As Disney and Marvel prepare for a post-Endgame future, it stands to reason that several new characters will soon be welcomed into the MCU, be it through the silver screen or the Disney+ platform. For the time being, we know that Marvel is planning to launch LOKI, WANDAVISION, WHAT IF …?, an UNTITLED HAWKEYE series, and THE FALCON AND WINTER SOLDIER television shows on the streaming network, but are more ideas being developed behind the scenes? A WRINKLE IN TIME and INSIDE OUT actress Mindy Kaling seems to think so, as she's recently been speaking to Marvel about the potential of a Ms. Marvel project.
Back in May of 2018, VENOM and ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY actor Riz Ahmed offered to pen a Ms. Marvel treatment, with friends Mindy Kaling and THE BIG SICK's Kumail Nanjiani along for the ride. Upon receiving Ahmed's invite via Twitter, Kaling responded by saying "Riz! I am obsessed with this comic book, I've read them all. I love Kamala Khan." Shortly after the duo's exchange, Ms. Marvel creator G. Willow Wilson and Marvel editor Sana Amanat joined the thread, with both creatives sounding over the moon about Ahmed and Kaling's possible involvement.
News and updates related to a Ms. Marvel project fell away from the public eye after that, but thanks to a recent interview with MTV News, it sounds as if Kaling is still very interested in helping to bring Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, to either the big or small screen.
When asked if anything has come from her offering to be involved with the making of a MS. MARVEL movie, Kaling told MTV News:
"I think the people I've spoken to Marvel about it are so excited about the character and I think they're trying to figure out what to do with it, and, I told them that I would help in any way, because I truly love her. But, they seemed really interested, and I think they probably will so something. Now that there's like, this streaming platform with them, it might be something like that, but I think they understand how much there is the excitement, you know? Rix, me, every Desi actor was very excited," said Kaling.
When asked who sould play Kamala Khan, Kaling said "You know, I feel it may need to be an unknown. Right, it might need to be an unkown, wouldn't that be exciting?"
Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, burst onto the comic book scene in 2014 courtesy of Marvel editor Sana Amanat, acclaimed writer G. Willow Wilson, and artist Adrian Alphona (who in the past launched THE RUNAWAYS with writer Brian K. Vaughan). She is a Pakinstani-American teenager who is also part-Inhuman and hails from Jersey City. Able to change her size and heal from just about any battle wound, Kamala has been hailed as "Marvel's newest Spider-Man," with regard to the impact she's had on young readers. Most recently, BLACK BOLT (Marvel) and Abbott (BOOM! Studios) scribe Saladin Ahmed took over for Wilson on Kamala's solo series, re-titling the book to The Magnificent Ms. Marvel.
Personally, I would love to see Kamala Khan up on the big screen, though I think a film or television series will do nicely on Disney+ plus as well. Honestly, whatever it takes to make her a part of the MCU, I'm game. If introduced, Kamala will serve as the MCU's first legacy character, meaning that she's taken her superhero name as a tribute to Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel. And before you say it, I'm not sure that Falcon's appointment to Captain America at the end of AVENGERS: ENDGAME counts just yet. How Kamala would come into the MCU would be anyone's guess, though with as much passion as Ahmed and Kaling have expressed about the character, I'm positive that the duo already have some exciting ideas.
We're headed into a brave new world of the MCU very soon, my friends, and it could be that we'll see plenty of big changes and fresh faces once all is revealed later this year. Bring on the new IPs, Marvel. We're ready.