The new phase of Marvel seems to be taking a lot more risks with their characters and the storylines. This is something that comic books have done for years, but the first few phases of Marvel seem to have missed out on our forgot to focus on. After over a decade of mostly male and white cishet characters, we’re starting to see more diversity, hitting the screen – deepening the Marvel cinematic universe and starting to reflect other portions of the audience out there.
The latest character to hit the screen will be Ms. Marvel, a young Muslim girl in Jersey City who finds a family heirloom that gives her powers. Kamala already is in love with superheroes, specifically Captain Marvel, but now she has to balance high school, life, and learning how to use her new powers.
It’s nice to see not only a woman take on the lead role in a Marvel story, but get the show named after her. She’s not playing second fiddle to anyone, she’s the main character and the focus of the show. It would, however, be nice to see this translated into the big screen releases since even at this point we’ve only had one true woman lead movie with Captain Marvel. We’re not counting Black Widow, since the story was more her sister’s than her own. At some point, hopefully, Marvel will notice that not is a large portion of their fan base women, but they would like to see someone on the screen that reflects them – and not necessarily just a sidekick version or a part of ensemble on the screen.
Culturally, Ms. Marvel also leans into Kamala’s heritage as well. She’s not just shown as a Muslim on the very surface but the show highlights the importance of her family and practices as well. It shows other female characters in Hijabs, and even religious ceremonies. It has her friend, Bruno, not only accepting her faith but actively joining her in celebrations as well. It’s nice to see this part of Kamala’s identity embraced and incorporated into the story as well.
Overall, Ms. Marvel is taking leaps and bounds in inclusion for Marvel and it’s a breath of fresh air to see it happening in a format that a lot of viewers can experience. While we’d love to see this inclusion on the big screen, a Disney+ release will allow a larger audience to experience it in their homes.
This new phase of Marvel releases is starting the ripples, for what we hope will be the waves of change the MCU needs. We’re all well aware of the special effects the shows and movies can and do have, but it’s starting to get to the point you have to have seen every show and movie to even understand a show. Even if you’re up to date on every show and movie in the current MCU, it is interesting to see where each piece fits into the overall puzzle. We’re just glad they’re starting to break away from the format that they’ve had for so long.
Ms. Marvel will debut on Disney+ on June 8th and new episodes will be released weekly. The series not
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About Ms. Marvel:
(On Disney+) Marvel Studios’ “Ms. Marvel” is a new, original series that introduces Kamala Khan, a Muslim American teenager growing up in Jersey City. An avid gamer and a voracious fan-fiction scribe, Kamala is a Super Hero mega fan with an oversized imagination—particularly when it comes to Captain Marvel. Yet Kamala feels like she doesn’t fit in at school and sometimes even at home—that is, until she gets super powers like the heroes she’s always looked up to. Life gets better with super powers, right?
Starring Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel, Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Nakli, Azhar Usman, Travina Springer and Nimra Bucha.
Directed by Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah, Meera Menon and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
(MARVEL STUDIOS)
This series is not yet rated.