REVIEW -- Ms. Marvel (Disney+ Exclusive Series, Episodes 1-6)

Ms. Marvel is an American television miniseries created by Bisha K. Ali for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics featuring the character Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel. It is the seventh television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) produced by Marvel Studios, sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. It follows Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old fangirl of the Avengers who struggles to fit in until she gains her own powers. Ali served as head writer with Adil & Bilall leading the directing team.

Iman Vellani stars as Kamala Khan, with Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Laurel Marsden, Azhar Usman, Rish Shah, Arian Moayed, Alysia Reiner, Laith Nakli, Nimra Bucha, Travina Springer, Adaku Ononogbo, Samina Ahmad, Fawad Khan, Mehwish Hayat, Farhan Akhtar, and Aramis Knight also starring. The series was announced with Ali's involvement in August 2019. Vellani was cast in September 2020, with Adil & Bilall, Meera Menon, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy hired as the series' directors. Filming began in early November 2020, shooting in Atlanta, Georgia, and New Jersey, before concluding in Thailand in May 2021.

Ms. Marvel premiered on June 8, 2022, and ran for six episodes until July 13. It is part of Phase Four of the MCU. The series received positive reviews, particularly for its creative visual style and Vellani's performance. Ms. Marvel sets-up the events of the film The Marvels (2023), in which Vellani reprises her role as Khan.

Premise

Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old fangirl of the Avengers, particularly Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel, struggles to fit in until she gains her own powers.

Episode sUMMARIES

Episode 1: "Generation Why"

Kamala Khan is a 16-year-old high schooler and fangirl of the Avengers, particularly Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel. After failing a driving test, Kamala and her best friend Bruno Carrelli finish her Captain Marvel cosplay for "AvengerCon" while avoiding her strict parents, Yusuf and Muneeba. Kamala receives a package from her grandmother Sana that includes a golden bangle which Muneeba says is junk. After failing to convince her parents to let her go to AvengerCon, Kamala sneaks out with Bruno to attend and takes the bangle as part of her cosplay. After getting there and dressing up, she puts on the bangle and it causes her to project constructs of cosmic energy. This inadvertently causes havoc, during which Kamala uses her powers to save her classmate Zoe Zimmer. Bruno rushes Kamala home, where a distraught Muneeba pleads with her to focus on her own life. In a mid-credits scene, Department of Damage Control (DODC) agents P. Cleary and Sadie Deever watch a video of Kamala's incident at AvengerCon and head to New Jersey to find and detain her.

Episode 2: "Crushed"

Kamala begins training to control her powers with Bruno, who deduces that the bangle activated superpowers that Kamala already had within her. Kamala, Bruno, and their friend Nakia Bahadir attend a party organized by Zimmer where they meet a new senior, Kamran, who Kamala befriends. Bruno becomes frustrated when Kamala chooses to spend time with Kamran instead of training. After seeing a vision of a mysterious woman, Kamala asks Sana and Muneeba about her great-grandmother Aisha, the bangle's original owner, but both dismiss her. Yusuf says young Sana lost her way during the partition of India, but was mysteriously able to find her father again. After questioning Zimmer about her savior at AvengerCon, Cleary and Deever order a sweep of the tri-state area, targeting South Asian communities. At an Eid al-Adha celebration, a young boy slips from a mosque balcony and almost falls before Kamala saves him with her powers. Kamala is chased by DODC agents led by Deever, but is saved by Kamran who introduces her to his mother Najma, the woman from Kamala's vision.

