- Kamala Khan, portrayed as Ms Marvel, has been confirmed as a mutant, signaling the inclusion of mutants in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
- This is a significant step towards introducing the X-Men and mutants into the MCU, as mutants have not been part of the franchise since Marvel sold the rights to 20th Century Fox in 1994.
- Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, had previously hinted at the arrival of mutants in the MCU, and it was only a matter of time before they were introduced.
It looks like mutants are officially in the MCU with the latest surprise in a big step toward introducing the X-Men into the MCU.
Mutants may have officially been included in the Marvel Cinematic Universe now that Kamala Khan masked as Ms Marvel (portrayed by Iman Vellani) has been confirmed as a mutant. This confirmation acts as a major step towards the possible introduction of the X-Men and mutants into the MCU.
Mutants haven’t been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Marvel was going bankrupt and sold the rights to 20th Century Fox back in 1994. Now that Disney has acquired the rights and returned them to Marvel Studios (which is also a part of Disney), Marvel can play around with the reintroduction of mutants into its universe.
Since the reacquisition, Kevin Feige had teased at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2019 that mutants would be coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was simply a matter of time. This did however lead to constant speculation over just how and when mutants would be introduced into the MCU. Most of Phase 4 that has been released so far has ignored mutants, that is until the season finale of Ms Marvel.
Ms Marvel as a Mutant
Throughout her debut thus far, Ms Marvel’s origins have been a major mystery, both to herself and audiences. Because she is unaware of her origins it is unclear exactly how she received her powers in the first place.
In the series she links her powers to the bracelet that she wears, possibly meaning that her powers have a cosmic origin, or that they are connected to the djinn. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a djinn is a supernatural being of pre-Islamic folklore that has had many names across time and cultures. Some call them genies, others call them demons.
It isn’t until season 1, episode 6 that it was suggested that her powers could be genetic. At the end of the season finale, Kamala is speaking with Bruno (portrayed by Matt Lintz) about her origin, and she asks him to look into the origin of her powers. He does investigate it further for her and ends up comparing her genes to her family’s, and realises that there is something different between them, “like a mutation.”
The mention of the word mutation is quickly followed by an audible snippet of the theme song from X-Men: The Animated Series, really hammering home the point that mutants are officially joining the MCU at long last. This has happened in one other MCU instance when Professor X shows up in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. One theory is that now that Doctor Strange has opened the Multiverse, they will be able to cross over into the MCU.
Is Ms Marvel a Mutant in the Comics?
The short answer is no. In the comics, Ms Marvel isn’t a mutant but rather an Inhuman, an ancient offshoot of the human race that was created as a result of Kree experimentation. Kamala Khan’s latent Inhuman powers are only awakened later when the Terrigen Mists were unleashed, a mutagen that causes dormant Inhuman abilities within a person to activate. Ms Marvel’s mutant origin opens the door to exploring other people who could have mutant genes that are yet to awaken.
It looks like the origin of her powers has been changed slightly, which might not be a bad thing. Mutants have been a success in pop culture in the past whereas the last time Marvel tried to introduce Inhumans into the world was a giant flop (a non-canonical Inhumans TV show).
Marvel Studios usually have good reasons for straying from their comics. If this is their way of reintroducing mutants into the franchise after their long hiatus of being owned by another company, then fans are all for it.