Ms. Marvel, Disney Plus’s long-awaited series about Kamala Khan, finally has a trailer and a release date! The series will premiere on June 8, and the trailer is chock-full of references, reveals, and Easter eggs.
Ms. Marvel, starring Ilman Vellani, will tell the story of Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teenager who adores Captain Marvel and the Avengers. Her fantasies of becoming a superhero in her own right come true when she gains cosmic powers of her own. This being the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the show will also tie into at least one other Marvel project, The Marvels, in which Kamala will team up with Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel and Monica Rambeau.
Here are all the Easter eggs we spotted in the trailer!
An Avengers Fangirl
In the opening shot of the trailer, we see Kamala drawing something in a notebook. Along with some class notes, there’s a drawing of Ant-Man meeting an actual ant, with “Ant-Man!” written above it. Then, the Marvel title card appears in Kamala’s thought bubble, as if Kamala herself is imagining the MCU.
Next, we see Kamala at school wearing a t-shirt that looks like it says “Get In Formation,” a reference to Beyonce’s “Formation.” Captain Marvel is in the middle of the illustration on the shirt, with Wasp and Valkyrie flanking her. Later, we get a peek into Kamala’s secret fantasy life, in which she wears Carol Danvers’ costume and performs heroic feats, and after that, we spot a Captain Marvel poster on her bedroom wall. Kamala’s clearly an Avengers and Captain Marvel super fan!
This is a direct homage to issue 1 of the Ms. Marvel comics. In one of the first scenes, Kamala is holed up in her room, writing Avengers and My Little Pony crossover fanfiction for a website called freakingcool.com. One of the core aspects of Kamala’s character is that she starts off as an Avengers fan, and then becomes a superhero, and later an Avenger herself. Part of her character evolution is her realization that the superhero lifestyle isn’t the nonstop glory, power, and self-confidence that she thought it would be. The trailer confirms that the Disney Plus series will stay true to this aspect of her character, which will make it even more exciting when she eventually gets to team up with Carol Danvers.
A Moon Knight Connection?
As the camera pans up from Kamala’s doodles, we see a quick shot of a textbook called Ancient Egypt. Moon Knight, starring Oscar Isaac as a warrior priest of the Egyptian god Khonshu, is coming out on March 30. With both series streaming so close together, will there be a connection between the two? The textbook definitely seems like a Moon Knight nod, at the very least.
Winged Sloths!
There’s one more Easter egg in Kamala’s notebook: a couple of fuzzy, pig-nosed creatures with wings. These aren’t just random doodles! They’re winged sloths, which show up frequently in the comics. Throughout the comics series, Kamala can frequently be seen with a winged sloth plushie. They also appear at other times, like Kamala’s vision when she first gains her powers. In that vision, Captain Marvel, Captain America, and Iron Man appear to her, and Iron Man is holding a winged sloth.
Bruno, Nakia, Zoe, Kamran, and the Circle Q
In the comics, Bruno (Matt Lintz) and Nakia (Yasmeen Fletcher) are Kamala’s best friends, and the three of them hang out together at the convenience store where Bruno works, called the Circle Q. Bruno has a crush on Kamala, while Nakia explores her Muslim spirituality and identity. Zoe Zimmer (Laurel Marsden) is the resident popular girl, with a personality that leaves a lot to be desired. Kamran (Rish Shah), meanwhile, is Kamala’s crush, who (spoiler!) turns out to have a secret dark side to him. We get quick glimpses of all of them in the trailer. The gang’s all here, and they’ve even got the Circle Q for a fresh supply of radioactive razzle-berry squishees.
Nega-Bands! Or Maybe Quantum Bands?
In the comics, Kamala gained her powers from exposure to the Terrigen Mist, which activated her dormant Inhuman genes. Since it looks like the Inhumans aren’t coming to the MCU anytime soon, Kamala will be using a different set of powers in the Disney Plus series, and it looks like they’ll be activated by the gauntlet or wristband that she puts on halfway through the trailer. Sharp-eyed Twitter users are pointing out the gauntlet looks an awful lot like the Nega-Bands that Captain Marvel and other heroes use in the comics. The Nega-Bands are an ancient relic of the Kree Empire that grant their wearers superpowers like enhanced strength and energy manipulation.
However, Kamala’s wrist bands also look like the Quantum Bands, which are a prototype of the Nega-Bands in the comics and grant their wearers similar powers. The MCU commonly combines and streamlines different elements from the sprawling lore in the comics, so it’s possible that Kamala’s wristbands are a combination of both the Nega-Bands and the Quantum Bands. Where do they come from in the Disney Plus series, though? How does Kamala get her hands on them? Are the bands a tie-in to another MCU series or film?
Red Dagger
Near the end of the trailer is a blink-and-you-miss-it moment in which we see a young man with a scarf across his face, coming at Kamala with a knife. This character resembles Red Dagger (Aramis Knight), a Pakistani hero named Kareem who eventually meets Kamala in the comics.
Kamala’s Iconic Costume
Finally, in the last shot of the trailer, we see Kamala sitting on a street lamp wearing her iconic costume from the comics. This shot is an homage to the cover of Ms. Marvel Vol. 3 No. 5, which shows Kamala sitting in the same pose:
There are plenty more details in the trailer that are ambiguous for now. Who is the show’s antagonist? How closely will the plot follow one or more of the storylines in the comics? And how will Ms. Marvel set up Kamala’s involvement with Carol and Monica in The Marvels?
We’ll find out a lot more on June 8, when the series premieres!
(image: Marvel)
