The Ms. Marvel Comics Might Hint At A Dark Twist For Kamran's New Powers

Warning: spoilers below for "Ms. Marvel" episode 5.

"Ms. Marvel" has very nearly finished its six-episode run, which means things have been heating up in a lot of major ways. With Kamala Khan's (Iman Vellani) time in Pakistan, it's been hard to keep tabs on Bruno (Matt Lintz) and Kamran's (Rish Shah) stateside antics. Of course, learning more about Kamala's family — especially her great-grandparents, Aisha (Mehwish Hayat) and Hasan (Fawad Khan) — has produced some of the best Marvel television yet. That said, there's quite a bit brewing for Kamran after episode 5, "Time and Again." While the episode was focused largely on the history of Kamala's family during Partition — and the surprising role she played in their story — Kamala eventually returns to the present day, and discovers that her bangles have opened a portal to the Noor dimension. Unfortunately, the portal destroys everyone who attempts to pass through, killing at least two ClanDestines.

Notably, Kamran's mother Najma (Nimra Bucha) is one of the casualties: She sacrifices herself to close the portal and prevent further destruction. I doubt that's the last we'll see of the Noor Dimension, but "Ms. Marvel" is busy setting up a much more pressing development. Somehow, Najma's sacrifice endowed her son Kamran with his own powers. Like Kamala, Kamran now has the ability to manifest "hard light," only his projections shine in a crystal blue where Kamala's skew purple. This development might feel a little out of the blue (pun definitely intended), but is actually in line with his counterpart in the Marvel comics — and it could point to trouble for Kamala in the "Ms. Marvel" finale.

The concept of Kamran having powers — heck, the concept of Kamran in general — is not exclusive to "Ms. Marvel," the series. The comics introduce Kamran almost in tandem with his identity as a NuHuman, an offshoot of the Inhuman race. He, like Kamala, was exposed to the Terrigen mists that the Inhuman Black Bolt released in New York. The mist activated his Inhuman DNA, endowing him with his own powers. Kamran possesses the power of bioluminescence, which causes his body to glow with bright blue-green energy. He can also channel this energy into objects, creating shockwaves and even explosions. It's a pretty cool ability, but sadly, he doesn't use it for good.

Kamran is in business with Gordon Nobili, aka Lineage. He's a former mob boss turned Inhuman villain bent on eradicating human life as most know it. Lineage planned to do so by releasing Terrigen mists on a massive scale across the globe, triggering a metamorphosis for those with Inhuman DNA, and death for those that are only human. Kamran tries to sway Kamala to the cause, even kidnapping her so she can hear from Lineage himself. Kamala is able to escape (and later defeat) Kamran with the help of her friend Bruno and her brother Aamir, but it wouldn't be the last she'd see of her former crush.

Kamran returned briefly in the 2022 one-shot "Marvel's Voices: Identity Vol 2," where he's once again doing Lineage's bidding. Kamala meets up with Kamran in "Fool Me Twice," and it's the first time either of them has met face to face since their last encounter. Kamran's just as manipulative as ever, maybe even more so: he's set on sacrificing Kamala's life in order to prolong the life of Lineage, but his kind words to Kamala almost cause her to drop her guard. Fortunately, Shang-Chi arrives just in time to thwart his plan before it's too late.

There's no telling whether "Ms. Marvel" will lift Kamran's duplicitous streak from the comics into the series — not yet, anyway. But with all that's happened to him so far (being abandoned by his mother, especially) and all that likely could happen in the "Ms. Marvel" finale, it's possible that the series is setting Kamran up as a villain in the future. With his newfound powers, Kamran is now a target of the Department of Damage Control, the same group that hunted Kamala when she first came into her powers, not to mention imprisoned him once before, along with the ClanDestines.

Still, if the MCU is priming Kamran for his villain era, let's hope they take their time with it. One of the weaker aspects of "Ms. Marvel" comes with the series' lack of proper development for Kamala's adversaries. The stage is set for Kamran to become a real threat to Kamala — after all, we know how Marvel loves a mirror-image hero-villain dynamic. Coupled with the obvious feeling brewing between Kamala and Kamran, his villain arc could be really interesting if done right.