Ms. Marvel – Generation Why review S1 E1

Marvel Studios has conquered an impressive stretch of genres with its Disney+ lineup. With the immensely enjoyable Ms. Marvel, the MCU gets its first coming of age superhero sitcom like The Goldbergs and The Wonder Years.

Clearly, the Spider-Man trilogy explored the struggles of leading a normal high school student life, but Ms. Marvel provides another equally interesting approach. This is the kind of show that seems destined to keep a smile on your face through each episode.

Kamala Khan (an immediately likable Iman Vellani) is a regular high school junior. She likes making YouTube videos, write fanfic and is probably the biggest Captain Marvel fan in this or any other planet.

Her main issue isn’t fighting some world-destroying supervillain but making it to Avengers Con with her BFF Bruno (Matt Lintz, The Walking Dead).

Kamala has been one of Marvel’s few successful new breakout characters. As the most prominent Muslim hero in either Marvel or DC, Kamala has largely managed to avoid the ugly realities when the Big Two try to incorporate diversity into the ranks.

There’s a telling line early on when Kamala says, “It’s not the brown girls from Jersey City who save the world.” For comic fans, Kamala has been a refreshing arrival on the scene and the same should hold true on a larger scale for MCU audiences.

Showrunner Bisha K. Ali made sure to incorporate some of Kamala’s Pakistani heritage into various aspects of the script. Marvel Studios seemed to learn the important lessons with Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther and has shown a commitment to having directors, writers and cast that authentically reflect the characters on screen.

Hopefully Ms. Marvel resonates as much with Pakistani audiences in the same way Black Panther and Shang-Chi did. Regardless of viewers’ background, Ms. Marvel is a wholly engaging show that thrives on bringing a sense of fun and hope to an MCU landscape that was necessarily getting increasingly bleaker.

Kamala isn’t dealing through some unresolved trauma. She’s focused on regular things like passing her driver’s license, not getting clobbered in dodgeball and finishing her Captain Marvel cosplay costume.

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What stands out early on in the premiere episode is the sense of fun. Backgrounds randomly animate, emojis pop up on LED boards and there’s a general sense that creativity has won out over anything formulaic with the presentation. Directors Adil & Bilall clearly want this to be a fun show that feels unlike anything else from the rest of the MCU.

It doesn’t hurt that Kamala is one of the few heroes with an actual strong family unit with a mother (Zenobia Shroff), father (Mohan Kapur) and brother (Saagar Shaikh). Better yet, they’re not a dysfunctional family and provide plenty of good-natured humor. Shroff and Kapur are excellent and are able to be firm parents without being either pushovers or taskmasters. It’s a welcome middle ground.

They are actually OK with Kamala going to Avengers Con so long as her father goes with her. That’s hardly cool for any 16-year-old so Kamala maps out a hilarious escape route and brings along a relative’s bracelet to add a little Pakistani touch to her cosplay.

Kamala’s Avengers Con trip doesn’t go as smoothly as she hoped, but she and Bruno arrive safely. Random question: How do people know what the Guardians of the Galaxy look like? This would have been a fun cameo to throw in Grills and the Guild from Hawkeye.

While Kamala forgot the glow gloves Bruno designed, the bracelet does provide its own light show as well as bursts of energy Kamala can’t control.

When a classmate is in jeopardy, Kamala extends the energy effect out to in essence embiggen her arm and hand. It’s not quite as fun a visual as the comic, but it’ll work.

Kamala is astonished by her new abilities and it’s helpful to have Bruno right there to avoid the telling the best friend about powers dilemma.

For a premiere episode, Ms. Marvel didn’t bother worrying about setting up the main villain or even Kamala’s power. The better play was making Kamala a likable character that audiences would enjoy watching through this series and in the films. And that was definitely accomplished.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney

Pre-order the Marvel Legends Disney+ Ms. Marvel figure at Amazon, Target and Entertainment Earth.