When Sana Amanat created the Muslim superhero Ms Marvel, it was a chance to go back in time and give her younger, conflicted self all the superpowers she lacked as a teenager.
But Kamala Khan has come to represent so much more than the reinvention of an awkward, troubled teenager – even if Amanat never intended her to be loaded with political symbolism.
In the weeks since Donald Trump’s inauguration as president of the United States, the country has seen deep cracks opening up and divisions drawn that threaten the future of immigrants and Muslims in the country.
With her blue-and-red costume, it is Khan who has stepped into the breach to use her superpowers and make a powerful statement about Muslims in the US.
Since Trump first came to power, fans of the 16-year-old superhero have whipped up posters depicting her tearing up his photo, punching him in the face, and mourning the current state of affairs.
It is not how Amanat, a comic book editor from Marvel, first envisaged Khan when she created her in 2013 – but she does think the heroine has a role to play in calming stormy waters.
“Those posters were very surprising,” says the 34-year-old, who was in Dubai last week for the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.
“People have been using her as a political statement. I do not necessarily want her to be one, but I do appreciate the fact she has resonated with so many people and that she stands for signs of love and unity.
“I hope that is what she continues to do. I do not want her to go out and push any type of divisive or violent ideals at all.
“I want to make sure it is always messages of positivity and love because that is who she is more than anything else.
“Like all of our superheroes, Ms Marvel has to be a unifier.
“She is fundamentally an individual who wants people to come together on common goals of positivity and goodness and work together to make all our lives better.”
When Khan first appeared, she took on the mantle of Ms Marvel, originally created in 1968 as Carol Danvers, who has since gone on to become Captain Marvel.
Ms Marvel was inspired by a conversation Amanat had with her senior editor Stephen Wacker about her own experiences growing up in New Jersey as a Pakistani-American Muslim.
“I was talking about the fact it was really hard to be a young Muslim in America and the different struggles I had, like trying to go to the prom, making my own dress that was fully covered, fasting and playing lacrosse, wearing tights underneath my shorts in 90 degree weather and not being able to go on dates,” says Amanat.
“For me, it was so common and everyday, but my senior editor said: ‘Not a lot of people know those kinds of stories.’
“That was the first spark of an idea of creating a character that maybe could resonate with young Sanas out there.”
Amanat, whose writing credits include Captain Marvel and Ultimate Comics: Spiderman, worked with comic writer G Willow Wilson, a Muslim convert, to come up with Khan.
They decided against giving her a hijab because “when people think about Muslim women, they automatically think about a woman with a hijab or a niqab or an abaya”.
“We wanted to fill the script a bit and say there are a lot of people out there who consider themselves Muslims and do not necessarily look like you think,” she says.
“We wanted to find a way to tell a story about a young woman who might not appear overtly Muslim, but still considers herself Muslim and is also American.
“We wanted to showcase all the different worlds that she is living in and the balance that she strikes between that.”
Like her creator, Ms Marvel grew up in New Jersey – but that is where the similarity ends.
After inhaling a mystery gas, Khan can enlarge, shrink and bend her body at will.
She keeps her superhuman powers a secret. And while there has been a backlash from some quarters, the reaction to her has been “overwhelmingly positive”.
“She is just a really fun, quirky, relatable character that a lot of different kinds of audiences have connected with,” says Amanat. “People have been so excited about the fact Marvel has taken a chance on this kind of character.
“Some people have said some really horrible things about her, which is very sad for me. I think they feel she is a surrogate for the Islamist agenda and trying to push Sharia in the country, which is incredibly crazy.”
She adds: “We have negative feedback any time we do anything drastic to the characters. People are very protective of their Marvel superheroes.”
Despite the criticism, Amanat sees Ms Marvel as a way of bringing more women and minorities into the fold in a previously male-dominated environment.
“I am still one of the only females at senior executive meetings,” she told the literature festival. “At the first convention I went to, people did not realise I was actually a comics professional and thought I was one of the working models.
“It has been great to see an evolution and transition to finding a way to engage with people who have been overlooked within comics, both creators and audiences.
“I have been really lucky to be part of that process.”
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures
October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
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Max touring range: 620km / 590km
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
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Austrian Grand Prix race timings
Weekend schedule for Austrian Grand Prix - all timings UAE
Friday
Noon-1.30pm First practice
4-5.30pm Second practice
Saturday
1-2pm Final practice
4pm Qualifying
Sunday
4pm Austrian Grand Prix (71 laps)
Reading List
Practitioners of mindful eating recommend the following books to get you started:
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr Lilian Cheung
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Mindful Diet by Dr Ruth Wolever
Mindful Eating by Dr Jan Bays
How to Raise a Mindful Eaterby Maryann Jacobsen
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Engine: 5-litre V8
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ACL Elite (West) - fixtures
Monday, Sept 30
Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm)
Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm)
Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar
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Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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Favourite book: ‘The Art of Learning’ by Josh Waitzkin
Favourite film: Marvel movies
Favourite parkour spot in Dubai: Residence towers in Jumeirah Beach Residence
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T20 World Cup Qualifier, Muscat
UAE FIXTURES
Friday February 18: v Ireland
Saturday February 19: v Germany
Monday February 21: v Philippines
Tuesday February 22: semi-finals
Thursday February 24: final
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books