One of the most important days in American democracy, Election Day, will happen on Tuesday, November 8. Amid the turmoil surrounding the 2016 race, even Marvel’s heroes are taking time out from fighting Ultron and each other in Civil War II to get citizens to cast a ballot.
No one among the Avengers or Ms. Marvel’s new team, the Champions, have a bigger stake than Kamala Khan, the Muslim-American teenager who inherited the mantle from Carol Danvers. In her upcoming issue Ms. Marvel #13 from G. Willow Wilson coming November 30 (after the election, weirdly), Ms. Marvel hits the streets of her hometown Jersey City to meet would-be voters who have lame excuses not to vote.
Given the importance of voting regardless of the candidates, Ms. Marvel is having none of it. In previews provided by Marvel, Ms. Marvel #13 becomes an educational PSA in which Ms. Marvel explains how to register, how to ensure you’re registered, and how it’s illegal to be prevented to vote by things like work. She also goes hard into blasting anyone that thinks not voting is some radical protest, because it’s not.
It’s unknown if the election Ms. Marvel is talking about is indeed the 2016 election between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and GOP candidate M.O.D.O.K. (also known as Donald Trump). Kamala doesn’t explicitly support Clinton, but given Trump’s racist rhetoric against immigrants and Muslims, it’s unlikely the intelligent and formidable Kamala would vote for that guy.
Check out the previews below. First, after being told excuses like, “I don’t have time,” “Boss won’t give me time off,” and, “I’m protesting,” Kamala drops some truth on her Jersey City neighbors.
“There’s no such thing as protesting-by-not voting,” she tells a cranky dude who boasts about not voting. “By not voting, you’re not sending a message — you’re just lumping yourself in with the millions of people who didn’t vote because they don’t know how or they don’t care.”
What if both candidates are bad? Still, vote. “Democracies are coalitions,” Ms. Marvel explains. “The parties all have to compromise in order to govern. You’re gonna have to compromise something. The question is what.”
With a fired up neighborhood, Ms. Marvel leads them to the polls.
It’s worth noting Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter personally donated to Trump’s charities earlier this year which upset some of Marvel’s own like G. Willow Wilson. On an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Marvel’s director of content Sana Amanat blasted Trump for causing “irreparable damage to young Americans and minorities everywhere.”
“Words and images are really powerful, and these young kids are actually having a perception of themselves that are not true and that’s so dangerous,” she explained to the NBC host.
The 2016 race has been especially divisive, with no help from Trump’s rhetoric that fires up frustrated Americans suspicious of a changing America. For that reason, Ms. Marvel is a perfect symbol to encourage people to vote — as a woman, as a young person, as a person of color. Even if she’s fictional, she can still inspire those who listen.
Ms. Marvel #13 will be released November 30.
