Ms. Marvel: Season 1

 

Based on: Marvel comics featuring the titular character, created by Sana Amanat, Stephen Wacker, G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona, Jamie McKelvie

Created by: Bisha K. Ali

Executive producers: Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Sana Amanat, Adil & Bilall, Bisha K. Ali

Starring: Iman Vellani (Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel), Matt Lintz (Bruno Carrelli), Yasmeen Fletcher (Nakia Bahadir), Zenobia Shroff (Muneeba Khan), Mohan Kapur (Yusuf Khan), Saagar Shaikh (Aamir Khan), Rish Shah (Kamran)

I was introduced to this comic in grad school, believe it or not!

It was one of the assigned readings in a Young Adult Fiction class.  I'm not a big comic reader (I just don't enjoy the comic platform) so I only read what was assigned, but based on that, I knew I liked the character a lot and so I was thrilled when I saw this show announced! 

The series drew some controversy before it was even released on Disney+ due to changes in Kamala's origin story and powers. It gained more controversy among the Muslim community mid-way through in the show's airing due to the mythology it was promoting. It also drew skepticism from some of the Christian community for having a Muslim protagonist. I'll address these issues briefly. 

• The writer for the series (Bisha Ali) addresses the powers and origin story change as being necessary to merge her story in with the rest of the MCU, which was part of her job. You can read more about her decision here. 
• Second, referring to the Muslim community's reaction to Kamala's origin as a jinn, I can understand the frustration of blasphemous-seeming theology being promoted in the media. It happens to me as a Christian all the time. There are very few instances of Christian theology that I actually agree with being promoted, and more often, it's downright harmful. It's simply a matter of writers doing what they need for their character. And more importantly, it's fiction. Also, spoiler, this changes at the end, in a rather exciting way. 
• The third issue is entirely from a Christian lens: making faiths other than Christianity look good. This is honestly a bit ridiculous to me because Marvel isn't Christian and neither is Disney or America. But also, how do we expect to witness to our community if we shun everything that doesn't align with our beliefs? We can't. 

Kamala begins learning about her newly-activated powers

Now, on to bigger and better things. 

I really enjoyed Ms. Marvel. It was a great show from start to finish, and I particularly enjoyed Iman Vellani's performance. I was shocked to read that this was her first real acting gig! I didn't know Marvel was even okay with hiring brand new actors, especially for main roles. Vellani brought a great charisma to every scene that's comparable to Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop from last year's Hawkeye series. Her demeanor was always lighthearted even when dealing with serious issues, but not in a way that undermined the gravity of the situation; it more so brought an air of calmness and benevolence. On that note, I really hope that Kate and Iman get some scenes together! Their chemistry would be so much fun. 

Kamala at "AvengerCon" in the pilot, wearing the bemused, amazed expression she puts on so often in the season and that I came to love her for!

I was also impressed that Ms. Marvel turned out to be more of a supportive family movie than I expected. Especially after the first episode, when Kamala's parents followed all the traditional conservative overbearing religious family tropes, I groaned and expected the worst. (Though it was amusing to see this trope followed for non-Christian families!) Kamala obviously loved her family, knowing their best of intentions and support of her despite their frustrating overprotection and refusal to understand her. However, toward the end of the series, when they visit Kamala's grandmother (Sana) in Pakistan who (known only to Kamala) can help her learn the origin of her powers, the rest of the family begins catching on to her superhero shenanigans and offer only love and support, even when it gets hard. The season finale drove this home when Kamala is confronted by corrupt police officials and the family act as a barricade, allowing her to escape. 

Kamala and her best friend Matt learn her powers together

Kamala's parents, Yusuf and Muneeba, who end up being wholesome and supportive

Kamala's true origins and the resulting conflicts become a bit confusing. The show seems to shuffle these origins around a bit, bringing in another family of jinn (also called Clandestines?) who are quickly revealed to be antagonistic. Things get messy when they visit Pakistan and the jinn try to open a portal to their home dimension (called Noor?), and at that point I frankly lost track of who was an ally and who was bad. The portal becomes dangerous, killing those who try to enter, and the one person who I was sure was an antagonist then sacrifices herself to close the portal. 

Kamala in Pakistan chasing leads on her origin with Kareem (Aramis Knight), an uneasy ally

Kamala, her mother, and grandmother learning to bond together in Pakistan

The show is at its strongest during the episode 5 flashback. Kamala is engulfed in an encompassing vision that allows her to experience Sana's plight leaving India for Pakistan in 1942, during Partition. Kamala is able to witness how Partition and Sana's jinn heritage nearly tears their family apart, but Kamala herself helps bring them back together with her powers. It's both educational and emotionally powerful, an impressive combination. 

The finale as well succeeds in bringing all characters together to deal with an invasion of a corrupt police squad leader who attempts to apprehend Kamala and her friend who also gained jinn powers. Friends and family come together to aid their escape and new aspects of their powers are revealed under the emotional strain. It was a very satisfying ending!