Ms. Marvel

Even though I thought Ms. Marvel is the 2nd worst of all the Marvel shows, only She-Hulk was. Worse. I still think it's worth watching. It's actually gotten great reviews and currently holds a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. The cast is mostly made up of unknown actors and actresses, led by Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan. This is actually her first acting job ever and she does a pretty good job. She did such a good job that her next job is in the next Marvel blockbuster, The Marvels. I thought this show was only targeted for teens but I was wrong. While it is definitely aimed more for teens and children, that doesn't mean adults won't enjoy it. It's a fun show with plenty of heart.

I ingest everything marvel. I will I ingest this. I've learned more about Pakistani life and culture watching ten minutes of this than I've ever learned my entire life. Oh my God the humanity, that marvel develops a premise around someone who isn't a white male with huge arms and pecs to hold and comfort angry lonely men.

It's a mixture of teenage drama we've seen centered around white girls the last thirty years, so it obviously utilizes tropes. So what. It's colorful and charismatic. Bigger budget. It's familiar with some new ideas and insights to offer.

It'll be fine, fellas. Strong men still exist and will be seen sprinkled throughout the marvel universe. It's ok to shift focus off of them after only seeing movies and shows about them over the last 40 years.

Stay strong, pussycats.

After dreadful Obi-Wan Kenobi episodes and not a fan of any Avengers movie, I was not sure if I would even bother watching one episode of Ms. Marvel

Glad I did!

Alive and funny, warm and hilarious, it reminded me of "Into The Spider-verse", made with such an attention to details and love for the comics ... and genre!

My daughter at 11 feel asleep watching Obi-Wan (wish it was me), but she also enjoyed this, even if a bit younger than target audience! (Then again, I am some decades too old for the target audience so I guess it evens out!)

Hope the next 5 will have the same standard as this one!

Plot

Kamala, a superhero fan with an imagination--particularly when it comes to Captain Marvel--feels like she doesn't fit in at school and sometimes even at home, that is until she gets superpowers like the heroes she admires.

Cast

Unusually not familiar with anyone involved, however Iman Vellani is excellent which is further impressive when you remember this is her first role.

Verdict

I remember when word got out that Ms. Marvel was happening there was a lot of unpleasantness, I remember when the trailer dropped there was even more but this time for different reasons. I however went in with an open mind and experienced quite the surprise.

Vellani knocks it out of the park as the titular hero in what most consider a tamer more light hearted Marvel outing, but is it? Different Marvel characters, different tones, some lighter and some darker. So why emphasize the lighter tone here? Is it aimed at kids? No, no more than Guardians of the Galaxy or Antman! Not everything needs to be gritty, not everything needs to have dark undertones. If that's what you want, go watch the tatters that is the DC universe!

Her powers? That complaint is valid and frustrating. The MCU has taken liberties with characters before, look at the Mandarin, look at Taskmaster, and though it's into the X-Men extended universe look at the original outing of Deadpool in the Wolverine movie! Yikes! So yes this isn't the Ms. Marvel you're used to in the comics and that I don't like, but I got over it so you can as well.

Ms. Marvel is a silly, fun, wholesome and oddly endearing tale that left me wanting more but also appreciating it simply wasn't needed. This was an origin story, an introduction and nothing more.

Bravo, I enjoyed it.

Rants

It's poorly written they bark to disguise the real reasons, weird when you look at the similarities between all these allegedly poorly written movies and shows. It's almost as if it's not about the wring at all. All the things in the world to get upset about, to be passionate about, to spew vitriol about and this is what you choose? No wonder the world is such a tribalistic mess.

The Good

Iman Vellani A lot of fun Really charming

The Bad.

The changes to the character.

Ms. Marvel tells the story of teenager Kamala Khan who is a fanatic for superheroes, especially her personal hero Captain Marvel. Kamala feels like an outsider in every aspect of her life, from school to even her own family. She then gets her own superpowers and starts to gain a lot of confidence and tries to follow in the footsteps of all the other great superheroes who she admires so much. I have to admit I didn't have high expectations going in but the series is engaging enough that it held my attention throughout the season. It only has six 45 minute episodes so it's an easy binge. If you're a Marvel fan then give this a try, especially because she's starting to play a bigger part in the MCU...it started earlier this year in the Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels.