Kamala Khan: A Study in the Hermeneutics of Popular Culture

The figure of Kamala Khan as Ms Marvel across two media—graphic novel and Disney streaming series—provides a novel means of teaching topics related to Islam, gender, and women.There has been a rich outpouring of interpretation and scholarship around the publications of the early graphic novels.However, there has been less discussion of the ways in which representation of the superheroine has changed in subsequent media.An analysis of the central character of Kamala Khan with reference to the use of political and religious history in identity formation is followed by an exploration of how themes of immigration and assimilation, Muslim American identity and values, and narrative lines that explicate a Muslim religious identity have changed in the move from graphic novel to mini-series. A gendered analysis points to differences in physical representation, a devolution in personal agency, and a move of focus from religious identity in the graphic novels to ethnic identity in the Disney series.