Ms Marvel gets it right — Moon Knight just doesn’t
WHEN MY kids look back at their childhoods, they’ll rightly be able to claim that I brainwashed them. The first instance is Judaism, so that by rewelding our link our particular chain might continue firmly forth, and the second is turning them into comic book geeks, so I’d finally have someone to talk to.
The former’s taken a fair bit of work, but with the latter I got very lucky as their early years dovetailed perfectly into the golden age of Marvel. Every new release has become a family milestone, everybody excitedly gathering around the cinema screen or sofa; perhaps never more so than for Moon Knight, which I reviewed a few months ago. For here was the confluence of my two great projects.
Then I only had access to the opening episode, and while acknowledging there initially seemed to be little indication of the character being Jewish, let alone the son a rabbi, I had hope. In this age of representation and identity politics, surely Jews would now get a moment of prominence within the Marvel Universe, a universe that arguably wouldn’t exist without us. Alas, apart from a blink and you miss it appearance of a magen David, a screenshot grab of a mezuzah, and a flung yarmulke — I guess we can at least shout out props to the prop department —there was little connecting the character or story to our people, unless you count his mum being mental.
So it is that when watching Marvel’s newest addition, Ms. Marvel, about a young Muslim woman accessing superpowers like her hero Captain Marvel, I’m left with a slightly bitter taste. Which is a shame for something that’s so resolutely joyful. Years ago I wrote a piece in the Guardian explaining how Jews and Muslims don’t in fact live in contrast to each other, despite the determination of some to make it seem so, which makes me wary of vocalising my opinion here. Yet with the two shows following so closely on the heels of one another, and observ
It can feel as if there is an agenda to portray the American Muslim community in the best possible light
ing the immense effort and intent that’s gone into integrating and celebrating Ms. Marvel’s background and ethnicity, it can’t help but throw a dark relief on how failed Jews were by Moon Knight.
But enough of my David Baddiel sequel, this series is fun. Making her debut as the main character Kamala Khan, they’ve discovered a star in Iman Vellani. Funny, endearing and likeable, she carries the show. The direction and set design are also standouts, with the clever integration of social media and animation onto an environment bursting with colour and detail adding a freshness and vibrancy not seen since the newest debut of that other great teenage superhero Spiderman.
The enterprise is the vision of British standup comedian Bisha K. Ali, and respect to her ability for stepping so fluently up to the big leagues, whilst also being able to bring much of her own experiences to the narrative proceedings. It does sometimes feel as if there is an agenda for the show to portray the American Muslim community in the best possible light ever, as opposed to getting on with telling a superhero story. It’s a lesson I’ll take with me if I ever get to make my own dream project: Moon Knight goes on Birthright.