Marvel Introduces Muslim Female Superheroine Kamala Khan

Ms. Marvel will return in the form of a teen Muslim from New Jersey who, after discovering her superhuman powers, decides to follow in the footsteps of her idol Captain Marvel.

Ms. Marvel is reinvented as a 16-year-old Muslim named Kamala Khan, in the studio's effort to reflect the growing diversity among its reader. The series is written by multi-Eisner nominated novelist G. Willow Wilson ("Air", "Alif the Unseen") and illustrated by Adrian Alphona ("Runaways", "Uncanny X-Force").

Slated to launch in February 2014, it will follow Kamala as a young girl from New Jersey who discovers extraordinary body-morphing powers. She decides to follow in the footsteps of her idol, Captain Marvel a.k.a. Carol Danvers, and take the name Carol used in her early superhero career to become the new Ms. Marvel.

Wilson says Kamala "struggles to reconcile being an American teenager with the conservative customs of her Pakistani Muslim family. So in a sense, she has a 'dual identity' before she even puts on a super hero costume."

In the first arc, she is her own primary obstacle. "She has to grapple with overwhelming new powers, decide whether it's safe to tell anybody, and juggle becoming a teen super hero with the expectations of her conservative, Pakistani family," Wilson spills. As the series goes, fans "will see her interact with the wider Marvel Universe, and since Captain Marvel is a personal hero of hers, that's definitely in the mix."