What exactly is going on with Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel right now? She recently died a high profile (and controversial) death in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #26. And as of X-Men: The Hellfire Gala 2023 #1, she's officially been resurrected as a mutant, something that was foreshadowed by Marvel Comics weeks in advance.
Now the deed is done, the changes to Ms. Marvel have been made, and Kamala Khan is about to start moving on from her resurrection, with August 2's X-Men #25 by writer Gerry Duggan, artist Stefano Caselli, colorist Marte Gracia, and letter Clayton Cowles setting the stage for the next chapter of her life - and adding some complications to her death and return.
So what's it all about? How did she become a mutant? And what's next for Kamala Khan?
Spoilers ahead.
Ms. Marvel was resurrected on Krakoa just before the 2023 Hellfire Gala, an annual party on Krakoa that welcomes humans and others from around the Marvel Universe to the usually insular island. Before the party, Charles Xavier explains to Kamala that she was able to be resurrected on Krakoa because of her latent X-gene (the genetic component that gives mutants their unique powers), confessing that he has known that she's secretly a mutant for some time.
Xavier explains that she is also an Inhuman, making her heritage one-of-a-kind. But because Kamala underwent terrigenesis (the process by which Inhumans gain their powers), her X-gene never actually manifested her powers.
As a result, Kamala's mutant powers have yet to be unlocked, and are still fully unknown. Xavier explains that there are many mutants whose powers haven't manifested, but Kamala's unique Inhuman/mutant nature means there may be special circumstances to her awakening as a mutant - especially since other mutants are harmed or even killed by exposure to the Terrigen Mists which activate terrigenesis.
Xavier urges Kamala to make her identity as a mutant known at the Hellfire Gala, but she declines, stating that she's not ready to process that part of her life yet following her unexpected resurrection.
Following her departure from Krakoa, the island is destroyed and the world's mutant population nearly wiped out in an assault by anti-mutant villain group Orchis, leaving Kamala as one of the few mutants still free and undetected, partially thanks to her anonymity and her undeveloped X-gene.
In the aftermath, Emma Frost returns Kamala home to her parents, who still believe their daughter to be dead, using her considerable psychic abilities to erase the memory of her death from those closest to her.
While this does allow her to return home without complication, it also begs the question of whether there's much of a larger point to the idea of her death than simply revealing her secret X-gene - and whether that reveal could have been made without killing Kamala only to immediately bring her back with a bit more of a connection to her MCU counterpart.
With Kamala now home, Emma urges her to keep her mutant nature hidden as she previously intended to. But Kamala refuses, stating that her new compatriots need her help as Ms. Marvel more than ever, and that she cannot in good conscience hide that she is a mutant while mutants are being persecuted.
This sets the stage for Kamala's upcoming starring role in her Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant limited series. It also potentially sets the stage for some kind of big reveal around her mutant abilities that could somehow lead to the redemption and return of Krakoa, which seems to be heavily foreshadowed.
Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #1, which is co-written by Kamala Khan MCU actor Iman Vellani, goes on sale August 30.
Stay up to date on all the new X-Men comics Marvel has planned for release with our handy listing.
