Cornell has been aided in the development of this character by a panel of Muslim women: Mona Bayoumi, Safiya Sayed Baharun, Farida Patel, and Sohere Roked. Faiza Hussain, originally written in early scripts as "Faisa", is named after the former England cricket CaptainNasser Hussain and although she is a British Muslim character, creator Paul Cornell has stated he does not want Faiza to be a pillar for the entire British Muslim community: He also did not want her to say anything religious until in a situation where an everyday religious person would and steered her away from the normal clichés associated with Muslim characters.
Faiza Hussain is the only daughter of a family of Pakistani heritage who live in Chelmsford in Essex. A London-based Muslim medical doctor, and British superherofangirl, Faiza initially gets caught up in the Skrull'sinvasion as she is performing battlefield triage while the Skrull attack is going on around her. While tending to the wounded, alongside the Black Knight, Faiza Hussain is struck by a Skrull laser weapon, this weapon seemingly gives Faiza powers which she uses to help Black Knight fend off more Skrulls. After the defeat of the Skrulls, Faiza Hussain became the wielder of Excalibur, and joined MI:13 as Black Knight's steward. When Dracula attacked the United Kingdom he personally attacked Faiza's family, injuring her mother while kidnapping her father and sending forces to attack the members of MI:13. In the aftermath of the attack, Pete Wisdom deduced that attack's aim was to keep Faiza out of the battle. He gives Faiza the codename "Excalibur" because he wants Dracula and his forces to hear and know that the mythical blade is still an active part of MI:13. During the Secret Empire storyline, Faiza appears as a member of the Champions of Europe alongside Ares, Captain Britain, Guillotine, Outlaw, and Peregrine. Alongside Squirrel Girl and Enigma, the Champions free Paris, France from a Hydra invasion force.
Powers and abilities
Faiza Hussain is a trained doctor, and appears to have a wide knowledge of the superhuman population. Although being an unpowered character in the first issue, Paul Cornell stated Faiza's power would manifest during the first few issues of Captain Britain and MI:13. In issue 2 this came to pass, when Faiza Hussain showed an extreme level of control over biological organisms; she was able to disassemble a human body into its component parts while keeping the subject alive and stopped a horde of Skrulls by stopping their bodies from being able to move. She is seen to use these powers not only on living organisms, but also on other kinds of materials. The extent and classification of these powers are yet to be revealed, but Black Knight described them as purely defensive. In a Q&A Cornell outlined her powers: Faiza's control over biological organisms does not work on any character or being infused with magic. She also wields the sword Excalibur.
Other versions
In the Age of Ultron crossover, Faiza Hussain briefly adopts the mantle of Captain Britain from Brian Braddock in case he would die battling Ultron. This version of the character returns in the two-part Secret Wars tie-in, Captain Britain and the Mighty Defenders. While she refers to herself as Captain Britain, she has no memory of what, where, or who "Britain" is due to the recent destruction of the Multiverse.
