Ms. Marvel Season 1 Review – What You’re Seeking, Is Seeking You

Ok, I need to be completely honest with you all. I watched ‘Thor Love and Thunder‘ last week, and it still has left a bad taste in my mouth. I just…really didn’t like that, and Multiverse of Madness was “meh” to me, so my MCU feelings were a bit low as I got ready to binge the latest Disney+ offering. However, as my ‘Ms. Marvel’ Season 1 Review will show you, Kamala Khan, really was ready to save the day…even if she stumbled a bit at the end.

Ms. Marvel was arguably one of the more “purposeful” Disney+ shows because it literally builds up a story that’ll continue in the movies next year via The Marvels (and a certain post-credits sequence highlights that beautifully and hilariously). So they absolutely had to stick the landing with Kamala Khan because if they didn’t…the buzz for the movie would be very low. But now only did they nail the character personality-wise, they also have the perfect actor playing her in Iman Vellani.

Seriously, within the very first scene of this show, they show precisely who Kamala Khan is and why you should love her and want to protect her at all costs. Iman shows the “fan side” of Kamala perfectly. She knows everything possible about Captain Marvel, wants to be like her in many ways, and will never miss an opportunity to praise her and the Avengers and so on. She’s a total fangirl, and Iman never makes it seem like it’s “too much”. I’ve read a LOT of interviews from Iman, and her knowledge and passion for Marvel, Kamala, and the MCU are addicting to listen to. She even told off Kevin Feige a couple of times, you go girl!

Seriously, she’s great, and that’s what made this show go forward in various ways. Because in Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan is wanting to be more like her hero while others around her are just telling her to “find out who she is.” When the first AvengersCon (great idea to use this notion, btw) is looming, Kamala must be there in Captain Marvel garb…and with a little personal flair. She finds an antique bangle, and the moment she puts it on…the power starts to flow, and her true journey begins.

That was another thing I appreciated about Ms. Marvel. Not only was Kamala dedicated to learning more about her powers, but she also wanted to be able to use them well, and they actually showed her struggling with them for a few episodes (including accidentally breaking a kid’s leg because of her inexperience). So that worked in the show’s favor.

The other big thing that worked in their favor was the portrayal of Kamala’s family and life. You could argue that she’s the most relatable character the MCU has ever had because her life, in so many ways, was like our own. Not the most popular in school, had parents that were at times overbearing or didn’t understand our “interests”, Kamala loved to daydream and have her “head in the clouds,” and so on and so forth. Even with all the mystical stuff going on, they kept the show grounded in family most of the time, and that helped it in many pivotal moments.

One thing I usually don’t talk about in my reviews is that of directing and the “visual style” of the film or show. Mainly because it’s usually just certain scenes that stick out and need to be praised. But for Ms. Marvel, there were several episodes that had a specific “directing style” that just enhanced the episodes overall. Like how in the beginning, they had a “Mitchell’s vs. Machines” feel with all the things that kept popping in and out of the scenes to make it feel more “animated” and alive. The use of the texts, for example, and blending them into the environment was brilliant and hilarious. There were also sweeping one-shot takes that really caught my eye, and I was sad when certain later episodes didn’t add those touches as it felt right for Kamala and the world she was living in.

The supporting cast and the world that they built in Jersey City were great as well. Bruno was the perfect best friend for Kamala, as he was always there for her. Nakia was a great addition and helped bring attention to other issues within the world that deserved spotlight. The Khan family was also very well-balanced in personality and style too, especially Nani and Yusef. I also want to note that if this was labeled by a “subgenre” I’d go family sitcom because it definitely played like that in many great ways. From the parents not trusting their kids with things to the heartwarming messages given from parent to child and the “generation gap” comedy that was very on point (see: the GPS phone scene).

Oh, and having her family and Bruno basically come together to each give a piece of Kamala’s future superhero look/name? That was a masterpiece.

Another critical thing about Kamala Khan, though, is her life as the daughter of Muslim parents, a faith she practices herself. It was wonderfully refreshing to see how much time they focused on the culture of Pakistan and the beliefs in Muslim. They talk about their history, the food (seriously, there’s a LOT of food in this show!), how places like the Mosque are worked and separated by gender, the layout of places like Pakistan and how things work there, and so on. I honestly felt like I was getting a history lesson here…and that wasn’t a bad thing.

