Avengers' Ms. Marvel Is More Comic-Accurate Than The Disney+ Show
Disney+ recently released an all-new trailer for its upcoming Ms. Marvel show, and it turns out Marvel's Avengers has the more comic-accurate portrayal of the character. When Marvel's Avengers first released in 2020, one of the most critically praised elements of the game was its portrayal of Kamala Khan, with Ms. Marvel being one of Marvel's Avengers' best characters. After the release of the Ms. Marvel show trailer, featuring a Kamala Khan with inaccurate powers that differ greatly from the source material, Crystal Dynamics' portrayal is once again the spotlight. While it still remains to be seen whether the Disney+ show (and Iman Vellani's portrayal) will capture the character's story and persona, it is clear from the trailer that the show has made some dramatic deviations to her power set as well as the backstory of how she got those powers.
In the game, Kamala Khan is the main star of the story, and Crystal Dynamics made sure that Ms. Marvel's abilities in Marvel's Avengers stayed true to her comic book counterpart. In Marvel Comics, Ms. Marvel has the ability to reshape and reform her body, giving her stretchy powers (her words), similar to those of Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic. Marvel's Avengers includes abilities that allow her to stretch her arms out to hit enemies, enlarge a hand or foot to increase her combat strength, and even embiggen her entire body, making her an unstoppable powerhouse that strikes fear into the hearts of every A.I.M. soldier in the room. This powerset is not only fun to play in the game, it also captures the lighthearted yet capable spirit of the character from the comics perfectly.
While the Disney+ show might finally lead to Ms. Marvel getting MCU skins in Marvel's Avengers, seemingly removing her stretchy powers has lessened the character's charm. In the Ms. Marvel show, it appears that Kamala Khan's powers come from a mystical bracelet. The bracelet seemingly allows her to project physical objects (such as a large translucent hand), making her powers seems closer to that of DC's Green Lantern than Marvel's Mister Fantastic. This may have been done to differentiate her from Reed Richards or bring her closer to the powerset of Captain Marvel and Photon. Whatever the reason is for the change, it now means that Marvel's Avengers' portrayal of the character is more comic-accurate.
Much of Marvel's Avengers' story revolves around the introduction of the Inhumans into the world, created by an accidental release of Terrigan mist during the events of A-Day. Kamala Khan is one of the people to have been affected by the mist, giving her the iconic stretchy powers she uses in the game. While the A-Day disaster is unique to Marvel's Avengers and has not appeared in any comic books, Ms. Marvel gets her powers in the comics in a similar fashion. She carries the Inhuman gene and is transformed when exposed to Terrigen. In the new series, she acquires them through wearing the mystical bracelet, which may be a way of sidestepping her Inhuman origins (possibly due to the poor reception of the Inhumans show).
Marvel's Avengers' version of Kamala Khan is a fantastic adaptation of the character, and one who - like many other Avengers characters - deserves her own game. While it remains to be seen whether the version of Ms. Marvel being portrayed in the show is well-received, Marvel's Avengers' version of the hero, for now, remains a more faithful adaptation of the beloved character from Marvel Comics.