“Ms. Marvel” Episode 1 R&R: In Her Head but In Our Heart
“I’m so filled with imagination and charm that my eyes glow.”
By Rob LoAlbo
All photos courtesy Marvel Studios and Disney Plus
In the opening episode of Disney+’s new Ms. Marvel series, our main character Kamala Khan comments to her best friend Bruno, “It’s not really the brown girls from Jersey City who save the world,” a statement not only false but limited:
She might just also save the MCU.
“No, wait. Don’t thank me just yet. Let me finish the show first. And , you’re welcome.”
In what might be arguably the best opening episode of any of the Marvel Disney series so far, the show breathes a much needed breath of charm and spunk into what has lately been kind of a slog on the platform. With its eye-popping visuals and adorably charismatic performance by lead Iman Vellani, it’s completely engrossing, taking the viewer into the melancholic, plucky world of teenager Khan as she navigates high school, an overbearing mother, unrequited love, and teen popularity. It’s candy-colored fun wrapped in an angsty coming-of-age story, but what makes it work well-beyond any other Marvel property, is that Kamala is completely relatable.
Bismillah: grab some halal (it’s not haram, beta) and enjoy some spoilers. Chalo!
As a cypher, a stand-in for the die-hard Marvel fan, we see ourselves in the character of Kamala as she fangirls over the exploits of her favorite Avenger, Captain Marvel. Although Carol Danvers might not be your superhero of choice, who of us hasn’t completely geeked out at seeing our favorite heroes up on the screen, or dressed like them for Halloween or a convention, or has our room plastered with their faces? (Even I am completely guilty of having a hallway filled with superhero art .)
Sticking the superhero landing always looks so easy in my head.
Kamala’s got her own animated YouTube channel that plays like a much more artistic Peter Parker production. Retelling the story of the battles against Thanos (apparently she knows all the details through Scott Lang who spilled the beans on a pseudo-NPR podcast. This show is really good about filling in many MCU plot holes.) She’s got quality uploads: now if she can only get more than 2 subscribers (an all too relatable statistic, amIright Paul?)
You see, Kamala is a legend in her own mind. Her Muslim family doesn’t seem to recognize her greatness, either. Her domineering mom nags her at every turn and internalizes the issue when her daughter fails, her dorky father doesn’t understand her despite his best attempts, and her brother Aamir gets to do everything she doesn’t and teases her about her age and toys. From that description, it sounds like the everyday family, right? Yet what makes the show so special is how deeply authentic the cultural aspects are as families pray in Urdu and Arabic, wear traditional Muslim dress, and pepper their language with words that the rest of the word interprets as sneezes.
Saving the universe? Easy. Driving test in Jersey City? Impossible.
When Kamala fails her drivers test because she crashes into the car behind her, who can’t relate to a mother hen who immediately attacks and blames the instructor? Or who then packs her bags for a guilt trip about how hard she worked to give her daughter everything she ever wanted (except self-esteem)? And whose father is always there to temper whatever mom throws Kamala’s way? It’s a universal existence, and it’s writing and character work like this that makes the show so emotionally identifiable.
Packing a lot of character development into a short time, Kamala daydreams every other minute with the attention span of a chipmunk on speed. She zones out in the middle of conversations as an escape from the stress of her life, something we see as her guidance counselor lays out all the junior year expectations of college and SATs. (I can relate: I can barely pay attention in a faculty meeting without daydreaming about summer and vacation.) She tries to smile her way through life and keep up a positive attitude, but so often that smile fades the moment she turns away with a joke to mask her pain and disappointment, and her expressive face goes all crestfallen. Thank goodness she’s got Bruno, though, the one person in the world who not only appreciates Kamala but is the sole non-bot commentator on her YouTube page. Watching them interact, the two get each other so much I feel a cuteness implosion coming on.
“Remember our codenames: You’re Thelma and I'm Sundance.”
Her counselor tells her that she should pull herself together and “join reality” which is really hard when she lives in a world filled with invading animation and Super Smash Bros. And with AvengerCon coming up and Kamala’s costume almost fully airbrushed, she’s realizing that with great expectations comes great responsibility, but only if it comes with a free-spirited existence (as when Kamala praises the news of a friend who broke off her wedding to go to Europe and “find herself”—something Kamala is failing to do thus far).
Kamala longs to break free of the constraints of her family’s religious and cultural traditions, but it’s a little hard when mom is constantly throwing little-Hulk salwar kameezes at you. (And AGAIN—despite the culture and religious aspects being fairly foreign to most American audiences, Kamala’s wants and desires still resonate.) She just wants to be a superhero. Is that really so hard? Apparently, it’s harder than getting to AvengerCon!
“No, you cannot has kebabs. I don’t know what that means and why you keep asking me that.”
After developing an overly long and dramatic plan to get to the convention (“So, your plan is to take the bus?”), one that was way cooler in her head, Kamala manages to make it there with some complications but in one piece. And boy, does creator Bisha K. Ali understand superhero culture with more life-sized ideas and trendy t-shirts than you can shake a Groot stick at. The Con’s top moment is the cosplay contest, something Kamala has been prepping for her whole life. She grabs her grandmother’s costume jewelry bangle to give the costume a personal touch, but when she puts it on and her eyes pulsate, it’s clear that grandma’s similarly day-dreamy nature goes well-beyond a need for Ritalin. (As for her powers, it’s still unclear if it’s tied to the jewelry or if it’s a been-in-you-all-along-Dumbo kind of thing.)
So, when Kamala shoots particles, or something, from her hands, the crowd cheers but damage gets done to some surrounding props, which honestly gets a little too goofy and high-stakesy, even for this show. And ripped right from the comics, Kamala gets all stretchy and saves Zoe, the most popular girl in school (with 80,000 subscribers!). Like us, we’re a little unclear as to what her powers are, but the coming episodes will explore that for us as we discover alongside our lead, even if mom is going to cosmic-block her at every turn.
“No, really.. Cardboard helmets are totally cool. I read that somewhere online.”
Regardless of a convention tonal misstep, every single moment is pure joy, and I smiled my way through every goofy but grounded moment. Although I can’t attest to the seemingly authentic cultural aspects of the show, as a high school educator, I can say it’s spot on and nails it. Or at least nails the way teens view high school, as every pained, distracted look on Vellani’s face tells me so (in her first role?!?).
Watching Kamala pour her dejected heart out to Bruno on a rooftop about how much she hurt her father only to switch emotions on a dime when she play-fights with homemade “Photon Gloves” successfully captures the simultaneous joy and heartache of being 16. The show’s arresting visuals enhance that theme, with co-directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah revealing a thoroughly clear vision with its deft blending of imagination, superhero derring-do, and integrated animation—it’s all like a peek inside Kamala’s head. And with every superhero show and movie being about some world-changing, universe obliterating threat, it’s awesome to see a show whose stakes are about growing up, the scariest stakes in all our lives.
She’s willing to fight you to prove just how unpopular she is.
It’s a fantastic start, and we can only hope that the show can maintain it, but I’m also wary enough to know that we’ve been burned by good starts that devolved into talking hippos before. Or swooping falcons that were soapboxing by episode six. Or magical witches that ended their show in a “bohner” joke. Still, like Kamala, I can retreat into my magical inner perfect superhero show world and hope that it will.
Star City Rating : 4 ½ out of 5
Next week: Testing of our superhero skills montage!