Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for the season of Ms. Marvel.There was never really a question of if Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) would be connected to the MCU’s version of Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) and her journey to become Ms. Marvel, but rather how and when their stories would collide. Before the first season of Ms. Marvel even premiered on Disney+, Kamala’s inclusion in the upcoming Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels was announced, and in the comics, the character is a massive Carol superfan. While Season 1 focused most of its six-episode runtime on Kamala’s story (and rightfully so), the series still managed to give us some important connections to our favorite cosmic-powered Avenger.
Kamala Khan: Captain Marvel Superfan
As mentioned previously, the comic book iteration of Kamala Khan is a huge fan of Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, and the MCU’s version of the character is no different. In Episode 1 “Generation Why”, we see Kamala making Carol Danvers fan videos for YouTube and preparing for AvengerCon with her friend Bruno (Matt Lintz). This video talks about how Carol was able to fight Thanos (Josh Brolin) during the climactic battle of Avengers: Endgame, and praises her skills. She also argues in favor of letting Carol fight where she’s needed and not pressuring her to be on Earth all the time. In preparation for AvengerCon, she and Bruno prepare for the Captain Marvel cosplay contest, where Kamala hopes to win and maybe even meet her favorite hero. Sadly, Carol doesn’t make an appearance at the convention, but that doesn’t deter Kamala from using her cosplay as a makeshift disguise as she starts to develop her own cosmic abilities.
Aisha’s Bangle and Its Possible Kree Connections
In Season 1, Kamala discovers that her great-grandmother Aisha (Mehwish Hayat) was not from our world. Her and a few others called the ClanDestines were banished to our dimension and are desperate to find a way back to their home. In Episode 3 “Destined”, we see Aisha and Najma (Nimra Bucha) find a bangle attached to a severed blue arm inside of temple ruins in British Occupied India. While the origin of the arm has not yet been confirmed, it likely once belonged to a member of the Kree. The Kree have been one of the most prominently featured alien societies in the MCU with connections to both Guardians of the Galaxy films, the kind-of canonical series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and most importantly Captain Marvel.
In Captain Marvel, we first see Carol on the Kree homeworld of Hala. After the accident that gave Carol her powers on Earth, the Kree abduct her, wipe her memories, and convince her to fight for their cause so that they can use her powers to wipe out the Skrulls. However, not all Kree are bad or stay bad. Characters like Mar-Vell (Annette Bening) have all found their own path away from the influence of Hala and the Supreme Intelligence, the artificial intelligence that rules over the Kree.
While it’s currently unclear how Kamala’s bangle and the Kree are connected, we know that the bangle helps Kamala channel energy that isn’t from our world. If the Kree brought it to Earth, then maybe there are other pieces still lost across the galaxy – Aisha even says that the ClanDestines would need at least two bangles to complete their mission.
Trading Places: Avengers Edition
This brings us to the final connection to Captain Marvel: an actual appearance from the hero herself. In the post-credit scene of Episode Six “No Normal”, Kamala’s bangle begins to glow differently than it has before. Before she can do anything about it, Kamala suddenly launches into her closet, with Carol then appearing in her place. While Carol isn’t wearing a bangle, we have no idea what she has been up to since the events of Endgame, or where she has been. She makes a brief appearance at the end of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings via hologram, so she may have been following a lead on their origin close to when the body swap happened.
With speculation growing as to whether or not Kamala’s bangle is one part of either the Nega-bands, Quantum bands, or some combination of the two from Captain Marvel comic lore, it’s not far off to wonder if somehow these sets of cosmic jewelry are connected to each other and the future of Captain Marvel in Phase 4. It will be a long year waiting for The Marvels to show us where Carol was during the swap, how Kamala reacts to being transported off Earth so abruptly, how Kamala’s family reacts to Carol being in their house, and how their stories will intersect going forward. I, for one, can’t wait to see Kamala’s reaction to meeting Carol in person – hopefully, it's as fun and genuine as Carol’s reaction to suddenly appearing in a bedroom surrounded by her own face staring back at her.