Warning: Contains spoilers for X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1!
Summary
- Ms. Marvel is back and she's now a mutant, adding a new chapter to her already impressive superhero journey.
- There are many questions surrounding her resurrection and her hybrid status as an Inhuman/mutant. How did she survive exposure to the Terrigen Mists? Why is her mutant power only now coming to light?
- With her undisclosed mutant power, Ms. Marvel has the potential to become one of Marvel's most powerful heroes, making her return at the Hellfire Gala even more exciting.
Marvel has officially resurrected Ms. Marvel–with a brand new, mysterious superpower. Over the last decade, Kamala Khan has emerged as one of the publisher’s top characters, eventually headlining her own MCU show. Tragically, Ms. Marvel sacrificed her life earlier this year, but Marvel wasted no time in bringing her back at this year’s Hellfire Gala–this time as a mutant/Inhuman hybrid with a new, as yet-unrevealed superpower.
The X-Men bring Kamala back to life in X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023 #1 from writer Gerry Duggan and a host of artists including Luciano Vecchio, R.B. Silva, Adam Kubert, Kris Anka, Valerio Schiti, Pepe Larraz, and more. After returning to life, she is understandably shocked–not only at being resurrected, but also learning that she is a mutant. Hope Summers tells Ms. Marvel that she is a mutant/Inhuman hybrid—something that should not exist. Ms. Marvel learns that her “embiggening” powers come from her Inhuman side–meaning she also has a yet undiscovered mutant power. In the following pages, Ms. Marvel makes her debut at the Hellfire Gala, in an outfit designed by Jumbo Carnation. She talks with Emma Frost, who reveals she rewired the brains of Ms. Marvel’s family in order to smooth her transition back to the land of the living. Ms. Marvel also speaks with Professor X, who welcomes her to Krakoa, telling her he hopes she s them; he explains the X-Men would be honored to have her, and she should embrace her mixed heritage as a way of assuaging the fears of the rest of the world. Finally, the Orchis, an anti-mutant organization, makes their presence known, attacking the Gala with a Stark Sentinel–that seemingly crushes Ms. Marvel under its foot.
Ms. Marvel Is Now a Mutant
Ms. Marvel’s resurrection as a mutant, with a new power, is the latest chapter in Kamala Khan’s life. One of the most popular characters of the last decade, Ms. Marvel has grown into one of the publisher’s greatest heroes. She has been a member of the Champions as well as an Avenger, and made the leap into the mainstream in last year’s Ms. Marvel show on Disney +. At the show’s conclusion, it was revealed the MCU’s version of Ms. Marvel was in fact a mutant, and not an Inhuman as she was in the comics. In a seeming bid to create synergy between the comics and TV shows, it was decided to kill Ms. Marvel off, and use the Krakoan Resurrection Protocols to bring her back to life.
What Is Ms. Marvel's Undiscovered Mutant Power?
It's clear now that there is far more to Ms. Marvel than fans thought. Hope Summers calls her an improbable Inhuman/mutant hybrid. However, it has been established that when exposed to the Terrigen Mists, which give the Inhumans their powers, mutants die horribly, leading to the question: how did Ms. Marvel survive her exposure? Is it somehow related to her undisclosed mutant power?
On top of all of these questions is perhaps the biggest of them all: what is her new mutant power? Ms. Marvel’s Inhuman abilities allowed her to alter her shape and size, which makes her powerful to start with; if she indeed does have a secret mutant power, Ms. Marvel could become one of the publisher’s biggest power houses. At the moment, the most probably answer is that Ms. Marvel will get some version of her light-based MCU powers, however that's far from a sure thing.
X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1 is on sale now from Marvel Comics!
