Marvel’s newest superhero is an Arab-American from Dearborn, Michigan

Like anything Marvel produces, its newest superhero is shrouded in mystery. Not much is known about his powers or his background, except that he hails from Dearborn, Michigan, is considered a “gentle giant” and wears an amulet around his neck — a nod to his Arab-American heritage.

Fadi Fadlalah, aka the superhero Amulet, will appear in a new Ms. Marvel comic alongside Kamala Khan, a Pakistani American teen.

Khan took up Ms. Marvel’s mantle in 2013, becoming Marvel’s first Muslim superhero.

Jordanian-American illustrator Sara Alfageeh, who co-created Amulet with Marvel scribe and author Saladin Ahmed, said the two based his hero design on the nazar, a symbol thought to protect wearers from the evil eye — or the “harmful intentions of others.”

“We tend to associate sharp corners and edges with evil, and rounded designs and circles with good,” she said in a statement to Marvel. “This character is a gentle giant, so I wanted to make sure that even with his size he was shaped like a friend.”

Ahmed, a Detroit native and Arab-American who said he “basically learned to read from Marvel Comics,” is keeping most of the details about Amulet’s background a surprise. He did say, though, that Amulet’s got magical powers.

If the cover of the comic is any indication, Amulet is a hulking hero with fiery blue hair and an ally to the young Ms. Marvel. If their pairing proves successful, the duo could keep up the crime-fighting for years to come.

Amulet makes his official Marvel debut in March 2020.