Marvel launches their next superhero, Ms. Marvel, in their newest Disney+ series and if the first two episodes are any indication, it’s sure to be a hit.
Wednesdays are certainly going to be very busy for three weeks in June. The first three episodes will launch at the same time as Obi-Wan Kenobi is finishing off the second half of its run. Once we get past June 22, Ms. Marvel should have the attention on Wednesdays.
I’ve tried to keep spoilers very light below.
Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) may just be the most unique Marvel superhero to date. This isn’t become she’s a Muslim American teenager attending high school in Jersey City. No, it’s because she’s an unapologetic fan of Captain Marvel (Brie Larson). She also writes fan fiction about the Marvel heroes. We’ll certainly see if she continues to fangirl as she becomes one of them. While her official costume will come into play during the remaining four episodes, Khan stars out as a Captain Marvel cosplayer. Otherwise Kamala is not a popular student at school. Even at home, she has to get creative when it comes to being able to go to Avengercon or a friend’s party.
Outside of her family life, you’d be hard-pressed to find Kamala without Bruno Carrelli (Matt Lintz) or Nadia Bahadir (Yasmeen Fletcher) nearby. They are her closest friends and Bruno becomes her confidant when he starts developing superpowers. Unlike her being an Inhuman in comics, Kamala’s powers come from a magical bangle. You can blame the failure of Inhumans for this part of it. Had the series not been short-lived and kept away from the mainstream MCU, things could be different. Even if Marvel tries to go at it again in a few years, I doubt that Kamala will see a retcon to her MCU character.
One of the big set pieces in the early episodes is Avengercon, not unlike your typical comic cons. Avengercon pays tribute to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Anyway, let’s just say that a prominent location sees a major rebuilding. I wonder if Avengercon will play a role in future series and movies to come or if it’s just a one-off. One organization that does come back into play is the Department of Damage Control, represented by Agents Sadie Deever (Alysia Reiner) and Cleary (Arian Moayed). Are they the new S.H.I.E.L.D.? It is hard to say but they’ve also been featured in a number of films and series now.
The studio certainly finds a way to change up the tone on this series. Honestly, every series feels different from each other. Even though Kamala is in high school like Peter Parker, the two titles could not be more different in tone. One of the things that makes this series very unique is the animation aspect. This really speaks to Kamala’s imagination. It’s one of those cases where you also know what is real and what’s not.
Disney sent two episodes for review. The watermarks are very distracting to the eye. I look forward to rewatching the episodes without my email address stretching across the center of the screen. While it’s a privilege to receive press screeners, the size and position of the Disney watermarks are the worst among all the studios. It makes it really hard to try and spot the easter egg for this reason.
Much like WandaVision, Ms. Marvel is also going to setup The Marvels. My guess is that the sequel will not be disappointing for the fans of this series. Well, we can only hope so. I really want to see how things play out over the course of the season before rendering my final verdict. For the time being, Ms. Marvel offers a look at life that we really do not get to see in the MCU.
CREATOR/HEAD WRITER: Bisha K. Ali
DIRECTORS: Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah (101/106), Meera Menon (102/103), and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (104/105)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah, Bisha K. Ali, Sana Amanat
CAST: Iman Vellani, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Fawad Khan, Laurel Marsden, Arian Moayed, Adaku Ononogbo, Alysia Reiner, Azhar Usman, Laith Nakli, Nimra Bucha, Travina Springer, with Aramis Knight
Disney+ launches Ms. Marvel on June 8, 2022. Weekly episodes will follow on Wednesdays. Grade: 3.5/5
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