MS. MARVEL (Disney+)

Well that first episode was delightful. Iman Vellani is absolutely perfect for the role, and all the Muslim cultural stuff that so many were wringing their hands over is just peppered in as slices of her life rather than LESSON MOMENTS.

And lots of fun Easter eggs at AvengersCon.

Oh, that was delightful. After watching Kenobi, I'd forgotten what fun, propulsive editing was like. Hell, what A+ craftsmanship was. It really captures being a teenager, and regardless of one's own cultural heritage, what Kamala is going through is relatable.

One tiny nitpick was: why is AvengersCon at night? I refuse to believe that none of the writers of a COMIC BOOK MOVIE haven't been to a con before. No way this isn't an all day, three day affair!

I wasn't wowed by the first episode, but I thought it was good. As for the big conflict of the episode, I was on Kamala's side. I can see were her parents are coming from, they want her to be safe. I can see why her father's feeling were hurt, but that would be embarrassing. Kamala is having a rough time at school, she deserves some fun. Avengers Con looked like a wholesome good time. It's not like she wanted to go to Justice League Fest and be surrounded by edge-lords. Yeah, I know that was a cheap shot at DC, but it was still fun to take.

Doc Happenin wrote:

Oh, that was delightful. After watching Kenobi, I'd forgotten what fun, propulsive editing was like. Hell, what A+ craftsmanship was. It really captures being a teenager, and regardless of one's own cultural heritage, what Kamala is going through is relatable.

One tiny nitpick was: why is AvengersCon at night? I refuse to believe that none of the writers of a COMIC BOOK MOVIE haven't been to a con before. No way this isn't an all day, three day affair!

The Captain Marvel cosplay contest she is set on is that night, but not necessarily the whole Con.

My only gripe with the show is that my inner curmudgeon objects to making fanboy/girl culture the explicit center of a "canon" narrative within the universe the fan is a fan of. It feels somehow exploitative to pander to Youtube ship video crowd by making the most powerful new superhero a Youtube ship video creator themselves.

But that's somewhat minor conceptual stuff, the execution so far is grand. Great cast, the cultural specificity adds a ton of character to the proceedings, and a laudable patience in getting to the superheroics. Fingers crossed this one manages to avoid the one subplot that is just completely DOA, or total gassing out 2/3 of the way through the season that seems to plague these D+ shows.

Which subplot is that? Platonic best friend? or a one episode detour into grandma's superhero days?

Schwartz wrote:

Fingers crossed this one manages to avoid the one subplot that is just completely DOA, or total gassing out 2/3 of the way through the season that seems to plague these D+ shows.

Let's hope this show only has to set up the next Captain Marvel movie and not, say, two or three other characters and projects as well.

Kamala being a Captain Marvel fan is straight out of the comics.

DailyRich wrote:

Kamala being a Captain Marvel fan is straight out of the comics.

I know, doesn't mean that I love it.

Doc Happenin wrote:

Which subplot is that? Platonic best friend? or a one episode detour into grandma's superhero days?

I actually really like how they handled Bruno in the pilot. He's clearly a sidekick, but neither a(n allegedly loveable) doofus nor a long-suffering, more mature friend* rolling his eyes at what a hopelessly adorkable klutz our heroine is. He's got a skillset of his own, and despite being clearly smitten does not fawn over Kamala in an overbearing way (as yet).

His wholesome relationship with the family also seems to have worked a treat to allay any trepidation I might feel as a very white guy with a deep skepticism of religion in throwing in my sympathies with a bunch of practicing Muslims. Like, they are religious, but not so religious they can't invite an American white boy into their home without recrimination. I think I need that kind of reassurance about religious characters - even religions I was more closely raised in or around - before I can really accept them.


*the other school friend, who wears the hijab, may wind up being more of this

I am very curious to see where the best friend goes. I certainly hope it doesn't go the "I've always pined for you" which would be just...boring, really. I think showing that a teenage girl and a teenage boy can be friends without one of them longing for the other one - doubly so if best friend is straight - would be positively refreshing. With his obvious skillset, he's definitely getting dragged into the plot whenever that kicks in (though, frankly, if they didn't have any major plot with no villains and it's just Kamala and co tooling around like this, I'd be okay with it). Or even if the only enemy are our friends from whatever that superhero agency the agents from the episode's stinger was.

Doc Happenin wrote:

I am very curious to see where the best friend goes. I certainly hope it doesn't go the "I've always pined for you" which would be just...boring, really. I think showing that a teenage girl and a teenage boy can be friends without one of them longing for the other one - doubly so if best friend is straight - would be positively refreshing.

I don't know if it's in the comics, but the early scene where Kamala bumps into Zoe in the halls and is all "I like your jacket," I was getting a real vibe that Kamala might be crushing on her.

I thought Scott Lang having a podcast was a fun detail.

Yeah, I got that vibe from Kamala/Zoe as well.

It might be doubly refreshing if the cool girl Kamala was crushing on turned out to not return her affections, either because she's actually not interested in girls, or just actually kind of a jerk and not worthy of them in the first place. But that might be asking too much of one D+ show.

Episode 2 was solid and I am looking forward to seeing what happens next week. I do think Kamala saving the kid could have been done better. The humor in an MCU production usually works for me, but in this case I thought the stakes were lowered by people talk about mixing ice cream and pizza while someone is in peril. The kid being an idiot didn't help much either.

I actually like how goofy it was. Gave it a bit of realism. Like, sometimes things are so bad you have to laugh, or at least banter to get over the stressful situation.

I'd like to pour obe out to MS. MARVEL, who was killed today by the nefarious being known as PLOT. We just got a glimpse of PLOT but are sure to see more - too much, we can guess - in later episodes. The fun, carefree MS. MARVEL will be missed and fondly remembered by tumblr sites

More thoughts. Well, thought.

In thinking back over my limited experience with 'post-first generation immigrant' stories, what I appreciate is that Kamala's folks aren't hardline "we're taking American money but we're firmly Pakistani with all that entails." Nah, they let their daughter dress in regular clothes, they listen to Bon Jovi (a law in Jersey, true story!) so it becomes less a cultural battle, and therefore -yes - more inaccessible to the MCU audience and becomes more broadly American. I'm sure there are battles raging over this online but I like the approach.

I keep banging on this, but this show treats being Muslim how hundreds of shows have treated being Catholic for decades -- just a part of the characters' lives. How many shows have had their characters go to church or attend a church festival or say grace at the table and it's just this thing that happens?

And this show does it without having Bruno hanging around at all the dinners as an in for the non-Muslim audience.