Ms. Marvel gives us the big fight scene we’ve been craving
"Destined" drops a bombshell and tosses in some Islamic mythology
TV Reviews Ms. Marvel
Well, after two episodes of exposition, the latest Ms. Marvel entry finally delivered on the action that is a hallmark of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But while “Destined” gives us a big fight scene and introduces this season’s bad guys, it was really about tackling one fundamental question: What, exactly, is home?
We got the answer (or rather, answers) over the course of the episode which, like the first two, had a large event—Aamir and Tyesha’s wedding—that was the catalyst for bringing everyone together. It could seem a little rote for each episode to center around a gathering, but I love how it speaks to the fact that many communities, and indeed especially immigrant communities, use celebrations as a way to connect, sometimes after being apart from each other for a long time.
And parted from each other for a long time is indeed what Najma, Fariha, Saleem and Aadam have been—at least when it comes to Kamala’s great-grandmother Aisha. We find this out in an opening sequence that takes us back to 1942, when India was one country, with the British still in charge but slowly losing their grip as the independence movement grew stronger. There, we join a group of people in a temple as they dig through rubble, before we see Kamran’s mom Najma (Nimra Bucha), who we met at the end of the last episode, find a severed blue arm, around which is the bangle we’re by now so familiar with.
And then…in walks Kamala’s great-grandmother Aisha (Mehwish Hayat), who seems to be in charge, or at least a co-leader with Najma, of the group. They’re trying to make their way home, and needs the bangle to do so. In fact, as Aisha says, “he” said they would need two. Who is he?
As the temple collapses around them, we hear the sounds of a fight taking place outside, and Najma and Aisha part ways to try and keep safe. That, present-day Najma tells Kamala (Iman Vellani), is the last time any of them saw Aisha, especially as they’ve been “running ever since.” Kamala is, it’s fair to say, stunned and all she can do is look round the room and ask folks–excluding Kamran (Rish Shah), who’s standing next to his mother and looking a bit nervous—if they “met at school.”
Of course they didn’t. Najma quite straightforwardly tells Kamala they’re from another dimension and were exiled. She then drops the biggest bombshell: that she, Aisha, and the others are all Djinn. In their home dimensions, they’re called the Clandestines, and other people might call them Ajnabi or Majnoon or Unseen. But they’re Djinn.
And so the show calls on a bit of pre-Islamic mythology to explain Kamala’s powers. It’s completely different from the comic books, where she’s an Inhuman, but it’s a nice touch as it again calls on Kamala’s ethnic and religious heritage. Djinns, Kamala tells Bruno (Matt Lintz), are the “stuff of my childhood nightmares.” Yes, Djinn are scary, but these beings, which can be found in Islamic mythology and theology, are complex and not inherently bad; they are capable of choosing between good and evil (a bit like humans). That there are so many stories around and about Djinn gives the show a lot of room to play and come up with its own interpretation. We see this in the story Yusuf (Mohan Kapur) later translates for Bruno, and which he says he’s not heard before.
Kamala begs Bruno for his help and he reluctantly agrees, because he’s half in love with her and would do anything for her, especially make sure she’s safe before he heads off to CalTech. Kamala has her mission for the series, seemingly, which is to help the Djinn make their way back home. The group are funny (teasing Kamran about his crush on Kamala) and kind, so why wouldn’t she help?
Well, because they’re not so kind. Their desire to return home is their absolute focus, at the expense of everyone and everything else. When Najma stumbles across a message from Kamala to Kamran, saying she needs more time to consider whether she can help, Najma is unhappy, to say the least. Najma knows helping the Clandestines will be dangerous, but she doesn’t care; she’ll do anything to return to the place she calls home.
Anything includes displeasing her son, Kamran, and gatecrashing Aamir and Tyesha’s wedding to start an all-out fight with Kamala. Najma, Fariha, Saleem, and Aadam versus Kamala seems a little unfair—given they have decades of experience plus some very flashy weapons—but Kamala holds her own. It’s a little surprising how much she’s improved, but perhaps she’s operating partly on instinct, listening to her body, which somehow knows what to do.
