While Comic Drake’s video about Ms. Marvel from a few months ago did a decent job at criticizing the various way Marvel has mistreated the character of Kamala Khan in recent years (especially that gross publicity stunt of randomly killing her off in Amazing Spider-Man as a shock-death), there were a lot of arguments from his video that I personally disagreed with. The biggest of which was Drake’s criticism that Kamala lacked any memorable villains or a compelling rogues gallery, only citing the Inventor from the opening arc of G. Willow Wilson’s run. I feel that this interpretation is deeply unfair since not only does it overlook & dismiss several other antagonists throughout Kamala’s stories (such as Kamran, Chuck Worthy, Lockdown, and Doc.X) whom I feel are effectively utilized to discuss revenant social issues (elements that Drake iroincially praised the aforementioned Inventor for due to the latter’s exploitation of generational despair among millennials and gen z), but also because the Mecca arc in particular features what is in my opinion one of the most personal & relevant villains in recent Marvel Comics’ history: Discord (aka, Josh Richardson).
While Josh was initially a former acquaintance of Kamala’s and the ex-boyfriend of Zoe Zimmer before the latter broke up with him and came out as a lesbian, Josh felt increasingly alienated among his peers whilst failing to check his own privilege as an upper class white boy. Consequently, following Josh’s wrongful arrest in the Civil War II tie-in’s by Lockdown (aka, Becky St. Jude), the latter was able to successfully radicalize Josh into becoming a fascist supervillain under the employ of HYDRA. In essence, Becky follows the fascist playbook by appealing to Josh’s sense of entitlement, providing him false promises of returning to a mythic nostalgic past that rewards his privilege whilst persecuting the minority groups that he wrongfully believes “stole” the narrative from him.
The reason why Josh’s evolution into the villainous Discord remains so memorable to me ever since the Mecca arc was first published back in 2017 is because the character feels disturbingly realistic due to his story heavily mirroring the radicalization of young cis-straight white men by far-right politicians and hate groups in the real world today. Essentially, Discord’s arc as a villain is not only increasingly relevant in relation to current social issues (especially with Trump unfortunately winning a second term as President in 2024, and his ongoing unlawful ICE raids against racial minorities), but Josh’s status as a former friend to Kamala’s adds an additional level of personal drama that make for a more compelling narrative & conflict. A conflict that not only gradually built-up towards throughout previous arcs of Wilson’s run as Josh became increasingly socially isolated & emotionally distant from Kamala’s circle of friends, but one which ultimately culminates in one of my personal favorite scenes from the entirety of Ms. Marvel. During the climax of the Mecca arc when a weakened Ms. Marvel is cornered by Discord and the latter’s true identity as Josh is revealed, Kamala unmasks as well.
In doing so, Kamala not only communicates the humanity & suffering of marginalized individuals like herself whom Josh is hurting through HYDRA’s discriminatory policies, but also communicates her strong moral resolve that she’ll continue to oppose Josh’s fascistic beliefs & actions no matter what, refusing to give him a free pass simply because they used to be friends.
So overall, I must respectfully disagree with Comic Drake’s assertion that Kamala “lacks any memorable villains.” Especially since not only does Josh Richardson’s gradual radicalization into the fascist supervillain Discord provide some of the most thematically rich & topical moments in all of G. Willow Wilson’s initial run on Ms. Marvel, but the Mecca arc in which Discord serves as the primary antagonist of remains one of the most well-written & compelling comic book storylines that I’ve read in recent memory!
