Ms. Marvel's Mehwish Hayat Wants A Clandestines Spin-Off

Mehwish Hayat, who plays Kamala Khan's (Iman Vellani) grandmother Aisha in "Ms. Marvel", hopes for a Clandestines spin-off that could potentially answer important questions about the group's origins and motivations. In an interview with Popculture, Hayat said that there are a "lot of questions that were left unanswered" and a spin-off show about the Clandestines could help address that (spoilers for "Ms. Marvel" follow):

"I don't know about it, obviously, if there is going to be a prequel or something, I hope there is. But there were a lot of questions that were left unanswered, like, 'What were we doing? Why were we not being able to go back home? Why were we stuck in that place where we were as Clandestines?' And Waleed [Farhan Akhtar] knows Aisha, when he meets Kamala, he says, 'Oh, your great-grandmother's story's of a legend.' How do they know each other? What happened? Exactly, how did they come in contact?"

Hayat is right about these concerns, as "Ms. Marvel" does not really delve into these questions in depth, or at all, in the course of its six-episode first season run. As the show is more focused on Kamala's arc and the powers of the bangle in relation to her ancestral history, the motivations of the Clandestines end up underdeveloped or sidelined, which could be explored in great depth in a spin-off, bringing back familiar faces in the process.

In the flashback sequences featuring Aisha, we see her and Najma (Nimra Bucha) retrieving the bangle from an excavation site (which has a Ten-Rings emblem on the floor) and revealing that while there are two bangles, one will have to do for them to return home. At no point do we get a backstory about the Clandestines or their home planet — except for an exposition dump by Waleed (Farhan Akhtar) who explains their plan to open a veil in our world, which would endanger everyone on Earth and change our topography.

If a Clandestines spin-off or prequel show were to happen, it could explain why Aisha and the other Clandestines were stranded on Earth, and how/why the bangle acts as a key to their dimension. Moreover, as pointed out by Hayat, Waleed seems to know a whole lot about Aisha, even calling her a "legend," implying that they've either met before or he is aware of her abilities to some extent.

As Waleed was unfortunately killed off moments after he was introduced, it would be great to see him return in some capacity, as the show could explain how he came to become the leader of the Red Daggers. Doing this would not only justify his unflinching dedication to protecting Kamala but also offer more insight into her personal motivations, and whether he knew the Clandestines in some personal capacity, if at all.

Hayat also mentions that Aisha has the prescient knowledge that the bangle "would not work," and this character moment requires more clarification and context, while also explaining how she was able to use her abilities without the bangle on the fatal night of the last train leaving for Karachi.

All episodes of "Ms. Marvel" are currently streaming on Disney+.