Just when it seems like Kamala is losing, surrounded by the Clandestines while holding onto an injured Bruno, the Department of Damage Control turns up and arrests the Clandestines, and poor Kamran, giving Kamala and Bruno time to escape. And so, for the moment, the Clandestines’ mission to get home is stymied.
Perhaps, and this might sound cheesy and a little unfair, the Clandestines need to reconsider their definition of home. For them, it’s a place. They’ve been in this dimension for 100 years, and yet home to them is still somewhere else. That’s despite the fact that they have built a life, especially Najma, who has a son. (Kamran is, to my relief, genuinely 17 years old and not some creepy older dude in a young guy’s body hitting on Kamala.) It is understandable, to a point, that the Clandestines consider a place a home, because that place will feel familiar and will accept them and they’l be surrounded by people they know and have things in common with.
But if home is a place for the Clandestines, for Kamala and the non-Clandestines we see in this episode, home is people. More specifically, home is family, in all its guises. Ms. Marvel is strongest, as we’ve seen, during scenes with Kamala’s family and friends, and that’s especially true this episode. We get some beautiful heart to hearts, the first of which is Kamala and Muneeba (Zenobia Shroff) talking in the bathroom as Muneeba tenderly cleans up a wound Kamala sustained from superheroing.
So far, we’ve mostly seen Muneeba and Kamala clashing (and indeed, a character in this episode says that “mothers and daughters, it’s the eternal struggle”), so it’s wonderful to see an episode in which, more often than not, they come together. As Kamala asks her mom for advice, in a roundabout way, Muneeba tells her that coming to America was a dream for her and Yusuf, but it proved extremely difficult once they arrived, and Muneeba “never felt so alone.” How, Kamala asks, did they get through it? “I found the mosque,” replies Muneeba. “I found Auntie Ruby and Humaira, and I found my family and I let them love me…. Whatever mountain you’re facing, you don’t have to do it alone.”
Yes, Muneeba and Yusuf left behind everything they knew in Pakistan, but they created a new home in America, where their family and friends now (mostly) are. Home, goes the saying, is where the heart is, and that’s true for the Khans.
If the scene between Kamala and her mom wasn’t sweet enough, we’re also treated to some bonding between Aamir and Yusuf, just before Aamir marries Tyesha. Feeling nervous about the fact that he doesn’t have much money, Aamir is reassured by his dad that he will find his way, that he is brave because he has “chosen family…and the man who chooses family is never alone.” Kamala overhears the conversation, and for her it cements that she needs to put her family, her home, first.
That still doesn’t mean she feels she can open up to them, though. After the joy of the wedding, it all turns to despair when Kamala pulls the fire alarm to get everyone out of the hall so the Clandestines don’t hurt them, Kamala still can’t find it in her to tell her family about her powers. Yes, she’s learned that family is home and comfort and joy, but she’s also gleaned in this episode that what she can do will put people in danger—and she’d rather disappoint them than do that.
That lesson comes from learning that the members of the Department of Damage Control have been to the mosque to try and find out her identity. They’re interested in superheroes, but they’re particularly interested in a brown, Muslim superhero, and are treating her like a terrorist threat. Sheikh Abdullah (Laith Nakli) and Nakia succeed in turning Agent Cleever away, but she’s not happy and neither are they. Neither am I, and part of the reason I’m addressing this so late in this piece is that I am still so, so angry about Agent Cleever not taking her shoes off when entering the prayer space. She’s not there in an emergency situation, there’s no reason she and her colleagues can’t take their shoes off. No reason, except that she knows it’s hugely disrespectful and therefore it’s a power play. Sheikh Abdullah has the last word though, telling Agent Cleever as she leaves to “next time, remove her shoes.”
Nakia is aware of the government’s game, that they want to do the whole “good Muslim versus bad Muslim, let’s self-surveil our people thing,” but it still leaves a bad taste in her mouth, and means that she’s not exactly on Ms. Marvel/Night Light’s side. And so, understandably I think, since all Nakia wants is to protect her community, her reaction to finding out that Kamala is the mysterious superhero is not exactly positive. No doubt that reaction also contributes to Kamala’s refusal to tell her family what’s going on.
