Appealing heroine drives fun of MCU's `Ms. Marvel'
“Ms. Marvel” is a breath of fresh superhero air.
Perhaps that's in part because it feels so different from “Moonknight,” Marvel Studios' previous Marvel Cinematic Universe series for Disney+. After a promising start, the bold, mind-bending adventure drowned in a sea of convoluted storytelling.
Or maybe it's more that “Ms. Marvel” is a comic book adventure mostly for, well, younger folks. Oh, there is much for adult viewers to enjoy in the sixepisode first season — the first two installments were made available for review — but this is a story of a teen girl with common teen-girl problems.
It's a lot before you throw in superpowers.
It's also refreshing that said teen girl, Kamala Kahn (Iman Vellani), is a Muslim American, whose family is from Pakistan. (Kamala, who first appeared in the pages of “Captain Marvel” in 2013, is said to be the first Muslim character to headline a comic book — with “Ms. Marvel” the following year.)
In the TV series, Kamala lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, with her mother, Muneeba (Zenobia Shroff of “The Big Sick'); father, Yusuf (Mohan Kapur, “Squad”); and brother, Aamir (Saagar Shaikh), whose upcoming wedding is consuming much of the family's attention and energy.
However, the focus of Kamala — who, yes, finds an occasion to correct someone on the pronunciation of her name — is on attending the fast-approaching AvergerCon. It is her goal not just to go to the superhero
celebration with best pal Bruno Carrelli (Matt Lintz, “The Walking Dead”) but to win the Captain Marvel cosplay contest. However, she and Bruno are not optimistic her strict mother will allow her to go.
Muneeba is but one of the people who worry that too much of Kamala's attention is devoted to fantasy. And, to be fair, the girl not only makes multipart YouTube videos about the world's superheroes, but she also constantly lets her thoughts drift to otherworldly matters, even when someone, such as the school guidance counselor, is talking to her about something important regarding her real life.
“I know fantasy's fun,” he says, “but right now I need you to pull yourself together and join reality.”
That's easier said than done, and, of course, go to AvengerCon Kamala does, taking along with her a family heirloom that may be at least partially responsible for the actual superpower she discovers. The mask-wearing Kamala creates quite a scene, leading to social-media attention for the classmate in the middle of the madness.
While Kamala and
Bruno work to determine what she can do — largely turning light into objects — she also crushes on a new cute boy at school, Kamran (Rish Shah), who takes an interest in her, as well.
The table-setting and entertaining first episode of “Ms. Marvel” — directed by the “Bad Boys for Life” tandem of Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah — debuts this week, with Disney+ dropping the remaining five on subsequent Wednesdays.
Next week's, helmed by Meera Menon (“Farah Goes Bang”), builds on the budding romance between Kamala and Kamran, with the former gaining enough confidence to try to use her powers to save a person's life.
Head writer Bisha K. Ali (“Loki”) and other folks responsible for bringing this version of Ms. Marvel from the pages of Marvel Comics to the screen have given us something that feels like a cross between last year's holiday-season MCU series “Hawkeye” and the highly enjoyable if increasingly uneven Netflix comedy series “Never Have I Ever.” (Oh, and there's also quite a bit of Spider-Man here, what with high school life being a key component to the
series, and we can't help but suspect the technologically gifted Bruno will become Kamala's “man in the chair.”)
It's a formula that is working early on, but it's tough to give a full verdict based on what we've seen. Through a third of the season, no villain emerges — although we have our suspicions about who might fill that void — and the show can be a little choppy.
More than anything else, though, “Ms. Marvel” is charming and creative. We often know what's on Kamala's mind thanks to visual cues such as animated comic strips appearing on buildings and emojis floating around Kamran as he talks to her.
At other times, “Ms. Marvel” keeps it more basic but remains engaging.
“I don't think anyone saw,” Kamala says to her driving-test supervisor after starting by backing into another parked vehicle. “That's my car,” he says. The show found a Ms. Marvel superfan in Vellani, and the Pakistani-Canadian actress, in making her screen-acting debut, is proving to be a real find. Her obvious joy in portraying the character pours out of her over these first 90 minutes or so of “Ms. Marvel.”
We're looking forward to the last 180, as well as Ms. Marvel's inclusion in next year's big-screen adventure “The Marvels,” which will see Kamala team up with Brie Larson's Captain Marvel and other established MCU characters.
You go, girl.