Episode 3: "Destined"

Najma explains that she and Kamran are part of a group of five enhanced beings known as the Clandestines, who claim to be Djinns that were exiled from the Noor dimension. Najma says Aisha was also a Clandestine, and asks for Kamala's help in using the bangle to let them return to the Noor dimension. Kamala agrees, but Bruno warns her that interdimensional travel could be dangerous, so she asks Kamran for more time to ensure that they can do it safely. Kamran agrees, but an impatient Najma decides to force Kamala to help them. Kamala's brother Aamir marries his fiancée Tyesha, but Kamran crashes the wedding to warn Kamala before the other Clandestines arrive. Kamala, Bruno, and Kamran are overpowered while Najma tries to use the bangle, which triggers a vision of a train. The DODC agents arrive and capture the Clandestines, including Kamran. As Kamala and Bruno escape, Nakia sees Kamala using her powers. Sana contacts Kamala, revealing that she also saw the vision of the train and insisting that Kamala and Muneeba visit her in Karachi.

Episode 4: "Seeing Red"

Kamala and Muneeba travel to Karachi and reunite with Sana, who reveals to Kamala that the bangle is trying to convey a message through the vision of the train. The next day, a masked Kamala goes to the Karachi train station to investigate but is attacked by Kareem, a member of the Red Daggers vigilante group who initially mistakes her for one of the Clandestines. Kareem takes Kamala to the Red Daggers' hideout, where Kamala learns from their leader Waleed that the Clandestines are trying to break the Veil of Noor, which separates the Noor dimension from the human world, in order to expand and take over. The Clandestines escape the DODC's supermax prison, but Najma abandons Kamran for his betrayal. Kamala begins training with the Red Daggers to master her powers, but they are interrupted by the Clandestines. A chase ensues, during which Waleed kills one of the Clandestines before Najma kills him in turn. As Kamala and Kareem fend off the Clandestines, Kareem kills one of them and Najma accidentally stabs the bangle, sending Kamala back in time to the partition.

Episode 5: "Time and Again"

In India, 1942, Aisha takes refuge in a village, where Hasan, an Indian independence activist, offers her food and shelter. They fall in love and have a child, Sana. Five years later, Najma finds Aisha and orders her to retrieve the bangle. Aisha leaves it with Sana and attempts to flee to the new nation of Pakistan with her family, but Najma finds and stabs her. Hasan and Sana are separated in the chaos. Kamala is able to interact with Aisha, who asks her to guide Sana before dying. Conjuring a projection of stars to lead Sana to her father, Kamala realizes that she was the one who reunited them per the stories her parents had told of that night. Returning to the present, Kamala finds that Najma's strike had opened the Veil of Noor, but it vaporizes anyone who interacts with it. Najma transfers her power to Kamran before sacrificing herself to close the Veil. Sana and Muneeba find Kamala and the latter accepts her daughter's powers. Kamran seeks refuge with Bruno, where they are both attacked by a DODC drone. Kamran destroys it and the ensuing explosion obliterates the store below them.

Episode 6: "No Normal"

Bruno and Kamran go on the run from the DODC, and Deever orders a city-wide lockdown to find them. Kamala crafts a disguise using a gift from her mother and a mask made by Bruno, before reuniting with Bruno and Kamran. With help from Nakia, Aamir, and Zimmer, the group stall the DODC agents. Cleary orders a retreat, but Deever ignores him and leads a detachment of agents in storming the school where Kamala and her friends are hiding. The agents arrest everyone except for Kamala and Kamran, who confronts Deever. She attacks him, but Kamala fights off the agents and allows all of her friends to escape. Deever flees and is later relieved of her duty by Cleary. Kamala becomes a beloved figure in her community and takes the superhero name "Ms. Marvel" after her father explains that her name means "marvel". Kamran flees to Pakistan and meets Kareem, as arranged by Kamala. Bruno later tells Kamala that she possesses a genetic mutation which the rest of her family lacks.^[a] In a mid-credits scene, the bangle emits a strange glow and then Kamala switches places with Carol Danvers.

The Verdict:

I think it goes without saying that Ms. Marvel has been the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most divisive project to date to come out on Disney+ in terms of these TV series that they have been developing for the platform. A lot of people instantly wrote it off upon arrival merely for the fact that the show starred a Muslim/Pakistani-American female protagonist. I personally don't feel that a lot of people gave this show a fair shot, especially after hearing complaints and whining from my own peers about the MCU's insistency on "girl power" since that infamous scene in Avengers: Endgame. That is a fair point as I even cited in my own review of that film that urged me to roll my eyes and cringe at that "forced" moment, but I think the decision to capitalize on Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan is a wise one.

