Ms. Marvel's co-creator breaks down those big reveals from the finale

Ms. Marvel spent its glorious first season digging into Kamala Khan’s (Iman Vellani) family history as she traveled from Jersey City to Pakistan and even back into the past to unravel just how her bangle got its powers. But the Disney+ show finished its season by hinting more at her future. Before the credits roll on the finale, titled “No Normal,” Kamala learns she has a mutation in her gene, effectively tying the X-Men into her world.

She also possibly swaps places with her favorite Avenger, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson, reprising her role in a cameo), in the mid-credits scene. And that’s after Kamala revealed her identity to her family, helped ship Kamran (Rish Shah) off to Karachi, and evaded arrest by the government with the help of her loved ones and community.

Clearly, that’s a lot of information and action packed into a tight 45-minute episode. The A.V. Club spoke to Ms. Marvel’s executive producer Sana Amanat, who also co-created the comic book character, about where Kamala’s story goes from here, how the show sets up next year’s The Marvels, and if we’ll ever get a season two.

Sana Amanat: Yeah, there was a lot to do. We were actually concerned about connecting episodes five to six, but we wanted to come back to Kamran’s story. We wanted to do it through Najma and how she sends her powers over to him. It’s also a reflective moment of what happens with Aisha. We wanted the finale to feel like it was a return home, but we wanted Kamala to encompass all these aspects of herself and the history that she learned. She’s a fully formed version of herself, and she can now become the biggest version of and stretch herself. She’s now a fully realized individual, metaphorically and physically. So much happens in the episode in terms of revealing who she is, but also saying it doesn’t really matter.

AVC: Well that’s still one of the biggest moments of the episode, when Bruno tells Kamala she has some form of a mutation in her genes, and then the X-Men 97 theme plays. Did you always know you were going to drop this reveal? And why did you decide to explore the Djinn/Clandestine stuff first?

SA: It goes back to the idea of how everyone is trying to put Kamala in a box, and initially what the idea of her being a Djinn might mean. It’s terminology for everyone otherizing her, right? What does it mean as to what she is? As we were trying to figure out these elements, we as creators were also trying to put her in a box. There’s something really interesting about dismissing all the “What is she?” questions. As a nerd and fan, I loved being able to throw down that mutation line and letting people make of it what they will. But we always knew we would land on this, and it was an idea we had in the comics that we weren’t able to do. It was nice to be able to do that here. Although again, what the mutation terminology means here is a question I’ll throw out to the world.

AVC: Almost every MCU show and movie links to each other, as we also saw with Brie Larson’s mid-credits cameo. Do you know how that might play into Kamala’s journey in The Marvels?

SA: I can’t say too much about The Marvels yet. All I can say is that it’s all been leading up to this point. It’s the reason her powers are a bit different than the comics, we knew she’s going to interact with the larger MCU storyline. We were trying to tell a story that would tee up with the next chapter of Kamala’s life. There are going to be some elements in the movie that connect to what’s transpired here. Beyond that, I can’t talk much about it.

AVC: But for now, it’s safe to assume Kamala has switched places with Carol somehow, and it obviously has to do with the bangle and its origins?

SA: I know what it is but I’m not going to be able to tell you. [Laughs]. I have all the answers. We put it in there for a reason.

AVC: One of my favorite scenes from the finale is Kamala’s rooftop chat with Yusuf when he ends up giving her the Ms. Marvel moniker. And, of course, Muneeba making her the costume is a big family moment too. Why was it important to include those?

SA: So much of this show is about important people in Kamala’s life sharing elements and aspects of what makes her who she is with her. That scene with Yusuf is actually my favorite from the entire series. It’s very emotional, right? It is linked to a beautiful scene in the comics’ first volume when Kamala questions her name. It comes from a different perspective there, like “Why do I have this particular name?” It was about owning not just what the definition of your name is, but how it’s pronounced, but everything about it, and being proud of it. It’s a big turning point in the comics. Here we show the Urdu definition of it, one of which is “Marvel.” It’s beautiful and comes full circle. I love that moment with Yusuf because it’s steeped in her identity. It’s better than what happens in the comics because her name isn’t necessarily linked to Captain Marvel now.

AVC: What are the chances Ms. Marvel gets a second season? And if it does, do you know what other stories you’d want to tell?

SA: Oh my God, there’s so much I would want to do in another season. Certainly more elements of Pakistan, the Red Daggers, and her family history. What happened when Hasan got on that train with baby Sana. I have thought about all of this. We weren’t able to get into it in season one, so going to Pakistan and even pre-Partition India is a large part of Kamala’s story. It’s one of my favorite things the writers did, they made it into its own special thing. Her story continues on The Marvels, but I’m not going to lie, I’ve been very public about my wanting a season two. We’ll see. I don’t know.

AVC: I have one final burning question. In the early episodes, Muneeba and some other women tell Kamala that Aisha brought shame to their family. But from what we see of her life with Hasan in episode five, it seems relatively normal. So is her story still unexplored, or what was the meaning behind it?

SA: It’s a little unexplored, but to an extent it’s about the idea of how sometimes when people don’t know the real stories, they get wrapped up in mythologies. There’s a tendency to gossip in such a situation, like “What could have happened to that woman and why didn’t she get on the train?” No one knows what happened to her. The writers were telling stories about things they had discovered about their family members. I have stories in my own family. Mythologies are built around it, like “Oh, she left her family, was she kidnapped, or what happened?” It’s based on the fact that something traumatic happened to this family that distorted their history. And instead of focusing on the trauma, we’re just telling stories instead of talking about what really happened. Unfortunately, a lot of Brown communities and families don’t talk about their experiences but tell sensational stories.