Ms. Marvel Premiere Review: Marvel’s Best Series to Date

As the MCU introduces a new generation of heroes, it’s only fitting that Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel joins the fray. Like Miles Morales as Spider-Man, Kamala Khan has been a pivotal figure in Marvel creating a diverse and captivating era of young heroes, and her love of superheroes and spark have made her a total fan favorite. Now, she’s finally joined the MCU through Disney+’s new series Ms. Marvel and presents a truly unique energy for the franchise.

Not since Spider-Man: Homecoming has a new hero’s arrival in the MCU felt so youthful and instantly spark energy like Kamala’s (Iman Vellani) does here, and her iconic sense of fandom for the Avengers, specifically Captain Marvel, immediately comes through. The opening is just a taste of some of the more fantasy-driven storytelling Ms. Marvel offers with Kamala putting her own spin on the events of the Infinity Saga. 

The use of notebook drawings that could come from Kamala herself is really awesome, and just through narration, Vellani evokes that fan energy Kamala is known for. Her unabashed love of Captain Marvel is hard not to respect and acts as a personal motivation for her to be something more in her daily life. Plus, the way she talks about a fan event known as AvengerCon is something that convention attendees and cosplayers can relate to, and when we eventually head to it towards the end of the episode, it is pretty rad. Honestly, Kamala’s sense of fandom is something that older and newer comic fans can really connect with, and throughout the premiere, you can’t help but be amazed by how Kamala’s imaginative mindset takes control of the story. 

Ms. Marvel might feature some of the most visually stunning story elements of any story in the MCU and the direction from Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah expertly utilizes the background to constantly keep your eyes locked to the screen. It’s really amazing how a simple conversation between Kamala and her bestie Bruno (Matt Lintz, The Walking Dead) about what version of Captain Marvel Kamala should cosplay as is elevated by all of their ideas, including a zombified version, coming to life through some lively graffiti art. Even text conversations between Kamala and Bruno are brought into the real world in eye-catching and engaging ways that elevate storytelling to new creative heights for the MCU. 

The use of fantasies and flashbacks, in general, is a lot of fun and makes Kamala’s personality have this great gravitational pull. As Kamala showcases some flashbacks to bad things that have happened to her at school and dishes out a plan to go to AvengerCon without her parents knowing, you really start to understand and connect with Kamala’s fantastical view. It’s not only hilarious to watch her heightened vision of herself play out, but it’s easy to relate to since we all wish that things could go as smoothly as it does in our head. These fantasies that Kamala has are even more interesting in how they clash with her reality of living under her strict parents, mostly her mother Muneeba (Zenobia Shroff, The Big Sick), and not living the heroic life she wants to. 

Kamala’s real life is a pretty standard coming-of-age teenage story with her constantly being frustrated by her parents not understanding or accepting the things she loves and her fantasies not being her reality. There are even some dashes of cultural conflict within Kamala as her family’s heavily Muslim beliefs don’t fit with her own ideals. She doesn’t really value the same things as her parents when it comes to tradition and even faces some rebuke when she sympathizes with a woman who broke off a marriage for her own self-growth. The lines aren’t super clear though in having one side be right or wrong, and it ultimately could create some strong growth for everyone involved. 

Even though Kamala’s parents are strict, they can let loose in fun ways with her father Yusef (Mohan Kapur, Happy New Year) even willing to cosplay as Hulk for AvengerCon, which was super sweet. Kamala is also not shown to be flawless in the way she wants her fantasies to become reality since she often dreams bigger than she can accomplish and is shown to be a little nasty towards her parents when they try to compromise. No one is exactly perfect in this coming-of-age story, and, as mentioned before, it creates an opportunity for everyone to receive some welcomed growth that’ll come through greatly thanks to the strong performances from everyone involved. 

Ms. Marvel might feature one of the best casts for an MCU series so far with how engaging and personable they are and the great balance of grounded family drama and comic book fun everyone brings. Vellani is already proving herself to be a breakout force in the MCU with how she brings delightful comedy and heart to Kamala and it’s another instance of perfect casting within the MCU. Also, it just has to be said that Bruno is a top contender for best MCU bestie already for the genuine sense of support, comfort, and direction he brings to Kamala, and Lintz’ already killing it with his performance. 

Truthfully, there are only two unanswered aspects of this series that the premiere leaves hanging. Now, one of the biggest questions/gripes many had going into Ms. Marvel was the drastic changes the series was making of her powers not only being different but coming from ancient cufflinks. With Inhumans or Mutants not being a prevalent part of the MCU, it’s no surprise that they would make this change, but it’s certainly an obstacle this series is going to have to overcome. Frankly, the idea of Kamala being able to conjure up what she imagines fits with her fantasy-driven mindset but does make her less unique and more like Marvel’s Green Lantern. However, it does seem like there’s greater lore coming for the cufflinks relating to her family lineage, so there could be a cool new origin story developing. Also, there are currently no distinct signs of a villain for Kamala to face, but the agents from Spider-Man: No Way Home are shown in a post-credit scene so maybe they can shed some light. 

Ms. Marvel is already making the case for it to be the best MCU series to date with its stunning visual storytelling bringing Kamala’s imagination to life and an easily likable cast led by Vellani perfectly evoking everything that’s made Kamala’s Ms. Marvel one of the most beloved modern Marvel characters.

Ms. Marvel airs Wednesdays on Disney+