Warning: Spoilers for Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #2!

Marvel Comics' recent changes in the character direction for Ms. Marvel, while controversial among the fan base, seemingly continue to pay dividends, becoming symbolic of her greater role in the Marvel Universe. The revelations of the character's Inhuman heritage, alongside her death and resurrection as a mutant, has made Kamala Khan a perfect conduit for stories about identity.

Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #2 – written by Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada, with art by Carlos Gomez and Adam Gorham – places great emphasis on how deeply being a mutant has become tied to Kamala's identity.

Taking a moment of solace with Marvel's newest married couple, Iron Man and Emma Frost, Kamala reflects on herself as, "walking proof that we can all coexist."

"I'm a Pakistani-American-Inhu-Mutant"

Despite the immense controversy it sparked, Marvel continues to commit to the decision to incorporate the newest X-Men member. Among all these changes, Kamala tries to adjust to the public perception of Ms. Marvel souring upon her reveal as a mutant, at a time when mutant-human relations are at an all-time low. In Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #2, after saving her from an Orchis attack, Tony Stark brings Kamala Khan to meet with his new bride, Emma Frost. During the exchange that follows, Kamala effectively states why she is so critical to the contemporary Marvel Universe.

Kamala's Mutanthood Expands On Her Past Identity Themes

Emma Frost cautions the young hero, suggesting that waving her newfound mutant flag proudly is dangerous. This fires Kamala up, leading her to wonders if she didn't go public enough, convinced that she's living proof that people from differing backgrounds should be able to live freely in the same space. "I'm a Pakistani-American-Inhu-Mutant," she shouts proudly. "I'm literally walking proof that we can all coexist!" Although Frost quickly shuts down Kamala's idealism, her rant goes a long way in highlighting how becoming a mutant has added to her character. Kamala's story, at its core, has always been about her learning to become comfortable in her own skin.

Early in Ms. Marvel's original debut origin run, from G. Willow Wilson, Kamala would take the form of a white woman – specifically Carol Danvers, the previous Ms. Marvel – because, as she put it in Ms. Marvel #3, she didn't think anyone would want to see "a sixteen-year-old brown girl with a 9 PM curfew" as a superhero. Subsequently, her stories have always had the core theme of identity, with Kamala growing comfortable with herself over time. Who Kamala is today is someone who would rather change the minds of others than accept discrimination. Being a mutant is just another addition to the identity of an already multi-faceted character.

When the decision to make Kamala a mutant was first announced, there was a concern that the character was being pulled into too many directions; traditionally, however the character has always represented a lot. The mutant metaphor is just another means for writers to give readers a more realistic depiction of a person of color navigating through America. The mutant identity is another way to amplify the more realistic narrative of Muslim identity, as well as the complexities behind Kamala's larger identity. Just as the Ms. Marvel name has belonged to multiple people in the past, Kamala Khan herself consists of multiple identities, all of which encom who she is and how she approaches life.