Ms Marvel Series Review: Iman Vellani’s Disney+ Show is a Sweet, Rebellious Coming-of-Age Drama Wrapped Up in Superheroics! (LatestLY Exclusive)

Ms Marvel Series Review: Well, it’s another month, and we are about to have a different Marvel series drop now. One thing that I really have to commend these Marvel Disney+ series for is that they start out in quite diverse ways. The tones differ a lot in the beginning, it’s only the end that gets fumbled up in layers of CGI and huge-scale fights. Now in Ms Marvel’s case, we don’t exactly know how it will end, but it does have a hell of a start. A note, first two episodes were provided for review purposes. Ms Marvel: Review, Release Date, Time, Where to Watch – All You Need to Know About Iman Vellani's Marvel Series on Disney+!

Created by Bisha K Ali for Disney+, Ms Marvel is a series that focuses on Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), a superfan of The Avengers and Captain Marvel. Kamala being obsessed with superheroes, Ms Marvel focuses on her developing powers and trying to adhere to her own personal life.

The first episode opens up with Kamala just doing a bunch of stuff that you would expect a high-school going teenager to do. The show really embraces that coming-of-age tone that you have seen in other comic book movies like Shazam! and other films like Edge of Seventeen, Booksmart or Sing Street for that matter (however a bit less crass with its dialogue). In some ways I would say it has the best parts of Spider-Man: Homecoming infused in over here when you just see Peter be a high-school student.

That coming-of-age innocence and rebellious attitude of a teenager is perfectly encapsulated by Iman Vellani. Vellani is by far the best part of the series and brings a sense of charisma to Kamala that really took me by surprise. She wants to go Avengers Con, but can’t really go for it dressed up as Captain Marvel. So, what does she do? She comes up with a plan to sneak out and hopes everything works. She has crushes, friends and fanboys over larger-than-life beings, that tone is wonderfully captured and wouldn’t work without Iman.

When she receives powers, that entire dynamic is flipped upon its head as Kamala can finally live out her superhero fantasies. Iman truly embraces the role and makes the best out of it.

Watch The Trailer:

On the other hand, we have a great supporting cast of characters here as well. Matt Lintz as Bruno Carrelli stood out the most for me as he takes up the role of the obligatory friend of the main character in a coming-of-age story.  There are moments he helps Kamala with her superpowers as he has a high-level of intellect. Very much in the vein of Ned from the MCU Spiderman films and Freddie Freeman from Shazam! But even then, his character had enough of an impact not to turn into a cliche.

The other important characters are Kamala’s family like mother Muneeba Khan (Zenobia Shroff), father Yusuf Khan (Mohan Kapur) and brother Aamir Khan (Saagar Shaikh). A great family dynamic is brought forward that feels very much real. As a Desi person myself, I could pinpoint a few moments that I have experienced myself and have lived that life. It just brought forward another great moment for representation that I very much appreciated. While some of the religious aspects of it will be quite mixed for many, I think a lot of people will be ultimately able to relate some aspects of their lives with Kamala’s.

The stylisation of Ms Marvel was also something that quite impressed me. The editing here harkens the feels of Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Of course, not to that extent Wright’s film had, but it just makes this show have the most personality out of any other Disney+ series that I have seen yet. There are some great visuals cues here that will definitely take fans by surprise that I can’t wait for people to experience.

Now the big question here of course is how does Ms Marvel handle Kamala’s powers. Before release, the huge discourse surrounding the show was the power change. Many felt that the energy projections basically turn Kamala into a superhero like Green Lantern, and yeah that feel very much was there, but personally? It worked quite well within the context of the show here.

Although it is a bit of a bummer that we won’t get the elongation powers in the series. That’s due to how much of a symbolism it provides in the comics.

However, if there is one issue I have with the series, then it’s the pacing of it actually. The Marvel Disney+ series are well known for not sticking the landing with their endings. The actual core of Ms Marvel’s story begins right at the end of episode two, and with four episodes more, there are still a lot of elements to be covered here. Just wondering how that’s going to be covered over here, and hopefully they do stick the landing because the potential is over here. The Boys Season 3 Review: Karl Urban and Antony Starr’s Superhero Series on Amazon Prime Video Is a Crazy Ride That Will Leave You Satisfied! (LatestLY Exclusive).

Also, for the fans of Bollywood, there are some neat references sprinkled over here that you will definitely end up loving.

Yay!

Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan

Great Coming-of-Age Tone

Nay!

The Pacing

Classic Embiggening Powers Missing

Final Thoughts

The first two episodes of Ms Marvel provided quite the fun coming-of-age tale that I enjoyed watching. Sure, it does run into some issues, but ultimately Iman Vellani’s innocent and rebellious portrayal of Kamala Khan is what keeps it afloat and so exciting. Being a great relatable story, I hope Ms Marvel is able to stick its landing. Ms Marvel streams exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar starting on June 8, 2022.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 07, 2022 06:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).