The Joy That Is Kamala Khan

Player 2 looks at the Kamala Khan's impact in Marvel's Avengers.

[Thunder_G0d_Bane]

I’m sorry but she is just the most cringe fanboy character to date.

And as a person of colour I dislike the addition of people of colour just for the sake of having one. They didn’t even give her an origin story that is unique like black panther.

Instead she’s a captain Marvel fan turned hero and then named Ms Marvel this is the worst type of hero origin story.

She was clearly a token character to play to diversity and that’s not how diversity should be handled. See black panther for example of how it should be done.

[CrimsonWing69]

That’s the thing. I don’t mind characters of color but I question the decision. Was it legitimate that they wanted this character to be colored or are they looking for a pat on the back?

Like, Blade, I don’t question why he’s black nor do I think him being black makes him awesome. It just seems legit in that he’s a black character that happens to be bad-ass.

[UltraNova]

This.

[Thunder_G0d_Bane]

Spot on.

[Hewso]

I'm sorry but have you played the game? I never once mentioned colour in the article at all. In fact, the representation that I spoke of was her religion. Since its release I have spoken to and seen the joy of many Muslim people over the fact that they have someone in a video game that isn't a terrorist, that isn't a baddie. Representation matters and I have seen it matter to quite a few. I even said in the article that I wasn't qualified to talk about it. The whole article was about how she was represented in the game and how she was an enjoyable character. She felt, in the context of the game, like a great addition to the line up.

[CorndogBurglar]

I guess I missed the part where Thunder_G0d_Bane was trying to discredit you or your article. He was giving his opinion on the character as a whole. And its an opinion thats shared by a LOT of people.

If she brings joy to Muslim people then thats awesome. But to a LOT of people, she just looks like an act of pandering and it isn't a natural feeling of a character just happening to be of a certain race or religion.

[JackBNimble]

So where are the rest of the religious characters, this doesn't seem very "diverse " at all. Where is the hindu or Jew or Judeo-Christian?
Just seems more like pandering to me, if you're going to go down this road maybe st least make an effort to include all religions or at least more then one.

[rainslacker]

When I play or watch a superhero movie, I tend to want the superhero movie or game to be about the characters that I actually know. If Spider-Man Miles Morales came out before the first SM game, I wouldn't be that big on the idea. I know Peter Parker, and his version of Spider-man. MM, I did have some knowledge on, but I wouldn't say that I was that invested in him. since that game, I've come to know more about him, so I am OK with what they're doing for the next game, as they aren't trying to replace Peter, or the main character. But an Avengers game whose story revolves around a rather marginal character in the Avengers verse because she had a story line in the comics? That just isn't that exciting.

They could have still had her in the game. Build up her character so people come to know her more. Move her into the mainstream instead of trying to win brownie points by making her a focus in both the story, and the marketing for the game. Same way they did Black Widow in the movies....and to that end, I still didn't like how much time they spent on her story within the MCU.

There are tons of Avengers. Practically every character in the Marvel verse that isn't in the Fantastic Four or X-Men...and even then there is overlap, is at one point part of the avengers. But lets say ant-man hadn't had a couple movies to build up his mainstream appeal, do you think people would be gushing about how he was now a central focus of an Avengers game? Why is it any different here? Why does it have to be about her race or religious beliefs if you don't agree with it? Can't it just be that people see her being chosen for this role despite her rather marginal influence on the Avengers universe as a whole?

Yeah, representation matters. Cool that she's an enjoyable character. A great addition to the line up and a focus of the story are still two very different things. It's cool that others can have someone to connect to in the game, but I think people in this world need to stop trying to find themselves and validate their beliefs or self-worth through how they're represented in media, and instead just be the people they are.

Their representation in these mediums isn't going to change decades or centuries of stereotypes or beliefs towards them...that just comes from time and exposure to the actual people who fall within these different groups, and eventually people see that everyone is essentially the same.

The way things are going nowadays though, it seems like a new TV show can't be made without there being some lesbian relationship which has absolutely no relationship to the show or movie, and too much is made of it, and it almost always ends up being where everyone around them is accepting of it, which often times doesn't even make sense within the story that it's taking place in.

Obviously that's not the same kind of inclusion, but it's the same premise, and the same thing is happening with all this inclusion stuff. It's becoming so obnoxious, it's losing it's effect, and actually turning people against the idea of inclusion because it's distracting.

[SamPao]

@Thunder_G0d_Bane You guys should just lay back and let the kids do the talking, because they dont care about diversity and all that, they just enjoy a character when they see it. AND IT WORKS!
Most heros would not even exist if they would have to make everything the way you guys want it. Superheroes are there for kids and if adults enjoy them even better, but if they dont...better leave it to the kids.

[rainslacker]

I never even heard of her until this game came along. Not that I'm well versed on more recent Avenger stories or characters. But, generally speaking, when it comes to super hero media, I tend to prefer more well known and established characters. If they just threw in Black Widow and Hawkeye into the early avengers movies as the main focus of the plot, I wouldn't have been that keen on it. I wasn't even that keen when they gave black widow more focus in some later movies after they built her character more into the mainstream. Not that those two characters weren't more established, but they wouldn't be as well known like the others.

I don't even care so much about the potential that she was chosen for diversities sake, more that when I think avengers, I don't think of a female Mr. Fantastic.

[Hitman007]

I thought she was cool addition to the team👍 people its a game have fun!! people are so nitpicking nowadays like wow its crazy you cant please people why even try whatever U do people just cater to the opposite now just cause i wanna be a Wackadoo and stir up crap all the time now a days👎👎

[Charlieboy333]

Will her lack of face covering not anger certain muslim communities ?

[Cmoney007]

This is the same nonsense that I saw on GS. When are these people going to realize that a great character isn't defined by gender or race?