Let's face facts - Marvel Studios doesn't have exclusive rights to Spider-Man, so that means that neither Peter Parker/Spider-Man nor Miles Morales are on the table as young, relatable heroes that young audiences can easily identify with. That being said, I don't see the problem with going with Kamala Khan as a Marvel fangirl being the eyes of the audience in a sense. Iman Vellani definitely won me over in the role as being absolutely "adorkable" in this role as I was dreading that she would come across as complete cringe-inducing in live-action, but she definitely made this work. It didn't hurt that Iman is naturally an actual MCU fangirl in reality as well, so she wasn't going too far outside of her off-screen persona. I hate to put it this way, but Kamala Khan is a great second option for your young relatable hero(ine) if you can't swing exclusivity to either of the Webslingers for your cinematic universe.

If we don't get any interactions like this between these two Spider-Men with Kamala at some point in the MCU, then I don't know what is wrong with these people in charge...

Another reason I think a lot of people weren't too keen on this show is that it's a teen superhero drama in the same vein of what you may find on The CW. A lot of people don't like that type of TV where they juggle relationships (namely love triangles) in the middle of the superheroing and that's not what a lot of people sign up for when they look to get into these shows. As many of my followers know, I was a sucker for Marvel's Cloak & Dagger, Marvel's Runaways, and even DC's own Stargirl currently over on The CW, so I personally don't mind these teen angst-focused stories. Ms. Marvel spends a little too much time establishing and devoting a lot of its screen time to the love triangle between Kamala's best friend, Bruno, the young member of the Red Daggers, Kareem, and Najma's son, Kamran, who is part of the Clandestine. You can't help but feel sad for Bruno getting "friend-zoned" in favor of Kareem and Kamran over the course of the series, but that's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes.

I don't think I have mentioned it before on this blog or on social media, but I never had a problem with the MCU's decision to change Kamala Khan's powers in this continuity. Let's be real here - the Inhumans were a flop in the MCU and it's going to take a lot of time (along with a creative way to overhaul) reintroduce and integrate them to their audience again. The Inhumans are still referred to as MCU's first big failure and that's a blemish that a lot of people aren't going to allow them to forget so easily. So it's a wise move to distance themselves from that label for the time being.

If anyone should be the flag bearer in terms of reinvigorating the Inhumans and reintroducing them, it should be Daisy Johnson/Quake (go out of your way to recast Chloe Bennett in the role too) from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but I could go into a long rant/sales pitch for that someday when I decide to review all of Marvel Rising on Disney+. I need to add that to my "to-do list" for a future Series Retrospective...

Speaking of the Clandestine, I found them to be a complete "misdirect". The more I reflect back onto this series, I think they were intentionally made to be this concept that forces audiences to question along with Kamala how much stock you want to put into her origins. It's almost like a clever way to play up into the controversy among fans about her powers and origins not mirroring the comics in her live-action MCU debut. The Clandestine as a whole come across as a complete waste as a group of villains though in the MCU. I dare say that they were a bigger waste of screen time as the Flagsmashers in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier last year, with both being massive missed opportunities. I found myself being much more forgiving as them as Kamala's antagonists here as they merely served as minor framework to the immersion into Pakistani culture and history presented in this show. I found myself getting lost into the two episodes that explored Kamala's roots (Episodes 4 and 5) more than the principle plot since I found the cultural significance and representation presented in this series much more interest.

I call the Clandestine to be a "misdirect" for another reason as well. The MCU has a pattern of using phrases and terminology to perk the interest of savvy comic book fans, only to direct them down a different rabbit hole where their stories wind up. It's no different here. The Clandestine in this series are the same in merely name only compared to their comic book counterparts. By the end of this show, the Clandestine hold no heavy significance to the overall plot nor to Kamala's future. Najma's impatience proves to be her own downfall after forcing the Door to Noor open, causing it to destroy anything that comes in contact with it. She is forced to sacrifice herself to close it for good while simultaneously transferring her powers to her son, Kamran, who somehow manifests similar powers to Kamala.