Alright, now let’s get to the elephant in the room…Kamala’s powers. Due to how the MCU is structured, Inhumans don’t currently exist there. No, Agents of Shield and the short-lived Inhumans series don’t count as canon anymore…sorry. So because of that, Kamala wasn’t an Inhuman nor exposed to Terrigen Mists. Instead, she gets that “family heirloom” and gets her cosmic/magical powers. And…we learn at the very end…that she’s a Mutant. Oh yeah.

So the question is…does it work? Not exactly… Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t as blinding as things I saw in Thor Love and Thunder and Multiverse of Madness (where certain acts Thor and Strange did just didn’t make sense at all), but it was noticeable. They do explain what these new powers are, and they do tie into the whole of the plot, so I give them points for that. But…it just doesn’t feel like Ms. Marvel at times. Especially when her basic power with this “cosmic bangle” are shields and steps. Then when she does go and “Embiggen,” it doesn’t really explain how she was able to think that up or work in that way as she had only done something like that once or twice, and only with one arm.

Plus, there was one scene in the show (the dropping of the kid) that wouldn’t have happened with her Inhuman powers because it would’ve been her body holding up the kid and not a hard light construct. It’s been explained why they made the change, and it does fit in part with the plot/history of Kamala’s family…but it also feels like an unnecessary plot point twist to “make it fit.” Which, if you think about it, wasn’t needed if she’s a Mutant because that could’ve been her mutation!

So, we’ve seen the good and the questionable, but what would a Ms. Marvel Season 1 Review be without talking about the bad things?

Sadly, and weirdly, that would be the bad guys. It’s not just the characters that were put up against Kamala, but how they were handled and shown off. I am partially going to blame this on only having six episodes. They just didn’t have the time to flesh things out to a meaningful degree for the two main groups that were in the series.

For example, one of the big twists is that the bangle is the key to opening a door to another dimension where the Djinn live. The Clandestine are a group of exiled Djinn who are trying to get back home. They save Kamala from Damage Control (I’ll get to them…) and ask for her help to send them home. As we all likely guessed, they weren’t fully truthful and they quickly turned to Kamala’s enemies…and by that, we mean like less than a day later, and with no provocation, they turn against her.

It’s honestly a case of whiplash because they had no reason to do this, and even though their leader, Najima, said there was “no more time” to wait…we don’t exactly find out why that is. Nor do we find out why they were banished in the first place. Or why they wanted to “free their home” by destroying Earth. It also wasn’t explained why when the portal DID open. It killed all who touched it…and then somehow got transported into Kamran. It was just moving too fast, and then when they’re all defeated…you honestly didn’t feel much.

This brings me to Damage Control, a group we haven’t seen since Spider-Man Homecoming, and yet here, they’re not only back, but they’re apparently a stereotypical “evil government agency” even though they were founded by Tony Stark…so…huh?

There’s so much to question here, including why they had such technologies to “take down enhanced individuals,” why they were so determined to stop Kamala after seeing one video of her powers, and why they were so aggressive as a whole. Many suspected that they might be CRADLE from the recent Marvel Comics, but they weren’t they were Damage Control, and we got no real context for the head agents’ characters, beliefs, drives, and so on. They blew up an apartment building and then blamed it on Kamran; how does that work? Yes, at the end the “evil agent” is sacked, but…did anyone really care? I sure didn’t because I knew no matter what happened, we weren’t likely to see them again.

Plus, the way the show bounced from “this is the villain, no this is the villain, no THIS IS THE VILLAIN!” got really annoying because we were literally jumping from threat to threat without really building any of them.

Finally, while I did love the “sitcom” aspect of the series, there were times that they did go a little far to “nail that feeling,” and some shots didn’t really add to what was going on.

Still, even with those complaints, this Ms. Marvel Season 1 Review will end on a high note because I do feel this was a high spot for the Disney+ series as a whole. The way the show and characters (most of them…) were handled was with great care. And you could feel the honesty and realism of what was being shown at times because they wanted to show that Kamala Khan was a great girl who was meant to be a great hero because she was so selfless and wanted to help others.

So overall, the series was great, and with The Marvels next year, we won’t have to wait too long to see Kamala Khan shine again.