Ms. Marvel frequently for years and years to come.
Marvelous Movies 