I'm not going to lie, but going into the final episode, I was dreading that they were building up to the beyond clichéd and redundant MCU trope for all of their origin stories that the titular hero or heroine has to fight someone with an identical power set. To my pleasant surprise, we didn't get that, even though the stage was laid out for that neatly with a bow and cherry on top. The major antagonist(s) that Kamala has to face in the final episode isn't against Kamran (who I was convinced was going to lash out against Kamala and everyone else once she told him the truth about his mother's death), but against a misguided Damage Control agent (Agent Sadie Deever) who was taking matters into her own control. I understand that it's not everyone's cup of tea as they want some big Avengers-level threat or some world-ending stakes on the line instead of the Home Alone-level antics that were used to deal with the grunts of Damage Control, but it was a breath of fresh air, much like the finale of Hawkeye that we didn't have to go to that level of high stakes in this finale. The Clandestine were gone and the only thing that's left to deal with was Kamran's lack of control with his newfound powers. Kamala ends up aiding in his escape, but Kamran's fate is left open-ended as viewers are left with the image of him arriving to the meeting place with Red Dagger, but who knows whether or not he will help the son of the woman who killed his former leader.

I don't want to undersell how much I loved Ms. Marvel's supporting cast in this show, especially Kamala's two best friends and family circle. They are the glue that holds this show together and adds to the charm that Imani Vellani's Kamala Khan already brings to the table. It's the same strong foundation that drew me both to Marvel's Runaways (back when it was streaming on Hulu) and DC's Stargirl over on The CW. I get it - these teen dramas aren't for everyone, but you can't deny that these are a lovable ensemble of actors and actresses cast to fill these roles in Kamala's corner of the MCU.

You have Kamala's two best friends, Bruno Carrelli (Matt Lintz) and Nakia Bahadir (Yasmeen Fletcher), who want nothing more to be there for their friend in whatever she puts her mind and energy towards. Bruno is Kamala's "tech support" or "guy in the chair" (as how Ned put it to Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Homecoming) in a sense after she gains her powers, but finds himself friend-zoned in terms of making any moves to make anything out of his crush on Kamala that she's completely oblivious to (in typical shonen protagonist fashion...). Nakia identifies with Kamala's struggles to fit in, being of mixed race, while simultaneously breaks a lot of the stereotypes for hijab girls. That alone makes her an interesting character in my own eyes as she's a character who isn't afraid to speak her mind nor settle to being shoehorned in whatever meaningless/trivial role that society would slot her into. She's always aspiring for more and she's a great friend for Kamala to not only look up to but boost her own confidence up as needed.

By the end of this series (or rather season if this gets renewed for another), Kamala gains an unexpected new friend in Zoe Zimmer (Laurel Marsden), the most popular girl at Kamala's high school and a social media influencer. Kamala saved Zoe's life at Avengers Con when her powers first manifested, but chose not to expose her secret to the world. Zoe thought it was best for Kamala to do so when she was ready in a surprise twist for her character.

Muneeba Khan (Zenobia Shroff) and Yusuf Khan (Mohan Kapur) are Kamala's loving, yet over-protective parents. On one hand, I can understand their protective nature for their young daughter, especially in the world that the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes place in post-Snap/Blip for her own safety, but on the other, it comes off a little too demanding. You have to allow your children to breathe a little and some freedoms or they will grow to resent and rebel against you in their adolescent years. Muneeba is harder on Kamala than her father, since she didn't want her daughter to have the same estranged relationship with fantasy stories and delusions like her own mother Sana (Samina Ahmad, Kamala's grandmother).