There is one family member, however, who is on Kamala’s side: Nani. As the episode ends, Kamala takes a call from her grandmother, who tells her that she must come to Karachi. It’s a strange request, but then Nani drops the news that she also saw a vision (although she calls it a dream), and that Kamala and her mother must both come to Karachi.
Are we going to Karachi in the next episode? Seems wild, but if we are, bring it on.
Stray observations
- When the Djinn are hunting for the bangle, Fariha says that the “Brits would have looted the place twice over.” She’s not wrong. Have you ever been to the British Museum? Also, I like how this sentence is a very subtle nod to Black Panther.
- Sana Amanat, Ms. Marvel co-creator and co-executive producer on the show, is a guest at Aamir and Tyesha’s wedding.
- When Najma and Kamala have a joint vision, they see a train hurtling towards them with the destination showing as Karachi. It’s just after Najma has said that she won’t protect those who betray her. Is there a double meaning here? Did Aisha betray Najma by not coming back, but also by going to Pakistan when Partition happened?
- While Agent Cleever didn’t take her shoes off, poor Aamir couldn’t put them on, thanks to a Pakistani tradition where the groom’s shoes are often stolen during weddings. Everyone has a slightly different version, but often the bride’s side will steal a shoe (or both) from the groom during the wedding reception, and will only give it back if he gives them enough money. Yes, it’s technically a type of extortion, but it’s also fun.
- I love that Tyesha was bored and hungry while getting her mehndi done, a state many an Asian bride has found herself in.
- I’ve mostly ignored poor Kamran, but he really came through for Kamala. I fully believe he really likes Kamala. Please, please, please don’t prove me wrong, Kamran.
- “I swear he gets my name wrong on purpose.” Oh, I love Bruno, but yes, Kamran definitely gets his name wrong on purpose. And not just because it’s a way to undermine Bruno in front of Kamala, but also because it’s probably revenge for all those generations of white people who pronounce our names wrong, yet are perfectly comfortable saying Tchaikovsky, Daenerys, and Galadriel. Bruno is the wrong target, but yeah, I get it.
- How exciting to see an Islamic wedding ceremony onscreen. It was slightly westernized, with Tyesha and Aamir saying “I do” instead of the more traditional “I accept” or “qubool,” but I love that, since it brought everyone in. Mostly, I loved the “Allahuakbar” at the end, which was said with such joy, a contrast to how the phrase is often portrayed in western narratives as something threatening.
- Big, elaborate group dances are a really thing at Asian weddings. I’d tell you to search “Asian wedding dance” on YouTube, but I don’t want you to blame me for losing hours of your life to the videos you’ll find.
- Nakia got elected to the mosque board because she’s brilliant.
- I let out a cheer when Kamala extended her arm to attack the Clandestines.
- Brown Jovi! And then “Livin’ On A Prayer” playing as Kamala fights the Clandestines.
- Bruno made Kamala a mask, and I love that we’re seeing the Ms. Marvel costume slowly coming together.
143 Comments
The problem with the change of her powers, is that they explicitly called out that she isn’t physically enhanced. So she is limited to only what the hard light can do, she can only move, jumping from platform to platform, as fast as a normal 15 year old girl, only take as much damage as a normal 15 year old girl.
Haven’t seen this ep yet, but I basically agree. There doesn’t seem to be a ton of room for being an effective Supe in the powers of manifesting objects while possessing the speed, strength, and agility of a teenage mathlete. Wonderful show though.
Maybe that comes with the second bangle. I suspect the trip to Karachi will see Kamala receiving the second one that her grandmother has kept hidden.
Why is that a problem?
It’s not a problem for me, it’s a problem for Kamala. She’s pretty vulnerable.
In parts of the fight, there seemed to be some instinctive defenses that shielded her from taking some blows. The Djinn did not seem to use any enhanced abilities in their attack either.
The Djinn seemed extra strong, at best. And they clearly showed the hard light protecting her body and chest.
