Kamala Khan and Bruno Carrelli's Friendship

Ms. Marvel: Kamala Khan and Bruno Carrelli. They’ve been best friends since childhood. She’s the Super Hero nerd and he’s the science nerd—they gel together. And, they might have feelings for each other? Well, “might” is an understatement. Bruno and Kamala do, but things are a little (a lot) more confusing when one friend has a Super Hero alter ego.

We’ve compiled the most pivotal moments of Kamala and Bruno’s friendship in the comics. The good, the bad, and the complicated. It’s going to be a long and bumpy ride that you can catch up with on Marvel Unlimited.

FUTURE BFFS

Kamala first met Bruno in the second grade. The teacher explained to Kamala’s parents that Bruno and his younger brother, Vick, were currently living with their grandparents—due to his mother losing custody of them—and that Bruno will be unable to go on an upcoming field trip. The Khans offered to pay his activity fees, and Mrs. Khan tells Kamala to play with him. She doesn’t want to but does anyway. They connect over Bruno’s Tween Mutant Samurai Turtles shirt and Kamala’s bangles, which Bruno thinks are pretty. A friendship is born.

SECRET IDENTITY

Kamala, in the shapeshifted form of Captain Marvel, tried to protect the Circle Q from being robbed, and as a result, was shot. While Bruno called for an ambulance, Kamala revealed herself and in tandem her powers. Bruno was a little upset at first that she didn’t tell him immediately, but even more so that she hid behind Captain Marvel’s face. Like he said, Kamala is the “the coolest girl [he’s] ever met.”

KAMALA’S CRUSH

Just when Bruno thinks that he and Kamala are cool, Kamran, Kamala’s childhood friend, entered the picture. He’s handsome, intelligent, has a car, and has Kamala’s attention. In MS. MARVEL (2014) #14, Aamir, Kamala’s older brother, explained to Bruno that he and Kamala could never work—as much as the Khans like him—because of their different cultures and religions. Bruno tried hard to not love Kamala, but it wasn’t so easy to do.

MUTUAL FEELINGS

It finally happened…Kamala and Bruno admit their feelings for each other. Unfortunately, Kamala couldn’t focus on being in a relationship because she wanted to give everything toward being Ms. Marvel. Plus, their conversation happened before the literal end of the world. Thanks, SECRET WARS.

LOVE TRIANGLE

Things had been good for Kamala. She became an Avenger (yay!) and was balancing high school life. For the most part. Kamala asked Nakia and Zoe where Bruno was, and Nakia replied that “he’s with Mike.” Everything came to a screeching halt when Kamala found out that “Mike” is short for Michaela. The bromance was a romance! Kamala was the one who suggested to Bruno to be happy without her pre-SECRET WARS, but she didn’t think seeing him with another girl would hurt so badly. Even Ms. Marvel isn’t immune to a love triangle.

BREAKING POINT

A plan gone wrong (see MS. MARVEL #9) sent Bruno to the hospital. When he finally woke up, Kamala was ecstatic to tell him that she disassembled the Cadets and argued against Captain Marvel and predictive justice, but Bruno didn’t want to hear any of it. In fact, he tells her that he’s leaving for Golden City Polytechnic Prep in Wakanda. With his scholarships gone and facing lingering paralysis on the left side of his body, he wanted nothing to do with Kamala or Ms. Marvel. In fact, he doesn’t want to see her ever again, and it breaks Kamala’s heart.

TRAVELING ABROAD

In MS. MARVEL (2015) #12, Kamala traveled to Karachi, Pakistan to discover missing pieces of her life (and to get away from the pain of losing her best friend). What she does discover is a new friend—Kareem—and meets the Red Dagger, a local hero. The break from home helps Kamala reevaluate her life: she needs Jersey City and vice versa. Meanwhile in Wakanda, issue #18, Bruno daydreams of Kamala. He also feels insignificant at his new school because everyone is smarter than him. After a Vibranium heist/near-death experience with his roommate Kwezi, and meeting the Black Panther, Bruno is a bit more hopeful about the future.

LOVE TRIANGLE, PART TWO

The Red Dagger, visiting from Karachi, gave Kamala her first kiss. She’s all bubbly and warm…until she noticed Bruno (and Kwezi), who had just returned from Wakanda. And Bruno absolutely saw that kiss. Kamala’s euphoria almost immediately turned to confusion. Meanwhile, Bruno and Mike, who broke up before he left for Wakanda, decide to be friends after conversing. At the spring fling dance, Bruno sees his chances of being with Kamala dwindle by the minute as she and the Red Dagger team up against Doc.X (issues #14-17). But, Bruno’s relieved to hear at the end of the brawl that the Red Dagger is returning home.

THE ALMOST KISS

It’s revealed while Kamala and Bruno are in Phys Ed that they almost kissed the month before. (You can see them hiding behind a tree in MAGNIFICENT MS. MARVEL #6.) The reason the kiss didn’t happen is because Kamala spotted her dad with a woman who isn’t her mother; she would later find out the woman was a doctor. Now aware of her dad’s condition, she let Bruno know that she couldn’t stress out her parents with what’s going on with her/them.

THE ACTUAL KISS

The Khans were at the hospital after Mr. Khan passed out at home. Doctor Strange agreed to conduct the surgery on Kamala’s dad, but suddenly the hospital fell under attack from Mister Hyde! Ms. Marvel managed to get him out of the building, and in the heat of the moment, Kamala kissed Bruno! Both of them are shocked. The kiss wasn’t lingered upon as Kamala had to stop Mister Hyde from wreaking havoc in Jersey City.

NOT A DATE

Kamala finally got a break. Her dad’s surgery was successful, and her sentient outfit, Stormranger, has been defeated. (Wouldn’t be the first time a costume went rogue…) Kamala and Bruno were heading to the movies to meet with Nakia and Zoe when Bruno asked if their friends or her parents knew about them—they do not. Bruno felt as if Kamala was embarrassed by him, but she reassured him that she just needs time. So, they go to the movies as “two extremely almost aggressively platonic friends who don’t let their hands touch.”

NOT (YET) OFFICIAL

Bruno and Kamala finally chat about the kiss they shared in issue #9, agreeing it was nice, but that they have “buts” about the moment. According to Bruno, Mike has returned from spending a semester in Italy, implying that he still has feelings for her. Kamala is prepared to blame the multi-part mess of the Stormranger suit, her father’s health, her life, and being hunted down by C.R.A.D.L.E., but is suddenly jealous of Mike too. Both agree that the timing, going from friends to a “sort-of-not-really couple,” doesn’t feel….right. But that doesn’t stop them from continuing to be best friends. Who better to be weird and fight crime with?

So, are Kamala and Bruno still friends? As of MAGNIFICIENT MS. MARVEL (2019) #18, they indeed remain so. Will they ever officially get together? That’s for them to decide. Even if they don’t, Kamala and Bruno are a formidable duo. And every comic of their friendship can be revisited is on Marvel Unlimited!

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