Aamir Khan (Saagar Shaikh) is Kamala's older brother who wants only the best for Kamala like their parents and serves as their "middleman" of sorts, keeping a watchful eye on his sister and reports his findings to them, much to Kamala's dismay. He marries Tyesha Hillman (Travina Springer) a few episodes into this series with the wedding which winds up as the setting for Kamala's first major battle against the Clandestines. Aamir comes across as a goof, but a big lovable goof that cares the world about his little sister. He even sticks his neck out to aid Kamala in the final episode against the DODC.

Let's be honest here... There's no sugar coating about how comically bad that the DODC (Department of Damage Control) are in this series, especially with Agent Sadie Deever (Alysia Reiner) acting in an antagonistic role for the group. Her motivations are never really explained properly why she is so adamant about capturing this new unidentified meta-human for questioning. Wouldn't you think that they would want that to be an Avengers matter or leave that to S.H.I.E.L.D. to deal with? Y'know, someone who has the manpower and equipment to deal with meta-humans than some normal humans with some fancy guns and StarkTech drones (the same ones that E.D.I.T.H. controlled from Spider-Man: Far From Home) that aren't explained how they were acquired from Stark Industries after the ordeal with Mysterio. A simple throwaway line about Pepper Potts (acting as current head of Stark Industries) giving the technology to various law enforcement efforts would have resolved the confusion there, but it's just comical at the lack of effort in that explanation.

Deever's animosity is even more confusing in the last episode where she goes against her own superior's orders to take matters into her own hands and makes a bigger spectacle of this entire ordeal in the public eye by sending militarized government agents into a high school to hunt down teenagers with laser-sights and "non-lethal" weaponry. I failed to see what was so "non-lethal" about these weapons when in some shots these weapons were leaving holes through walls and in others they were they barely leaving a dent. I think that was mostly half-assed editing on the cutting room floor after Disney+ and Marvel Studios had to add a "trigger warning" for that final episode. I was disappointed that Ms. Marvel failed to capitalize on this trend in media to single out misconduct and poor behavior in law enforcement to one single individual instead of the system as a whole - the "bad apple" trope. It would have been a MUCH more powerful message to pointing out Islamophobia in America, especially when in Episode 6, Nakia points out that "This isn't our first rodeo" when everyone whipped out their IDs when the DODC busted into their mosque looking for Kamran. She even mentions that their mosque is always under surveillance, so it would have been beneficial to push the envelope even further with that subject manner. This matter could have been easily rectified by having the DODC take the full blame for hunting down Kamala, only to be thwarted by her and her friends' Home Alone-style antics. It would have been embarrassing for the organization as a whole, but it's a much better message than the cringe-worthy scene of inserting the local law enforcement to shield (in a forced manner no less...) Kamala and the other innocent bystanders from Deever.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the American justice system is flawed. That's a core component of a wide array of these superhero stories in both print (comics and novels) and cinema (TV shows and film), hence why these vigilantes exist in the first place. It's childish to place the blame on one individual when those flaws go all the way to the foundation of that system. Ms. Marvel's biggest shortcoming is failing to show law enforcement attitudes (as ugly as they may be) to non-white individuals. Everything else about this show is compelling and interesting from a cultural standpoint, highlighting the harsh realities of being a Muslim Pakistani teenager living in America, but I felt that the MCU shied away from what could have been a stronger finale if they changed that one crucial aspect of the portrayal of these antagonists within the DODC.

