Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Ms. Marvel's finale.

The origin of Kamala Khan, but it also introduced mutants to the mainstream MCU continuity in a far better way than some theories. Mutants, specifically the X-Men superhero team, are an essential component of any Marvel universe, and due to licensing rights, the MCU has gone through three phases of films and television shows without tapping into this wellspring of classic Marvel characters and storylines. Since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, mutants finally became available to the MCU, and their simple introduction in Ms. Marvel was a far better way to bring them into the ever-growing MCU than some of the more complicated theories.

Although Disney finalized its acquisition of 20th Century Fox in early 2019, much of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, mixing elements of the live-action X-Men film version and his more comic-accurate X-Men: The Animated Series counterpart in a new incarnation.

Related: Mutants Are Officially In The MCU Now

The Ms. Marvel season 1 finale, “No Normal,” ends with Bruno revealing that Kamala has a mutation in her genes that isn’t shared by the rest of her family. This is a perfectly simple way to introduce mutants to the MCU without giving them an overcomplicated backstory. Mutants simply exist in the MCU and they seem to have already existed for some time, making the inevitable MCU incarnation of the X-Men easy to bring into the franchise without being bogged down by the rest of the MCU’s mythos.

Why A More Complex MCU Mutant Introduction Wouldn't Have Worked

MCU mutants could fix biggest Xmen problem

Due to Disney’s lack of film rights to Marvel’s mutants, the Infinity Saga began and ended without any mutants being involved. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, who are mutants and the children of Magneto in Marvel’s comics, had their histories rewritten to fit the at-the-time mutant-free MCU. Once mutants became available to the franchise, speculation arose that, in order to explain the conspicuous absence of mutants in the universe-threatening battle against Thanos, they’d enter the MCU via the multiverse, or perhaps the mutant X-gene would be a consequence of the Infinity Stones’ uses on Earth. These explanations would have been too convoluted, however, and simply introducing mutants as having already been part of the MCU’s main universe is far closer aligned with the comic source material.

The various Marvel universes in comics and screen media are massive, including scores of superheroes, their adversaries, and their ing casts, and it’s safe to assume that most Marvel universes are as comprehensive as the comics themselves. The two other Spider-Man universes referenced in X-Men could have already existed in the MCU, but simply not made their presence known to viewers yet. Ms. Marvel made the right move by keeping the MCU’s mutant introduction simple, as it makes the universe feel larger and more akin to the Marvel comics it’s based on.

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Next: X-Men Would've Never Fit MCU Phase 1: Why Phase 4 Is Better For Mutants

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