A big MCU adventure, Ms Marvel's finale creates a buzz due to its unconventional choice of protagonist and a multicultural setting
Mona
What you seek is seeking you; Rumi’s saying is the leitmotif of Ms Marvel, an American action-adventure comedy. Canadian actress of Pakistani origin, Iman Vellani makes her prestigious debut as Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel in this outing! A Marvel fan, Iman shared at The Daily Show with Trevor Noah how she used to dress up as Kamala Khan for her school’s Halloween. Interestingly, it was a WhatsApp forward that landed her the plum role. The six-episode finale of Ms. Marvel, which dropped on Wednesday, not only has its first Muslim, South-Asian, superhero, but moves the plot to Karachi, further on taking the story back in time in 1942 and then the India-Pakistan Partition in 1947.
Power & charm
Kamala Khan is a 16-year-old Pakistani-American teenager in high school living with her parents and brother in New Jersey. A Captain Marvel fan, she realises her superpowers at an AvengersCon. Her power comes from a charming amulet (kada) that’s she inherited from her nani (maternal grandmother). The power brings along challenges and she reaches her nani in Karachi and adventures follow.
Multicultural team
This seventh television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), produced by Marvel Studios, is created by Bisha K. Ali. A British-Pakistani stand-up comedian and screenwriter, Bisha has written for telly mini-series Four Weddings and a Funeral and Loki before this. Belgian film and television directors of Moroccan descent, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have directed the first and the last episode of Ms Marvel. The rest have been directed by Indian–American director Meera Menon and Academy Award-winning Pakistani-Canadian director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
Other major characters, including Matt Lintz and Yasmeen Fletcher are American; Zenobia Shroff is an Indian-American, Mohan Kapur is Indian, Rish Shah is British, Arian Moayed is Iranian-American, while Mehwish Hayat and Samina Ahmad are Pakistani. Prominent Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar essays the role of Waleed, the leader of the Red Daggers, a group of vigilantes while Pakistani heartthrob Fawad Khan makes an appearance as Hasan in the Partition sequence. It’s a multicultural team and so is Ms Marvel, as also multilingual. Right from tauba, noor, nani, chalo chalo, chak de phatte, and more, many Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi phrases make it to the show, as does the world of djinn. Amongst the overprotective brown parents, desi suits and sarees, and reference to Shah Rukh Khan films, there is a vibrant wedding sequence too!
Superhero stuff
The new MCU superhero, a Muslim Pakistani-American teen is a bold, brave choice. Her superpower is in her amulet that lets out purple light, which saves them from harm. The finale has Ms Marvel debut in her special costume that is curious mix of superhero cape crossed with a dupatta in blue and red Marvel colours.
While the show only holds 6.1 (out of 10) on IMDb; on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, it is doing great with 98 per cent critics’ score and the average audience score at 81 per cent (at the time of filing). Marvel family has hailed the new entry. Shang-Chi of Simu Liu tweeted, “I’m so unbelievably proud of this young woman. Welcome to the MCU #MsMarvel! People are going to be watching you for a long, long time.” Actor, rapper Riz Ahmed posted on social media, “Kamala got superpowers and bangerz. Good to hear…”
The music by Laura Karpman is actually the most vibrant part of the show. Right from a glimpse of Coke Studio hits Pasoori and Peechay Hutt, Jason Derulo Jalebi Baby and Raja Kumari’s Goddess, the music scores. Eva B’s Rozi was recreated for the series. Plus one hears yesteryear ditties Baby Baby and Laung Gawacha.
(Streaming on Disney+)
Know Ms Marvel
The protagonist Iman Vellani, born in Karachi, moved to Canada with her parents when she was just one. Calling Ontario home now, she was cast in Ms Marvel during the last year of her high school. Brown, Pakistani origin, a teen Marvel fan, Iman ticked all the boxes of the character she plays. The character Kamala Khan made an appearance in Marvel Comics back in 2013; Ms Marvel takes the bold step forward and establishes its OTT presence. Iman Vellani from here would catapult to Hollywood with the movie The Marvels in 2023.
Partition saga
Ms Marvel creator Bisha K. Ali recently opened up that the idea of Partition being part of the story came as soon as she sat down to write the timeline. “So, 1945, World War II. 1947 is when Partition happens. So if World War II exists in the MCU and that part of our history can be canonised, then why not ours? The history of the world isn’t just of this one place. There are other places with histories too.”
