An absolutely delightful and charming premiere episode that not only sets up so much of what’s to come in a fun way but also manages to establish its emotional core and motivations so effortlessly and in a seemingly grounded and relatable manner.
It’s a Marvel Studios series, I highly doubt there’s anyone on the fence that needs me to convince them to watch (at this point you either do or you don’t) but I just felt compelled to express how much I enjoyed the first episode, which manages to do so much so effortlessly.
I’ve long since debunked the idea that fans were sick of origin stories, in reality they were sick of the same origin stories being retold over and over again. Ms Marvel’s origin story is both familiar and refreshing so far. There are aspects of it that feel like the Canadian-based after school kids TV shows but on a bigger budget and through a different cultural lens.
This first episode quickly establishes itself in a variety of areas: it updates the audience on the status quo of the MCU from a “civilian” perspective post-Endgame, it establishes a wonderfully quirky visual language that sets it apart from the other MCU shows, and it introduces us to many of the main characters, and therefore the culture in which this story is set, in such a seamless fashion (just the way Urdu was spoken without fuss was great).
And the characters are all well performed so far, from Kamala’s high school friends and nemesis to her immigrant family. Kamala herself is an absolute delightful mess of a teenager. She is most definitely the heart of this story and you can feel the meta-narrative about fans and fandom being told here as so much has already been made about how much of a Marvel fan Iman Vellani was even before she got the gig.
Along with relating to the fan stuff, despite my background being South-East Asian, there are plenty of overlaps with the South-Asian immigrant experience. If anything I related too much to it, with a few unresolved issues resurfacing (again). And I suspect certain family dynamics are not going to be completely exclusive to various Asian diasporas. I think there is a much wider, broader, relatability present here in regards to teenagers dealing with unreasonable expectations from family.
A lot was made, in the lead-up, about the change to Ms Marvel’s powers from how they were depicted in the comics (where she has the ability to stretch herself and alter her appearance as opposed to the “energy projection” that is depicted in this show). And while I sympathise with fans regarding one particular implication to such a change, my theory as to why they did so hasn’t been discussed online (and I may keep to myself until after the finale) but I think it has to do with overall optics on the internet as well as the needs of the story itself.
This premiere was such a well-paced episode and, as I implied earlier, does so much to establish the parameters of this story without feeling overstuffed. Unlike a lot of multi-episode story arcs we’re not left waiting for the next episode for “the good stuff”. It’s a rather confident balancing act they achieved so far and I’m compelled to keep watching because I’m genuinely invested not because I didn’t get enough (if that makes sense?).
It’s a matter of personal taste but Ms Marvel‘s first episode is possibly my favourite premiere to a Marvel Studios series since the quirky and somewhat avant-garde first episode of WandaVision. Can’t wait to see where this adventure takes us!
Ms Marvel is on Disney+ and new episodes are available every Wednesday 4:00pm (AEST)
If you enjoyed this write-up then please consider contributing to my tip jar at: ko-fi.com/oldtrenchy
