Ms. Marvel is a Fantastic Daydream: A Review
The first episode of Marvel’s newest Disney Plus series Ms. Marvel was released on Wednesday, June 8th. Taking place in Jersey City, the show covers the life of sheltered teenager Kamala Khan, a certified Captain Marvel fan and a cosplay enthusiast. Ms. Marvel has a similar vibe as Spiderman: Into The Spider-Verse (2018) but through a live action point of view. The viewers are seeing through the lens of a Kamala, referred to by her mother as a “fantasizing, unrealistic, daydreamer” and it’s amazing to see.
I love watching the hand drawn comic elements that are sewn into the background of the show (all a product of Sloth Baby Productions, Kamala’s fandom based YouTube channel). As a fellow fantasizing, unrealistic daydreamer, I love seeing parts of my brain come to life on the screen, and it’s even better to see those “unrealistic daydreams” come true once Kamala gets her powers at the end of the episode. The show itself almost feels like a daydream and that’s what I love about it. One of the most interesting things about the show is that it’s from the perspective of a Marvel fan. She’s, in a way, one of us, but instead of living in a dreary normal world she’s living in the Marvel Universe. It’s absolutely brilliant and satisfying to see a Marvel fan evolve into their own superhero.
Unfortunately, the show’s opening episode received mixed reviews. According to NBC News, Ms. Marvel is currently the lowest rated MCU show on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. But if you know anything about IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, it’s that anyone can call themselves a critic. Shortly after Ms. Marvel’s release it had the lowest audience rating for a Marvel show. The older crowd (above 30) didn’t like the childish tone and the overall contents of the show. It’s disheartening, but not surprising. This is something that has happened with recent film releases.
As you could probably tell, there’s been a rise in film and television centered around second generation immigrant stories, specifically between the stories of mother and daughter. This could be seen in Disney Pixar’s recent film Turning Red and the A24 studios smash hit Everything, Everywhere All At Once. Turning Red had a 66 percent audience rating at one point because some people couldn’t find themselves “relating” to the story. Reviews often said that the story was “targeted to a specific audience” and one particular reviewer said, “I can only see a very small group of people actually relating to this movie that feels so conditioned by current political-trends…” If you don’t know, Turning Red centers around a pre-teen girl who is battling the monster that is puberty while also finding it increasingly difficult to obey her overly strict and protective mother. It’s discusses topics that Pixar has never covered before- and it’s clear that some people weren’t ready for that. The same can be said for Ms. Marvel. It’s time to center film around different types of families and different types of people. While not everyone can relate to it, there’s a vast majority of people who have been waiting to see their story on screen.
Representation of minority groups in media has been a difficult journey to say the least. For me personally, I first saw real representation when watching Disney’s Encanto for the first time. While I’m not Colombian, I am Latina, and I had never seen animated characters that looked so much like members of my family on screen before.
When it comes to Ms. Marvel, it was great to see someone like Kamala on screen. I’m not Muslim, and my immigrant parents are not nearly as overbearing as Kamala’s, and yet I could still find myself relating to some of the themes in the show, as well as having a fabulous time watching it. It was great to see another tan, daughter of an immigrant, Marvel fan, unrealistic daydreamer on screen. Being able to see her relationship with her family, specifically her mother, was something new to me- especially in the MCU. I know that I’m not the only one to feel this way, as there were tons of positive reviews on social media that drowned out the negative the day it was released, especially from Muslim Marvel fans.
Overall, it’s so refreshing to see a Marvel show featuring a member of a minority group as the main character and the one who gets the power. Kamala speaks to those who come from immigrant parents, who were perhaps a bit too overprotective. She speaks to those who don’t often see themselves on television, and definitely don’t often see themselves as a superhero.
I can’t wait to see what more Ms. Marvel has to offer. New episodes air every Wednesday.