WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the Magnificent Ms. Marvel #10, by Saladin Ahmed, Minkyu Jung, Juan Vlasco and Ian Herring, on sale now.
Every single superhero goes through a few costume changes over the course of their crimefighting career. While some of the changes are fairly minor, some of them completely redefine how a hero looks, like Spider-Man's costume change that saw him switch from his classic red and blue suit to his black and white symbiote suit.
Now, one of Marvel's brightest young heroes, Ms. Marvel, just got her own new version of her costume. And in Magnificent Ms. Marvel #10, she learns that there's more to the costume than she ever realized when it comes to life as her newest enemy, Stormranger.
GIFT FROM THE STARS
Kamala was forced to travel into space earlier in the current Magnificent Ms. Marvel series to try and save an entire world. Her resemblance to a legendary destined hero on the planet Saffa led her (and her parents) to be spirited away to King Maliq Zeer's palace on the planet. Caught between the king and a rebellion in his lands, Kamala was forced to confront the prophecized return of the Beast Legions, the aliens believe Kamala is destined to defeat in battle. To Kamala's surprise, she finds a recording left behind by an ancient Kree soldier, who liberated the world years earlier and left behind a nano suit for the next person destined to become the Stormranger.
After using the nanotech costume free the world, Kamala returned to Earth with the nanotech costume still in her possession. It listened to her instincts and mental directions and proved to be more capable than even Kamala expected. During a battle with Mr. Hyde, Kamala was electrocuted and briefly on the ropes. But the suit activated, surrounding her with a rejuvenating energy field. It also greatly enhances her strength, allowing her to decimate the Avengers villain in their brawl. However, the suit continued to force Kamala to beat on an unconscious Hyde, despite her best efforts. She had to painfully force the suit off of her body before she accidentally killed Hyde. The suit reconstituted itself in a physical form all on its own and revealed that it is the Stormranger - and that upon detecting a threat, it must eliminate it.
THE SYMBIOTE PROBLEM
Ms. Marvel isn't the first hero to have to deal with her alien costume turning against her. Famously, Spider-Man had a similar experience with an alien symbiote that latched onto him during the events of Secret Wars. Eventually learning it alive, Peter was able to escape it's grasp before the bond became permanent. However, the symbiote survived and escaped, eventually bonding with Eddie Brock to become the fearsome Venom, before becoming a permanent piece of the Marvel Universe by jumping from host to host.
While Venom and Spider-Man eventually made peace, Stormranger's future in the Marvel Universe is less certain. As a construct of the Kree, it could bring Ms. Marvel closer to the Kree corner of Marvel, which could her and Carol Danvers even closer together. Her Inhuman biology also could play a role in the way the costume reacts. Since the Inhumans began as a Kree experiment on Earth, her unique relationship to the costume may have something to do with her genetics. Although it's based its current appearance on her, it's also possible the suit could end up in the possession of one of her enemies, setting up future conflicts with the empowered suit going forward. At any rate, it would probably be a good time for Kamala to call her occasional team-up partner Spider-Man for some advice.