10 Comics Superheroes With The Best Motivations

7. Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan)

Ms Marvel Saladin Ahmed
Marvel Comics

There are so many reasons as to why Kamala Khan has endeared herself to Marvel fans as quickly as she has, but undoubtedly one of the biggest is that she's such a unique hero, and one who's quintessentially modern in the sense that she's just as much a fangirl of the publisher's library as Marvel's readers are.

Kamala is a Pakistani-American teen who, when subjected the transformative effects of the Terrigen Mists, is given the power to shapeshift on command. Having idolised Carol Danvers her entire life, Kamala takes on the identity of Ms. Marvel and stops supervillains while teaming up with her favourite heroes, presenting a new dynamic on books like Champions, Avengers, and of course her own series.

There is so much to love about Kamala, not just in terms of her illustrating the value of true representation, but also in how she engages with the Marvel Universe. She fights crime not just to honour herself, but to honour all those who heroes who came before her.

Naturally, that view of Marvel's heroes brings with it its own kind of pressure. Not only that though, Kamala has the same struggles as every teenager, but also those specific to her experience as a young Muslim teen. All go some way in reiterating her importance, and in how compelling her motivations really are.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.