Marvel Studios Ms. Marvel Episode 1: Nonspoiler Review

During the pandemic, my family picked up the habit of watching Marvel streaming TV series together, from Wandavision through Moon Knight.  With Ms. Marvel, Number Two Son said that he wasn’t interested. The lead character of Ms. Marvel is a Pakistani American teenager, and he thought that it would not be as adult oriented as previous Marvel TV series.  I really wasn’t sure about it myself, as I had never read the comic book character that it was based upon, but I decided to watch it by myself.  I am glad I did as I was pleasantly surprised!

(image credit: Marvel Studios)

Some of the comments about the movie that I have seen mentioned that it has a Scott Pilgrim vs the World kind of vibe. I never saw that movie, but the episode brought to mind various Nickelodeon teen series. The Pakistani American family scenes parts reminded me of The Big Sick. In a way, Number Two Son was right that it wasn’t as adult oriented as previous series, definitely not on the range of Moon Knight.  Still, I found that I could identify with being an awkward not so popular teenager, especially one that is the child of immigrant Asian parents. Iman Vellani does this with a fine job of portraying Kamala Khan, although I must confess that as a parent who has experienced the teenage stage three times, I had more empathy for Kamala’s parents!

The setting of Ms. Marvel is in Jersey City, a location that resonates with me.  My mother’s first job in the United States was in Jersey City, working as a nurse at the famed Margaret Hague Maternity hospital, more than 60 years ago. Many Filipinos live in Jersey City (it has a little Manila, including some of The Wife’s relatives.

Like Turning Red, Ms. Marvel has been reviewed bombed. As that Forbes article points out, many people don’t like the fact that the lead character is non-white and muslim. I personally am looking forward to watching the next episode. I will probably check out the Scott Pilgrim vs the World movie also. Ms. Marvel episode 1 first aired on June 8 and was the first of 6 episodes that are planned.  Vellani is also slated to appear in The Marvels, the sequel to Captain Marvel.