Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant co-writer Iman Vellani says the upcoming Marvel Comics limited series uses the power of dreams to dive deep into Kamala Khan’s character.
During an interview with Marvel’s Meagan Damore, Vellani — who plays Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — cited Neil Gaiman’s DC classic The Sandman as influencing Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant. “We’ve been inspired by Sandman, Silver Surfer, a lot of the old X-Men books,” she said. “There’s so many different homages in this book.”
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Not to be confused with Marvel‘s own Sandman, Flint Marko (or ECW wrestler James Fullington, for that matter), DC’s Sandman centers on Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams. Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant, similarly, is a series that uses dreams to explore Kamala Khan’s identity. In fact, Vellani says the these dream sequences are the thing she’s most excited to share with readers.
“I will say there are a lot of pages that take place in Kamala’s dream world and there are very cool characters that we get to meet within that dream world, and they’re just extensions of Kamala’s psyche and reflections of who she is, and she doesn’t quite even realize what she is capable of as a hero,” Vellani said.
“I think that journey that she goes on in her mind is honestly super fascinating and it’s something that I really wanted,” she continued. “That was the first thing I pitched to editorial, is I really want to explore dreams and the psychological effect that a resurrection would have on a 16-year-old kid who has no one to talk to about it, right? That’s been really fun. And with dreams, you can do literally whatever you want, so there is a lot to play with.”
Interestingly enough, Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant isn’t the only upcoming Marvel series to be compared to The Sandman. Marvel executive editor Tom Brevoort recently described Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti’s G.O.D.S. as being a cross between Sandman and Brian K. Vaughan’s Saga.
Ms. Marvel joins the X-Men in The New Mutant
Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant launches in comic shops this coming Wednesday as part of the “Fall of X” event. The four-issue series is written by Vellani alongside Sabir Pirzada, and illustrated by the duo of Carlos Gómez and Adam Gorham. Pirzada previously worked with Vellani on Marvel Studios’ Disney+ original series Ms. Marvel.
The New Mutant takes place in the aftermath of Kamala Khan’s death and resurrection — a process that revealed the Inhuman hero to also be a mutant. The comic finds Kamala as a card-carrying member of the X-Men. According to Vellani, Gómez is illustrating most of the main plot, while Gorham is taking the lead on the aforementioned dream sequences. “Adam Gorham draws incredible stuff in those pages, so I’m very excited for people to see his work,” she said.
Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #1 goes on sale Wednesday, August 30.
