Admittedly, I am not a TV person. But with The Marvels being released, I knew I just had to watch Ms. Marvel prior to seeing the latest Marvel feature film. What’s refreshing about the Ms. Marvel series, created by Bisha K. Ali, is that while it is bite sized with 6 episodes in its entirety, the Marvel superhero mini-series still manages to pack a powerful punch full of familial love, light, culture, representation and heart.
Kamala Khan, played by Iman Vellani, is unlike any other superhero character I’ve seen before. Not only is she a typical civilian set in the modern age and a young strong female lead, but she’s also a person of colour, a fangirl, and a cosplayer! Personally, I’ve never seen a more relatable character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sorry, Shang-Chi!
A lot of the series showcases the endearing and hilarious family dynamic between Kamala and her parents, but especially her mother Muneeba played by the fantastic Zenobia Shroff. These moments are just as great as the scenes where Kamala is doing her superhero work. Iman Vellani’s chemistry as Kamala with her friends and family feels real and you can’t help but love these characters and feel connected to them, as if they were part of your own neighbourhood and community.
I particularly adored Kamala’s bestie Bruno Carrelli played by Matt Lintz who is as adorably kind as he is nerdy. His on-screen chemistry with Vellani is super sweet and I wish we saw more of his character throughout the series. Hopefully there’s a second season dedicated to the Pakistani-American superhero character so we find out more about what happened to not only Kamala but her loved ones.
The storyline for Ms. Marvel is rich with representation, culture and heart in ways I’ve not seen in years. It means so much more knowing that Kamala comes from a real world place – Jersey City in New Jersey, USA, and not some off planet, fantasy land.
It’s strange to say that over the years, for superhero characters, I’ve loved and have preferred seeing them come from a normal place, despite being bestowed superpowers that make them inhuman. Sure, we love the fantasy world origins that some superhero tales provide, but with the influx and oversaturation of superheroes in cinemas and on the TV these days, it’s the ones that come from a normal place that I believe are the most effective right now.
This is why I love Kamala Khan so much; you see her attend high school, go to a mosque, celebrate Eid al-Fitr, and gush over her love interests in the most natural way. Representation and culture wise, the cultural costuming and their colours are just as wonderous as Ms. Marvel’s superhero costume itself. Visually, the animation art that is seen throughout the series has a special comic-book like charm that is gorgeous, light-hearted and super cute!
While watching the Ms. Marvel series, I couldn’t help but wish that there was a superhero from the Philippines, Thailand, or Vietnam that had the same thorough, loving, and passionate treatment that Ms. Marvel has received with the existence of this wonderful streaming series.
With the right amount of thrills, joyful and tear-jerking moments, and phenomenal surprises, Marvel Studios’ and Disney+’s Ms. Marvel is by far one of the best origin stories for a superhero that will hopefully inspire audiences and stick around for years to come. Although I am constantly overwhelmed with the content in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this faultless series is well worth watching.
Ms. Marvel is available for streaming on Disney+ now.