What Could Ms. Marvel Season 2 Be About? These Comic Storylines Provide Some Options
After six colorful episodes, "Ms. Marvel" has wrapped up its storyline with a pretty satisfying flourish. As this is, of course, a part of Marvel's ever-expanding Cinematic Universe, it won't be the last we see of Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) and her allies or adversaries. In fact, Kamala is set to return pretty soon, in the "Captain Marvel" sequel/team-up film "The Marvels." But that hasn't stopped anyone from speculating about a second season for "Ms. Marvel," despite the fact that no official announcement has been made just yet. Of course, it wouldn't be the first Disney+ series to achieve a renewal — "Loki" season 2 is already underway, with "What If...?" following close behind.
But what could "Ms. Marvel" season 2 even be about?
By the time "The Marvels" comes out in mid-2023, Phase Four will be nearing its end. But with Marvel Studios' penchant for interconnected storytelling, any forthcoming film or series could affect Kamala's future — and with so many on the horizon, who knows where a "Ms. Marvel" follow-up would fit, and what it'd be tasked with setting up? It's possible that, if "Ms. Marvel" is to get a second season, it would be another (mostly) self-contained story. And since there are already plenty of Ms. Marvel adventures in the comics, there are plenty of options for the series to explore in live-action.
Let's take a look at some of the comic storylines that could help inform the future of "Ms. Marvel."
Becoming a team player
In the comics, Kamala scarcely becomes a full-fledged hero before she's dragged into the events of the Second Civil War, a massive team-up event that sees Iron Man forming a team of heroes against Captain Marvel. There's very little chance that the MCU would be moving into another crossover event so quickly, but "Civil War II" does help to inform a lot of Kamala's journey as a hero. Even before "Civil War II," Kamala is working as a certified Avenger, fulfilling her lifelong dream of working beside some of her biggest idols. But before long, she realizes that the Avengers have grown too big to worry about "low level" threats that affect people's day-to-day lives.
Kamala ultimately quits the Avengers to form a separate superhero group comprised of her own peers: Nova, Spider-Man (the Miles Morales version), Viv Vision, a new version of Hulk, and Ironheart. Together they're known as the Champions, and their MCU debut has been anticipated for a long, long time.
While there aren't any "Avengers" movies on the horizon, Kamala will be next seen in a small-scale team-up in "The Marvels." She could also have a role in the upcoming "Secret Invasion" series, seeing that Captain Marvel is connected to both the Skrulls and to Nick Fury. Either property could easily touch on Kamala's discomfort with the passivity of her older mentors, and if she were to form her own group afterwards, it could definitely set the stage for the Champions.
That said, a lot of moving pieces that would warrant the arrival of the Champions have yet to be set up in the MCU. Forming the group is a huge aspect of Kamala's arc as a hero (and a leader), but if Ms. Marvel were to get a second season, it'd probably be best to focus on the hero on her own home turf.
Kamala vs. HYDRA
Kamala's solo adventures are known to get pretty weird on the pages of the Marvel comics. One of her first outings as a superhero pits her against a clone of Thomas Edison with the head of a giant bird — and though the MCU is making strides towards the weirder end of the Marvel Universe, they might not be quite ready to move that far, that fast. Fortunately, Ms. Marvel also deals with a very familiar adversary in her solo adventures: HYDRA.
In "Ms. Marvel" Vol. 5, Kamala begins to feel a major strain between her life as a superhero and that of a regular teenager. On top of her duties as Ms. Marvel, Kamala also has to deal with Bruno's new girlfriend, as well as a shady organization attempting to gentrify whole swaths of Jersey City. They're called the Hope Yards Development/Relocation Association (that acronym look familiar?) and to make matters worse, they've been using Ms. Marvel's likeness in their campaign to "clean up Jersey City."
This three-part arc, titled "Super Famous," isn't a major story in the grand scheme of things (it actually wraps up pretty quickly to make way for "Civil War II: and the major return of HYDRA in "Secret Empire") but it's one of the best for Kamala's internal development. In her mission to take down this particular HYDRA cell, her public and private lives become more entangled than ever before — but in embracing this, she's able to face Hope Yards more effectively. If "Ms. Marvel" season 2 wanted to scale Kamala back from the universe-level threats in "The Marvels," this would be a great way to bring her back to her roots.
Kamala's law
Kamala's name would be used again without her consent in "Magnificent Ms. Marvel" Vol. 1, after a disastrous mission leads to the passing of a law that bars anyone under the age of 21 from acting as superheroes. The Underage Superhuman Welfare Act, nicknamed "Kamala's Law," also merits the creation of a government organization called C.R.A.D.L.E (also known as the Child Hero Reconnaissance and Disruption Law Enforcement), who basically have the right to apprehend and detain any underage hero.
It's honestly bonkers stuff, but after the events of the "Ms. Marvel" season finale, it feels like a natural progression from Kamala's run-in with the Department of Damage Control. With so many legacy characters being introduced to the MCU — a lot of them much younger than their predecessors — there's no doubt that young superheroes will be posing a new concern to the shady powers-that-be moving forward. It's a great opportunity to expand on the misguided practices of the DODC, and capitalize on one of the most interesting recurring themes in Marvel storylines: What happens when the government tries to police its heroes?