The Djinn had something else going on. That one dude took off his belt and it was suddenly very much longer and whip like while still looking like a belt (fucking amazing weapon, by the by). Another dude looked like he spawned his spear out from his clothes or something. It’s not pure reality manipulation, but it’s something sort of like that, it seems.
True! That belt whip was fucking rad. Mn what a great show
Najma mentions that they don’t have access to their full powers in this dimension. I wouldn’t be surprised if, before the series is over, Kamala ends up in their dimension and we see what their powers actually are.This is quite different than the Clan Destine of the comics who aren’t from a different dimension and don’t have such limitations on their powers.
The Djinn had something else going on. That one dude took off his belt and it was suddenly very much longer and whip like while still looking like a belt (fucking amazing weapon, by the by). Another dude looked like he spawned his spear out from his clothes or something. It’s not pure realit
With one bangle. Who knows what having a second bangle will do?
Who knows if she even needs a bangle at all. I’m waiting for the moment she’s left without any and suddenly has her “original” stretchy looking powers back.
none of this is a problem
When jumping around in the air 30 to 40 feet above ground while still having a normal fragile human body that can splat, I would consider this a problem.
a. so her powers protect her with a hard light bubble etcb. next you’re gonna tell me it’s unrealistic much punishment daredevil goes through in his show
Since we’ve now found out that she’s part djinn (even if only a small part), and that part has been unlocked, I’ll bet that changes a bit.
For now. The power comes from within her so it’s not unreasonable to think it could provide enhancements to natural abilities as well.
I’ll be honest, Clan Destine was not a reference i was EVER expecting to see, but it’s certainly a nice way to shoe-horn in a Djinn reference…
Do the people making this show think Bruno is some bizarre exotic name that non-Italians can’t possibly pronounce? It’s the subject of a Disney song, even.
Nah, they think it’s a funny and character-informing running gag that the best-friend-but-secretly-in-love-with-main-character character is continuously diminished by the cool boyfriend character! Largely, they’re right!
I’m not as convinced as everyone else seems to be that Kamran is deliberately messing with Bruno. I’m not even convinced he recognizes him as a romantic threat to begin with. He seems an awfully earnest guy. Plus, Bruno never actually corrects him.
Maybe! It seems to me Kamran’s at least somewhat envious of or threatened by Bruno and Kamala’s close relationship, the insistence of calling Bruno “Brian” being our major clue. Maybe he doesn’t see Bruno as a romantic threat, but Bruno sees him as one and clearly thinks Kamran is purposely doing it, and all my TV-and-movie-watching days have conditioned me to believe him.It would be cool if it weren’t the case, using the trope against us would be refreshing! But these Marvel shows (and to a greater extent, all of the Disney+ shows) have largely given us exactly what they tell us they’re giving us from the beginning. Ms. Marvel has been one of the best at delivering, though!
*******WHOOOOOOSH********Over your head.
Admittedly it took me until this week to get it. And I love it.
Nothing goes over his head. His reflexes are too fast. He will catch it.
Disney and Brunos have a complicated relationship.
Right, what else could Kamran call him? It’s been made perfectly clear that we don’t talk about Bruno!
When Yusuf bought the synthetic fruit pie at Circle Q I was half expecting him to praise its crust and filling, like a distracted villain in a classic Hostess comic book ad.Originally I hoped Aamir would be like his comics self, preachy and hard to like but wise to the world and devoted to even his wayward sister. But the comic had time to flesh him out, in the TV show a sanctimonious brother would be too much conflict from Kamala’s own family. So I’ve enjoyed the MCU’s more cuddly but still pious Aamir. This episode drove home how he’s taking all the trappings of adulthood so early in life while Kamala still has her sloth plushies.
It has a light tender crust. Real fruit filling!
One of my favorite comics-Aamir moments is when he tells Kamala that Lockjaw (the giant, Inhuman, teleporting dog who is palling around with her for a few issues) can’t sleep in the house because he’s ritually unclean. A perfect example of how completely no-fun he is.
Those Hostess ads 3/4 of the way into 70s & 80s comics were the best. I especially remember one where the Hulk rolls up some roller disco hooligans and their boom box in blacktop after distracting them with fruit pies.