I personally found Ms. Marvel's two most culturally appealing episodes to be Episodes 4 and 5, where a lot of critics point to as where the plot deviates for the detriment of the show. The change of scenery/locale was admittedly abrupt, but justified after the reveal at the end of Episode 3. Kamala wasn't going to get all of the answers she needed by staying in Jersey City, so this field trip to get back to her roots was reminiscent of the episode of Static Shock, titled "Static in Africa" where the titular black superhero is on a family trip to Africa. It invokes a feeling of belonging that he could convey nor identify with back home. If you have never seen that episode, the entire series up on HBO Max for streaming. I can safely assume that was the creators' intentions for Kamala at this point in the narrative for Episode 4. There, she wasn't the Pakistani kid; she was just a kid - no different than anyone else growing up there. Growing up as a POC (person of color), I can easily identify with the struggles with wanting to belong and to identify with other people that do and don't look like you. Episode 5 would take another diversion from Kamala's story in a sense as it serves as an origin story for her great-grandmother, Aisha, before both of their fates are intertwined as owners of the bangle. That episode would end with Najma transferring her powers to Kamran and sacrificing herself to close the Seal of Noor while simultaneously revealing Kamala's powers to Muneeba and Sana. Muneeba and Sana's reunion had already started the healing process between them so Muneeba was already starting to dial back a bit in terms of how strict she was with Kamala, so I didn't find a problem with her being suddenly OK with Kamala's antics after finding out about her powers unlike most critics. I thought Episode 5 was a great history piece for the MCU, showing the effects of war and poverty on Pakistan and its people. I personally thought that the insights and information presented in these two previously mentioned episodes added more weight in relating to not just Kamala Khan, but to her race as a whole.

Closing Thoughts

Let's just address the elephant in the room right off the bat... So Ms. Marvel is a MUTANT in the MCU!!?? You weren't mistaken. You DID hear the X-Men: The Animated Series chime after Bruno mentioned to Kamala that her powers were some sort of a mutation. This reveal makes Kamala Khan the first recognized mutant in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I know that this news may upset fans of her comic book origins as one of the Inhumans but her co-creator Sana Amanat stated in an recent interview that Kamala Khan was originally planned to be a mutant in the comics, but things changed at the time. She's neither confirming nor denying whatever Kevin Feige's plans for the future, but the seed has already been planted for the possibility of Ms. Marvel and the X-Men crossing paths whenever mutants properly arrive in the MCU. Personally, I found this reveal to be very ironic given the fact that Kamala's first "proper" Marvel Team-Up in her own solo book was with the X-Men's Wolverine. Even if Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel proves not to be a mutant either and this reveal ends up being another "misdirect" like her origins being tied to the Clandestine/Djinn, it comes down to what Kamala said - it's just another label. No matter what distinction they place on Kamala Khan, she's a strong enough of a character to stand on her own.

So what about that Captain Marvel cameo at the end? I know people were bummed out that Carol Danvers didn't have a significant role in this series in terms of cameos, but I was fine with this one minor tease during the credits. It sets up Kamala's continued adventures in The Marvels in Phase 5 while simultaneously giving Carol a taste of how big of a fan(girl) that Kamala is of her heroics thus far. I was glad that Carol's presence didn't undermine Kamala's own origin story as including her in this story would have trivialized the titular conflict even more than it already was and distracted the focus in this show from its cultural significance that made it so appealing to me in its later episodes.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

Much like Moon Knight before it, Ms. Marvel is going to be a tough sell to a lot of people - mainly those who may not be enamored with the cultural representation highlighted throughout the series. Then there's others who aren't too keen on the teen angst-style TV drama presentation for this show that leans a lot into comparisons to superhero shows shown over on the CW. Poorly written villains doesn't help the case here either, but I personally found Imani Vellani's charm as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, along with her supporting cast, to shine throughout above all else. That being said, I know that not all viewers won't be as forgiving on this as I was. A lot of that was contributed to the fact that I was reading her origin comics while the episodes were rolling out, so I could see the comparisons vividly and judge accordingly.

All that I ask for my followers and peers to do when watching this show is to go into it with an open mind. Don't go into this with your mind already tuned negatively to react out of disgust assuming that this show is shoving more "RAH RAH GIRL POWER!" down your throats or trying to be "woke" with a female POC protagonist. I think if more people approached this show as a show where the protagonist is a reflection of ourselves - someone who loves the MCU - who goes through the daily struggles of juggling a normal life while trying to fit in. If you can't identify with a story like that at any point of your life, then I don't know what you're looking for here and this is a show obviously not for you.