Spider-Man: Homecoming was a welcome injection of youth and energy into the almost 10 years old Marvel Cinematic Universe (whatever the timeline of the universe actually is), and most of the Avengers are also a decade older. With Homecoming, the MCU was able to explore the life-changing impact living in a world where superheroes and alien invaders are real is having on the younger generation. Peter Parker (Tom Holland), who may have met Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) when he was very young in Iron Man 2, became Spider-Man because he was inspired by the Avengers' heroic example even before Iron Man himself became his mentor.

Looking to Phase 4 and beyond, Homecoming is the first building block to the future of the MCU. As Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told the Toronto Sun, the MCU as we've seen it evolve since 2008 is an epic 22 movie arc that will conclude with the currently untitled Avengers 4. After that, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, slated for release July 5, 2019, kicks off the next Phase of the MCU. With some Avengers expected to fall battling Thanos (Josh Brolin) in Avengers: Infinity War, Spider-Man is the harbinger of the MCU's future, handpicked by Tony Stark himself to help usher in what comes next. However, Tom Holland is currently only contracted for 6 movies under the current Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios deal. While that could change, the reality is, Spider-Man can't and shouldn't carry the future of the MCU all by his lonesome. The Avengers need more young superheroes on their roster.

Therefore, the MCU needs to introduce Ms. Marvel, and the absolute best place to do it is in the Spider-Man sequel.

Who Is Ms. Marvel?

Ms. Marvel, created by Marvel's Director of Content and Character Development Sana Amanat, writer G. Willow Wilson, and artist Adrian Alphonsa, is Marvel's first Muslim superhero to headline her own critically acclaimed and award-winning comic book series. Ms. Marvel is Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teen who lives in Jersey City, NJ. She discovered she was an Inhuman and gained polymorph powers - basically, she can stretch, shrink or "embiggen" her body, similar to the abilities of Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four.

Kamala assumed the Ms. Marvel identity with the blessing of Carol Danvers, the first Ms. Marvel, who has since become Captain Marvel, one of Earth's foremost defenders. Kamala is also a fangirl; she blogs, creates fan fiction, and is obsessively knowledgeable about her fellow Marvel superheroes, whom she's since battled alongside as a member of the Avengers. She also formed her own super team of young heroes, the Champions. Kamala has an unshakable moral core and holds true her ideals of what a superhero is and how they should lead and inspire others. This often puts her at odds with her idols, including Carol Danvers and Tony Stark, who have a tendency to come to blows with each other over their ideological differences.

In her dual identity of Ms. Marvel, Kamala tries to balance her adventures as a superhero protecting Jersey City with her family and high school life. Ms. Marvel's series is both a progressive depiction of a Muslim-American superhero and a canny examination of what it's like to be a teenage superhero in the Marvel Universe. Ms. Marvel updates the familiar tropes that Spider-Man trailblazed in his original comics created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Kamala is smart, courageous, caring, funny, and struggles with the same issues Spider-Man deals with - that with great power comes great responsibility - but she does so in her own inimitable style.

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The Inhuman Question

As one of Marvel Comics' flagship heroines, it's only a matter of time until Ms. Marvel joins the MCU. The question is which arm of the MCU will it be - Marvel movies or Marvel TV? Another question that will have to be addressed when Kamala Khan makes her cinematic (or television) debut is what the source of her powers will be. Kamala is a prominent new Inhuman in the comics; she even gets the Inhumans' giant teleporting dog Lockjaw as her pet. If Ms. Marvel joins an existing series or gets her own Marvel Television show, she will most likely also be Inhuman. The Inhumans have been introduced in Marvel Television in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and are soon to have their own ABC series, which launches theatrically in IMAX, centering on the Inhumans' Royal Family.

However, there's unfortunately very little crossover between Marvel TV and movies these days, and Ms. Marvel is too major a superhero character to relegate to television. She deserves a spot in the big leagues - in the MCU movies. This is where it gets tricky: if Ms. Marvel becomes a Marvel movie star, she may not be Inhuman. Though the MCU in both the movies and television is considered one universe, the unusual corporate structure between Marvel Studios and Marvel Television is a one-way street in certain ways. While Marvel TV shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Defenders series on Netflix regularly reference events of the movies (most significantly the Battle of New York in The Avengers), the movies have not acknowledged what happens in the TV series. For instance, Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) was resurrected after dying in The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. has been reactivated in the years since Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but there's been no mention of either in the movies other than a brief S.H.I.E.L.D. appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Therefore, even though the Inhumans are a huge deal in Marvel Television, the MCU has yet to acknowledge the existence of the Inhumans on the big screen - and it's possible they won't at all, meaning her origin may be changed so she isn't an Inhuman. Kamala would probably gain her powers the same way Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) gained their super powers: via one of the Infinity Stones. In the fallout of the events of Avengers: Infinity War, it would be relatively easy to engineer a scenario where a teenage girl in Jersey City is somehow exposed to the power of an Infinity Stone and gains superpowers.

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Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel swing into battle in Marvel Comics.

How Ms. Marvel Can Join The Spider-Man Sequel

Some of the most successful aspects of Spider-Man: Homecoming were how the film centered on the trials of Peter Parker's high school life while avoiding repeating what has transpired in previous Spider-Man movies. Peter was often placed out of his element - in the suburbs where there are no tall buildings to swing from and in Washington, D.C. - with hilarious results. Since Peter remains part of Midtown School of Science and Technology's academic decathlon team, it would be a simple matter to have Peter and his friends take another trip to compete against a different high school - Coles Academic High School in Jersey City, the alma mater of Kamala Khan.

Peter meeting Kamala, who gains superpowers and becomes Ms. Marvel, would be a cool new twist on the events of Homecoming. Instead of trying to prove himself to his mentor Tony Stark, Peter would be in a new scenario where he meets someone his own age whom he inspired as Spider-Man. They could even honor Kamala's status as the ultimate fan girl by having her easily deduce Spider-Man is Peter Parker. Earlier in 2019, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), who is expected to be introduced in the MCU during Infinity War, will have headlined her solo film so it would be easy to explain why Kamala would hero worship Carol Danvers, the most powerful female hero in the MCU. Working alongside Ms. Marvel also flips the script for Spidey; now he would be the experienced hero who saved the world with the Avengers working with someone just learning the superhero ropes.

Introducing Ms. Marvel in Spider-Man's sequel would be an ideal launching pad to an eventual movie starring Ms. Marvel as well. The MCU has a splendid track record of introducing new superheroes in their movies without upstaging the primary superhero; Black Panther in Civil War is a perfect example of spotlighting a new superhero that whet fans' appetites for the Black Panther film. The same can be said for Spider-Man himself being successfully introduced in Civil War as a prelude to Homecoming.

More importantly, Spider-Man can't be the only teenage superhero in the MCU. More and more young people who gain powers will be inspired by growing up in a world with the Avengers, not to mention the MCU simply needs more female superheroes. The natural progression of the diverse young cast Homecoming introduced would be Kamala Khan, a female Pakistani-American superhero peer for Peter Parker. Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel is a Marvel Team Up that needs to happen in the movies, and the MCU would only benefit from the long awaited arrival of Kamala Khan.

NEXT: WHY SPIDER-MAN IS THE FUTURE OF THE MCU

Key Release Dates