Thank you for compelling me to look this up.
I would like to see a Roller Disco Devils spin off. Or even just a one shot.
I’m curious exactly how the lyrics “Rock! Roll! Yeah! Yeah!” are set musically. Those fiends. Children are hearing that!
I like how the street asphalt there is apparently extremely flexible and can be rolled without shattering.
The better to make asphalt Ho-Hos with
Sir, you have just killed these skaters… they are deceased XD
So … Hulk straight-up killed these guys here, right?
They were ROLLER SKATING to LOUD MUSIC. With aggressive lyrics like “Rock! Roll! Yeah! Yeah! Baby! Wo! Wo!”
Judge: “You’re right. Case dismissed.”
Now THAT’s the kind of insight I come here for! Do we know if it was a Hostess pie?
I want this show to do good because it is not the normal mold but it just looks so unappealing to me. Her powers are just straight up uninspired and boring.
Her powers are indeed among the least interesting aspects of this series, but the supporting cast, the cultural aspects, are so good. And I suspect she’ll find more interesting uses for her powers over time.And frankly Marvel and DC should be at their best when they’re not focusing on the superpowers, but the personalities.
Very pleased that Kamran is not ancient.
I’m not sure their status as Djinn rule out her being Inhuman – just a multiversal variant that got dubbed as such when they first encountered this universe’s humanity. The bangle being found on a blue (Kree) arm suggests there’s still a link between the two.
Kamala is genetically only 1/8 Djinn. There’s 7 other great-grandparents who could’ve passed on an Inhuman gene as well. 😉
Clan Destine is a real thing in the Marvel comics. It was started in the 12th Century when a Saxon man named Adam married and had children with a an actual Djinn named Elalyth. Since then many of their descendants have superpowers. Elalyth couldn’t leave Yden, but the idea that Clan Destine, as a whole, is trapped in this dimension, and is trying to get back there, is new to show. In the comics Djinn have more of greenish skin than the very Kree blue shown on the corpse though, so I expect the show is still going to connect this to the Kree somehow.
Nani didn’t say she had “a dream”, she said she saw the train that Kamala saw in the big fight. there’s definitely something important about Nani and the trail of stairs she followed to find her fatherI still love this show, the Kamala and Muneeba scene especially was a gutpunch. also loved Kamala’s “try it again, like you have a social life” to Bruno. totally outta pocket but she’s right
I’m just glad she didn’t say “in English, brainiac!”Prediction: there’s gonna be some kind of time travel thing with those portals and the trail of stars will be Kamala’s hard light platforms.
The trail of stars was definitely hard light – though I assumed it was Aisha who was responsible for it.
At first I thought the “trail of stars” was her power manifesting as hard light….but now I just remembered we’ve got an interdimensional hero in the MCU who’s powers are literally stars in the sky.
– That’s a Kree. Or actually, since the arm is still untouched by decay, it’s most likely a Kree Sentry.
– The Ten Rings?
– If they’re from another dimension, and the bangles can possibly take them back, then they’re the Nega-Bands.
– It seems like a lot of people watch Zoe’s Tik-Tok.
– Nightlight is really getting around. I’d love it if that’s what she’s known as instead of Ms. Marvel. Just like Daredevil was never called that. He was the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.
– Dr. Selvig from Thor?
– So Marvel is using the term “enhanced”.
– Kamala is a dancer. What kind? I’m going to guess Bollywood.
– Nakia, a 15/16 year old is on the mosque board?
– Just about every time I see Mr. Khan eating, it’s sweets.
– Kamala going through the massive anxiety phase of superheroing.
– Trying to figure out which parts of the wedding are Muslim and which aren’t. The asking three times I’ve heard before, but what about the wedding cake? Is that also a Muslim tradition?
– Little Hulk making an appearance.
– Kamala finally goes on the offensive.
– Glad that they’re showing that Kamran isn’t a match for someone with centuries more experience than him.
– Something tells me that DoDC doesn’t have the Djinn as much as they think they do.
– Love Kamala’s phone background.
