Marvel Comics Brings Back Ms. Marvel as 16-year-old Muslim Girl

Marvel Comics has introduced one of the first Muslim female protagonists.

Ms. Marvel, a character that first debuted in 1968, will return as Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old daughter of Pakistani immigrants living in Jersey City, according to The Associated Press.

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"[We have the] desire to explore the Muslim-American diaspora from an authentic perspective," editor Sana Amanat said. Added writer G. Willow Wilson: "I wanted Ms. Marvel to be true-to-life, something real people could relate to, particularly young women. High school was a very vivid time in my life, so I drew heavily on those experiences — impending adulthood, dealing with school, emotionally charged friendships that are such a huge part of being a teenager... It's for all the geek girls out there and everybody else who's ever looked at life from the fringe."

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As for Khan's powers, she'll be able to grow and shrink her limbs and her body and ultimately she'll be able shift into other forms.

"Kamala is not unlike Peter Parker," Marvel Editor-In-Chief Axel Alonso said. "She's a 16-year-old girl from the suburbs who is trying to figure out who she is and trying to forge an identity when she suddenly bestows great power and learns the great responsibility that comes with it."

Khan joins a growing number of diverse Marvel characters. Dust, a young Afghan woman whose mutant ability to manipulate sand and dust, was introduced in 2002. In 2010, DC Comics introduced Nightrunner, a young Muslim hero of Algerian descent reared in Paris. Last fall, Simon Baz, an Arab American and Muslim, was added to the Green Lantern series.

What do you think of the new Ms. Marvel?