Who is Kamran, the MCU’s newest superpowered kid?

It has five episodes left in its six-episode series. Ms. MarvelKamran is well-known to viewers as the son of Najma’s ruthless visitor, who has been left behind in this dimension. And with this week’s episode, the Disney Plus series has moved the troubled kid one step closer to his comic book origin.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for Ms. Marvel through episode 5, “Time and Again.”]

In Captain Marvel cosplay, Ms. Marvel holds out her hand, which is covered in glowing light.

Image: Marvel Studios

It is amazing how much Ms. Marvel’s version of Kamala Khan’s origin story diverges from the comics, you could be forgiven for assuming Kamran is an original character to the show. But he’s actually got a comic book counterpart: Kamran (also no last name), a recurring jerk who bugs Kamala for a couple of story arcs in her first comic series.

Kamran was first seen as a friend by the Khan family, whose parents had recently moved to Jersey City. Kamala last saw him when they were 5 years old, and in the meantime he’d grown up into a suave, smart-dressing cutie — who had Inhuman superpowers just like her! They fell in love and it blossomed. However, Kamran was a bad man after all.

Ms. Marvel leaps over Kamran — whose skin is glowing brightly with his Inhuman power — saying “Oh, it’s over, Kamran. We are SO breaking up.” “KHAAAAAAN!” yells Kamran after her, in Ms. Marvel #15 (2015).

Image by G. Willow Wilson/Marvel Comics

Kamala wanted nothing more than to be ganged by a local criminal organization that was just discovering their Inhuman capabilities. Kamran pursued her brother Aamir and attempted to activate his Inhuman genes. Kamala wasn’t easy to capture. Kamran’s efforts only gave Aamir temporary superpowers — and Aamir wasn’t particularly enthused about joining a superpowered gang, either.

What are Kamran’s powers in the comics?

Rish Shah as Kamran in Ms. Marvel. He’s holding his fist in front of his face as it glows.

Image: Marvel Studios

If this week’s episode of Ms. Marvel isn’t setting up Kamran to get his own superpowers, then it’s a hell of a feint. In a final gesture of love toward her rejected son, Najma gives her life to close the tear in the Veil, and the act seems to have redirected some kind of Noor energy Kamran’s way. After it slams into him, he raises a fist covered in what looks like a variant of Kamala’s hard-light power, just in a more masculine color — which is pretty much what Kamran’s powers looked like in the comic.

“You... you’re Inhuman too?” asks Kamala Khan, holding Kamran’s hands. All the parts of his body not covered by clothes are glowing bright, in Ms. Marvel #14 (2015).

Image by G. Willow Wilson/Marvel Comics

In the comics, Kamran could overload objects with a biokinetic charge that would cause them to explode — quite similar to Gambit from the X-Men. But based on the final moments of “Time and Again,” it looks like Kamran has pretty much the same abilities as Kamala, from how he fires a bolt of hard light at a Damage Control drone and inadvertently blows up the Circle Q.

What’s next for Kamran? We’ll have to wait for Ms. Marvel’s season finale on July 13.

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