The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown exponentially over the years and the post-Avengers: Endgame era is beginning to settle in. While the films primarily continue to focus on established characters, the MCU is beginning to turn its attention to telling superhero origin stories on Disney+. Ms. Marvel is one such story and it’s an engaging and fantastic addition to Marvel’s TV slate. It’s full of life, with series star Iman Vellani embodying the titular role with such vibrant energy that one can’t help being pulled into her orbit. While the series makes some noticeable changes from the comics, Ms. Marvel excels at world-building, fleshing out Kamala Khan and her relationships while infusing a bit of mystery and intrigue into the story.
Kamala Khan (Vellani) is a Pakistani American teenager with an endless imagination and ion for Captain Marvel. She and best friend Bruno Carrelli (Matt Lintz) have a plan to attend the first-ever Avenger Con, but Kamala’s parents — Yusuf (Mohan Kapur) and Muneeba (Yasmeen Fletcher) — aren’t keen on letting her go. So Kamala crafts a plan to make it to Avengers Con with Bruno, wear her hand-made Captain Marvel cosplay, win the costume contest, and return home without her parents being the wiser. To give her costume a personal touch, Kamala takes her grandmother’s bangle (against her mother’s wishes), which activates her latent superpowers. Thrilled with this development, Kamala is still curious about her family’s history and her great-grandmother’s ties to the bangle. The road to becoming a superhero isn’t smooth, however, as her powers manifesting have drawn some unwanted attention.
Ms. Marvel feels like a traditional TV show in that it introduces its main character and then immediately develops her personal arc and the story of her powers. In the first two episodes (which were provided to critics for review), Kamala’s journey never veers off course and the writing is tight without feeling so plot heavy. There is plenty of time to explore Kamala and develop the dynamics she has with her family and friends. To that end, Ms. Marvel is teeming with electric energy and the series’ fun and exciting visuals help maintain the lighthearted tone of the show. One memorable scene involves Kamala regaling Bruno with her plan to leave the house to attend Avenger Con without her parents knowing; it unfolds with a mix of live-action moments and Kamala’s drawings (which are quite entertaining) sprouting to life. It’s a clever way to keep the connection with Kamala’s sense of imagination as she fantastically dreams up scenarios in her mind.
Kamala is first and foremost a teenager before she is a superhero. It’s a crucial aspect of her character and her struggles — be it trying to follow her own course of action despite her parents’ expectations or working to focus on schoolwork with her head in the clouds — are relatable. By the time Kamala has acquired her powerful new abilities, she feels like a three-dimensional person. Speaking of her powers, however, the decision to change their abilities from the comics is a peculiar one. Ms. Marvel is a polymorph, capable of enlarging, elongating, and otherwise morphing her body parts at will to shape-shift. The Disney+ series alters this, making Kamala's powers more cosmic, with the ability to create solid flat surfaces and shoot energy beams from her hands. Her ability to shape-shift affects her decision to remain as she is rather than conform, and it’s an important theme in the comics that is unfortunately lost in the live-action adaptation. That said, tying her powers to her family’s history makes more sense in this instance, simply because the Inhuman element of Kamala’s powers wouldn’t fit into the MCU yet.
There are personal stakes for Kamala by the end of the second episode and it’s enough to hopefully keep the momentum of the series going. Though Ms. Marvel could have used a bit more nuance in portraying the Muslim community (there’s an expository scene that is unnecessary), the overall world-building and character development excels, making one yearn for more time with the superhero and her family and friends. The series ultimately feels like a proper origin story, one that takes care to establish Ms. Marvel as a well-rounded person with dreams, complicated relationships, and curiosities.
What’s more, Vellani’s performance grounds the series. The young actress captures the spunk, awkwardness, and excitement of her comics counterpart without losing a beat. Simply put, Vellani is sensational as Kamala. The ing cast is also great and memorable in their roles, though some, like Kamala’s friend Nakia Bahadir (Yasmeen Fletcher), are given less to do. Hopefully, it’s something that will be rectified in future episodes. Overall, the first two episodes of Ms. Marvel are a delight. The series is one of the strongest of Marvel’s Disney+ offerings thus far. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, remaining lighthearted, engaging, and fun throughout.
The season 1 premiere of Ms. Marvel begins streaming on Disney+ June 8. The remaining episodes release weekly every Wednesday.