– Sad that there was no Zoe.
– Went back and looked through the episode, and Kamala is being very careful to keep the bangle covered by her sleeve.
As I recall, Agents of Shield used the term enhanced a lot, for whatever that’s worth.
The term was also used by Cap in Age of Ultron to refer to Wanda and Pietro.
I always assumed it was because they couldn’t legally say mutant. I don’t like this “enhanced” bullshit. Although I get that it applies to Kamala.
I don’t think it’s a workaround for mutants, but rather a catchall term used to refer to any potential threat with no value judgement on their actions attached. Not everybody is a superhero just because they have some sort of power, and in the eyes of a government agency, even some superheroes aren’t necessarily good in a way that they feel comfortable with (Think Thunderbolt Ross obliquely comparing Thor and Hulk to nuclear weapons in Civil War). ‘Enhanced’ describes somebody who is doing something they probably shouldn’t be able to without any moral description of their behavior. I think I’ve heard “powered individual” from both DC and the MCU, but I think everyone probably agreed that clumsier and slightly less accurate in comparison.
That was why they used the term, yes. I was just pointing out its deep roots in the mainstream MCU.
wanda and pietro were also referred to as enhanced in Ultron.
Yeah l caught the Ten rings connection too, plus the way the bangle and the rings light up is pretty similar. Both have the same purple energy.
I can’t speak to exactly that, bu tit’s worth noting that Muslim, like Christian, does not denote or represent the full monolith of traditions, practices, etc. Even just like not all Muslim women choose to wear hijab.Kamala and her family are Pakistani Muslims. Some of their traditions and customs will be very different from Somali Muslims, or Palestinian Muslims. Speaking in a very white guy who lives in a reasonably ethnically diverse part of north america, onething I know for sure: Hindu, Sikh, Indian, Pakistani weddings are always HUGE. Days or a week long and cost so much money!
Yep and no cake. We never have cake at our weddings.
That’s a Kree“Yoo-hoo?”
Hasn’t Marvel been using “enhanced” since Age of Ultron?
The arm could be from a Kree. Or it could be from an Autocron, Centaurian, Interdite, Levian, Pheragot, Sark, or Solon.
“-If they’re from another dimension, and the bangles can possibly take them back, then they’re the Nega-Bands.”Which is a pretty cool way to tie Kamala further into the cosmic/Marvels stuff“So Marvel is using the term “enhanced”.”They have been for a while. Ross refers to the Avengers as a group of “enhanced individuals” in Civil War, and the Sokovia Accords are subtitled as a framework for the registration and deployment of “enhanced” individuals. It’s also widely used in AOS as another commenter mentioned. Ten Rings logo was the biggest “oh shit!” moment for me.
“Kamala is a dancer.”Nakia is the dancer. Kamala is making a joke.
Considering the wedding dance, I don’t think that it is.
Kind of funny that they point out the British looting and then reveal that Kamala is descended from a group created by a British writer/artist.
It was a little jarring just how quickly Najima moved from being friendly to Kamala to ok-let’s-kill-her-and-anyone-else-who-happens-to-be-in-the-vicinity.
Like, they’ve been here for 100 years, but then she says they don’t have time to wait? Why don’t they have time? Is there some cosmic multiversal alignment or something happening that’s forcing them to go in ready to massacre a wedding full of people? Or they couldn’t have waited until she could catch Kamala alone?
That really needed at least a little explanation.
I was also a bit thrown by this, but I think what was implied is that they knew if Kamala took her time researching it, she’d decide it was too dangerous to help. I also think we’re going to find out that Najima actually betrayed Aisha, and that if Kamala starts looking into their gang, she’ll find a history far more unscrupulous than the one they told her. They were banished from their realm, after all, so what exactly did they do?But I agree that this should have been made more clear.
Najima’s group have been stuck on Earth for 100+ years, trying to find a way home but failing. Suddenly they find Kamala who can help get them home, so even if they weren’t evil they would naturally be excited and want her to help them get home ASAP – 100+ years is a long time to be waiting. So when Kamala first tells them she’ll help but the next day says “This might be too dangerous, let me get back to you” they would understanably feel like this hope of getting home was being torn from their fingers.Of course that doesn’t excuse their decision to invade the wedding and attack Kamala.
