Embiggen! And... disembiggen?
In the Marvel comics, Ms. Marvel can not only grow and stretch enormously, but her canonical morphogenic abilities enable her to shrink as well (or “disembiggen,” as Kamala Khan puts it).
But what about the Disney+ series? If Ms. Marvel changed other elements of Kamala’s (Iman Vellani) powers by imbuing them with cosmic, multidimensional potential, should we still expect her to be able to super-size-down?
It’s only a theory, but prominent Ant-Man references in nearly every Ms. Marvel episode, from the dialogue to Kamala’s doodles, point to good odds that we’ll see a miniature hero sometime soon.
Big & tall, short & small
Ms. Marvel’s trademark pose in the comics is of the superhero extending a mammoth-sized fist that protrudes and stretches out of her regular-sized body. She most often uses her shapeshifting ability to extend her limbs, torso, or neck, allowing her to navigate the world and confound enemies in combat. Her battle cry, “Embiggen!,” refers to her ability to grow big and tall, and when she becomes a giantess Ms. Marvel is able to lift up to 75 tons.
Ms. Marvel’s polymorph powers also allow her to heal herself, transform into other people and inanimate objects, or make her body as thin as paper. And while she often opts to go colossal, sometimes Kamala Khan will shrink down when the situation suits it.
Ant-Man appreciation
In the comics, Kamala Khan has several crushes, but her heart is truly devoted to her role model, Captain Marvel. That fervent admiration, which extends to cosplaying and vlogging about the superhero, is seen in Ms. Marvel, but another superhero also receives love from Kamala in the show.
Scott Lang a.k.a Ant-Man, the size-altering Avenger played by Paul Rudd, is revered by Kamala. This is evident in her doodles of Ant-Man, her acknowledgement that she listens to Ant-Man’s podcast, her desire to potentially have Ant-Man’s abilities, and her contemplation of an Ant-Man mural in Karachi.
These mentions and references have occurred at least once in every episode thus far, which feels like more than just a coincidence, even if Ant-Man and Ms. Marvel haven’t encountered each other in the comics.
The Inverse Analysis— Again, this is all just a theory, but if the Scott Lang shoutouts are any indicator, we’ll be seeing Kamala show off her shrinking skills at some point in Ms. Marvel’s run.
Less likely is a Paul Rudd cameo, given that there are only two episodes left in the miniseries, and the fact that Ms. Marvel will be joining The Marvels next July while Ant-Man is presumably busy with The Wasp in Quantumania. Timeline overlap may make the cameo improbable, although it would be fun and would fit the lighter tone of both the Ant-Man films and Ms. Marvel.
More likely is a voice-only appearance in the form of a clip of Ant-Man’s podcast, “Big Me Little Me.” Maybe Kamala will be famous enough to be interviewed by the time a potential Season 2 rolls around? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Ms. Marvel Episodes 1-4 are streaming on Disney+. Episode 5 premieres next Wednesday.
