What The Ms. Marvel Finale’s X-Men Reference Means For The MCU

Spoilers for the Ms. Marvel season finale ahead. Since the start, the Ms. Marvel series has been building on the foundations laid out in the 2014 Ms. Marvel comic, which was co-created by show producer Sana Amanat. From changing her power set to establishing new lore around Kamala’s origins and iconic outfit, the series has delved deeply into Kamala’s past while charting a path to her Marvel Cinematic Universe future. And in the final moments of the Season 1 finale, it reveals yet another twist in Kamala’s tale: Ms. Marvel is a mutant.

In Episode 6, Kamala is talking with her friend Bruno, who is researching her family’s past and DNA. He realizes not everyone has the ability to access the “Noor” power as she did. This is strange because as far as they understand it, her superpowered bangle is able to unlock powers for anyone who’s a descendant of Kamala’s great-grandmother, Aisha, who describes herself as a Clandestine and a “djinn.” But then Bruno tells Kamala that there’s something “different in your genes,” like “a mutation.”

Kamala then says she doesn’t want yet another label to define her and brushes it off. But in the background, the theme from the X-Men movie franchise plays, which feels like a confirmation that Kamala is actually a mutant.

Is Kamala Khan A Mutant?

In the comics, Kamala Khan is not a mutant. Originally, she got her powers from a vapor called the Terrigen Mist, which is able to mutate people with Inhuman genetics. The mists awaken her dormant abilities, which involve shape-shifting and superhuman speed and strength.

As a reminder, the super-powered Inhumans were initially introduced onscreen in an ABC TV show, but the show was canceled after terrible reviews so the Inhumans never really crossed over into the MCU as a result. The closest the movies have gotten to acknowledging their existence is through the Kree, who created the Inhumans thousands of years ago. The Kree are a blue alien race and have appeared in The Guardians of the Galaxy and notably, Captain Marvel. Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness also featured a brief cameo of the Inhuman Black Bolt, but he existed in another alternative universe and was murdered by Scarlet Witch.

Are The X-Men In The MCU Now?

It seems like it! Disney sold the rights to the X-Men in the ‘90s, but they regained them after purchasing 20th Century Fox in 2019. Since then, fans have been asking Marvel Studios when they’re going to introduce the X-Men into the MCU. Falcon and the Winter Soldier briefly teased the X-Men when the characters visited Madripoor — where Wolverine has operated out of in the comics. Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness featured a full-on Professor X cameo, but the X-Men leader was from another reality and quickly met his demise, just like Black Bolt.

That leaves Ms. Marvel as the most concrete reference to mutants in this universe that Marvel fans have gotten so far. So if Kamala really does turn out to be an X-Men, it’ll be a tidy way to write over that failed Inhumans introduction while solidifying Ms. Marvel’s integral role in the MCU going forward.