They’re trying to make their way home, and needs the bangle to do so. In fact, as Aisha says, “he” said they would need two. Who is he? Considering the giant Ten Rings insignia on the floor of the temple that was inexplicably not mentioned anywhere in this write-up, I’m going to guess Wenwu from Shang-Chi.(or the Thomas Edison clone with the bird head from the comics…)
This show has been an absolute delight so far. Iman Vellani is having a blast, and we are fortunate to be watching her on screen.
Her parents, too. They are so perfectly cast, and I love every moment they’ve been onscreen so far.
The moment that I especially enjoyed: when the East Asian bride and the South Asian bride take just a second in their distress to admire each other and tell each other how beautiful they look.
Isn’t Tyesha Somali, or something similar? In other words, isn’t she African?
I don’t feel like she had an accent? She might just be a Black American Muslim; or even a convert, her parents seemed kinda new to this all?
I don’t know…the way she dresses seems Somali to me, but the IMDB says the character is a Musim convert, so I dunno.
I also really enjoyed that moment—and it felt very realistic for Jersey City—but Tyesha is…pretty clearly not South Asian.
She’s not south asian but she had a south asian wedding including the costuming.
I actually really liked the touch of Tyesha’s Black parents participating in the dance!
I find it refreshing that Kamala’s parents and brother are all real-feeling, good people. When’s the last Marvel hero with non-dysfunctional and/or living parents? Hey MCU! Do not kill or otherwise harm the Kahn family!!Plus, only $700-some in the guy’s checking account… that’s some real realness there.
There’s a few more examples of MCU heroes with living, loving families…The big one being Clint Barton – we don’t know about his parents, but his wife and kids are an adorable, well adjusted family.Sam Wilson’s sister and nephews were also a delight! There was certainly some interpersonal tension between Sam and Sarah, but it seemed like real life brother/sister stuff not anything truly dysfunctional. Their parents are deceased so it doesn’t clear that bar… but there doesn’t seem to be anything nefarious or tragic origin story about their passing.Nothing on Scott Lang’s parents, but his family life is surprisingly functional and loving considering the divorce and his ex-wife’s new husband. Not many split families get along as well as they do.Hank, Janet, and Hope are a weird family for sure, but they’re all alive and love each other… any dysfunction is mostly because of a lifetime of dealing with superhero’ing fallout.Otherwise yeah, at best we’ve got characters who don’t have their family life mentioned at all… Steve, Bruce, Rhodey, Bucky, and Strange all fall into that category. Pretty much everyone else I can think of falls into the dead parents as a motivator/tragic origin story camp.
Man where is the other Marvel hero with an impossibly good and relatable family? He’s probably Miles away. Miles and Morales miles.
**COMICS SPOILERS BELOW** .IIRC, it’s not until the Secret Wars tie-in that the Khan family is really at risk, & even then it’s only because literally everyone is at risk. I think Kamran’s crew does kidnap Aamir at one point, but they don’t actually hurt him (in fact, they give him powers). Other than that, Yusef & Muneeba aren’t individually in danger until quite a while later, & Kamala gets them through that safely too.
When the father said “Good isn’t something you are, it’s something you do.” I fully expected him to get shot by a mugger who happened to be running by.
I cheered inside at that line, as it meshes with my own philosophy.
Was that the father of the head of the mosque?
It was the imam, not Kamala’s dad.
I thought so. Seems weird to take that line from her dad. Or am I wrong in assuming that it was originally the dad who said that line in the comics and not just in the Avengers game.
I am personally beyond livid at an audience that refuses to watch this show because of. There is VERY little justifiable reason to not watch this show if you have spent the time to watch the other MCU shows and movies. It’s not the best of the bunch, but if you sat and suffered through the Dark World, hell even Multiverse of Madness (which was fucking stupid across the board) – but you refuse to watch this show – only one question: what in the flying fuck is wrong with you?
Uh, I don’t know, glorifies a religion that wants to throw me off a building?
