‘Ms. Marvel’: A Creative Limited Series That Breaks Barriers

Photo courtesy of Disney Plus and Marvel Studios.

Ms. Marvel is a limited series that premiered on Disney+ on June 8, 2022. Its premise follows Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) who is major superhero fan, particularly of Captain Marvel (Brie Larson). Kamala feels as if she doesn’t fit in anywhere that’s until she gets superpowers like the heroes she looks up to.

I’m still gathering my thoughts on everything I’ve watched over the past six weeks. I can say that this show makes it up on my list with WandaVision because of its originality and creativity. Let’s start with the creative aspects of the series, shall we?

The editing and cinematography were so mesmerizing. The editing is ambitious but so well done. The combination of the animation and text effects make the series stand out amongst the other Marvel shows. The cinematography is so beautiful. It really felt like you were there at certain points.

Iman Vellani was the perfect actress to portray Kamala Khan. I don’t believe in perfection but in this case, I do. She’s a Marvel nerd in real life just like Kamala is. Her portrayal of Kamala just felt so authentic which I loved. I’m so excited to see more of Kamala in the future.

Was it just me or did Kamala have chemistry with every male character close to her age? I know it wasn’t just me. First it’s Bruno (Matt Lintz), then Kamran (Rish Shah), and then Kareem (Aramis Knight). I really loved Kamran and Kamala in the beginning but then Kareem came in and I was like, “maybe they should be together.” I do have a huge soft spot for Bruno though. I’m not a huge fan of the friends to lovers trope though. I adore their friendship and how Bruno is always there for her. It’s like nothing or nobody else exists when Bruno is around Kamala.

Matt Lintz portrayed Bruno so well. Like I said, Bruno has my heart. I love nerdy characters what can I say. I love Nakia (Yasmeen Fletcher) too. Yasmeen Fletcher portrayed her like a boss. Nakia is an absolute badass. She her authentic self all the way through and her confidence is so inspiring.

Rish Shah brought out so much emotion when portraying Kamran, especially towards those final episodes. I hope we see Kareem again in the future. Yes, I love him. Aramis Knight made him easily likable and gave him a bit of depth. I mean he’s attractive like everyone else in this show.

I do want to talk about a few misses. For starters, the so-called villains were poorly written. I’m talking about the DODC agents not the Clandestines. I’m hoping Marvel starts to shift away from the six-episode format because it’s not enough time to fit a story of this magnitude. A few more episodes could’ve allowed the plot to breathe more and become more seamless.

Representation was one of the main I absolutely loved about this series. Being able to be educated about the Partition of India was so heartbreaking yet so interesting. I wish we learned more about the history of other countries here in America. Seeing that Kamala’s costume was made by her mother and that her superhero name was given by her father made my heart so warm. It was the cutest thing ever.

While I cannot say whether or not the representation was accurate since I am a young white woman, I can say that more stories about people of color deserve to be told in the film and television spaces.

Ms. Marvel is exclusively streaming on Disney Plus.

Creator: Bisha K. Ali 

Cast: Iman Vellani, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur

Producers: Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso