Carol Danvers was recently Ms. Marvel.

But with Kelly Sue DeConnick taking over Danvers, Ms. Marvel has become Captain Marvel. Leaving an eponymous vacancy in the Marvel Universe. Until now.

Meet, Kamala Khan, the new Ms. Marvel. Khan is a teenage shapeshifter from Jersey City, and a Muslim.

The new Ms. Marvel is written by G. Willow Wilson, a Muslim herself. Which is presumably not the most interesting characteristic of either Wilson or Khan. But noteworthy nonetheless in American comics culture. The idea apparently comes from Sana Amanat and Steve Wacker. Says the NY Times:

Her genesis began more mundanely, in a conversation between Sana Amanat and Steve Wacker, two editors at Marvel. “I was telling him some crazy anecdote about my childhood, growing up as a Muslim-American,” Ms. Amanat said. “He found it hilarious.” Ms. Amanat and Mr. Wacker noted the dearth of female superhero series and, even more so, of comics with cultural specificity.

It’s becoming clear that Marvel has made a choice to invest in gender and cultural diversity in their titles, with several recent female superhero series released or coming, and an increased number of non-white titles as well. But new characters are not always welcome in comics culture, and diversity of characters, creators, and stories will only be successful if each title is made with the creativity and inspiration deserved. Inclusion is a good. Tokenism, however, rarely benefits anyone.

Of course, for now there’s no reason for concern. Let’s get to Ms Marvel #1 before we worry about such things. For today, we’ll look forward to Kamala Khan and her story, which, according to Wilson, is “about the universal experience of all American teenagers, feeling kind of isolated and finding what they are.’ Though here, she adds, that happens ‘through the lens of being a Muslim-American’ with superpowers.”