OK, whatever you say sparky.
I like Dark World. MoM was ass though. Eternals was the worst.
Sure but you still watched them. This show is not the best of the bunch but it’s still pretty good overall.
what in the flying fuck is wrong with you?They hate themselves, hate everyone else, and are super miserable?
I fully support these weekly episode reviews, but can we also get, say, a single Star Trek: Strange New Worlds review, too?
Are Djinn from Islamic mythology, or from Middle Eastern or Arabic mythology? Surely those terms aren’t synonymous?
They do appear in both, as it happens, but you are correct that the two terms are not synonymous. Anybody who is intrigued by the djinn’s whole deal could do worse than to read the Daevabad trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty, which is probably not going to help with figuring out exactly what the MCU djinn have going on, but pulls from some of the same sources and is a great story to boot: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P61V629?ref_=dbs_p_mng_rwt_ser_shvlr&storeType=ebooks
Djinn (or more properly jinn) appear in pre-Islamic Arabic literature. The word itself is likely Aramaic. It’s definetely not of an Arabic language group origin, so the concept has been around for a long time, and it reached Arabic as a loan word. Prior to being definitively wrapped into Islam, the pagan use of the word represented many different types of unseen of “spirits,” usually bad, and occupying places people shouldn’t go to.
For what it’s worth, the episode itself specifically noted that they were “pre-Islamic,” so the error here is the article’s.
It even says in the show “pre-Islamic,” meaning they were around in the middle east for a long time, and then were also featured in Islamic mythology.
oh man, this episode was amazing. I loved that they ripped the band-aid off an in the first five minutes had Kamran’s mom be like “yo, we’re from another dimension.” Now, obviously they were hiding the “and we’ll fuck people up to get back home.” I feel like other streaming shows, Marvel shows but others, would have just held off on releasing that kind of info until near the end of the second-last episode. The show is striking an amazing balance of doing beautiful character work. I love spending time with the characters. But it’s not WHEEL SPINNING which has been an issue for… well, basically every Marvel show from netflix to now. Things keep happening, there is plot movement. Plot isn’t be-all, end-all. We’re midday through the series and I’m like WE STILL HAVE THREE TO GO? HELL YESlots of delightful things in this episode… but let’s be real folksBROWN JOVIFIGHT SCENE SET TO LIVIN’ ON A PRAYERLFG
Yeah, “Brown Jovi” is a spectacularly good fake band name, in the perfect spot here.
Never been a fan of Bon Jovi but I’ll take it over No Doubt’s “Just a Girl” any day.
I get what they were going for but it felt way too on the nose… I feel like there are some other awesome grrl power songs that would have worked better, that were also 90s.One idea: “Volcano Girls” – Veruca Salt
Dude, I mostly like Captain Marvel, and in places I really like it, but that song choice makes what would otherwise be a perfectly fine fight scene so goddamn cringe it’s hard to look at. I legit wanted to fast-forward through it. Painful
Eh, it could still be a twist, but I’m not a fan of this big apparent change to her origins. Making the source of Kamala’s power set be tied to a mythological origin stemming from an ethnic/cultural background instead of a Cosmic/Inhuman origin is ultimately stereotyping. It’s like when people assume that a Chinese or Japanese super hero must be a martial artist, I would think we would be beyond this by now, but Disney clearly is not.
Uhhhhh… Clan Destine is actual thing in the comics and they are all the descendants of a godly powerful Djinn named Elalyth. People online had been predicting Clan Destine would be her origin for a while now. And your idea of what stereotyping means is, frankly, moronic. Cultural stereotypes are inflicted on one cultural by another. A creator upending stereotypes through honest depictions of said culture is the opposite of stereotyping.Not to mention, by your definition, the only thing that isn’t “stereotyping” is some sensibility that equates only to some bland, very white, acceptable middle ground.
Yes, I know ClanDestine is in the comics. I also know their origin story also had some of the most racially offensive, orientalist depictions that Marvel did in the 1990’s, and they have nothing to do with Kamala in the comics. And how exactly is moronic about thinking POC characters to be able to be depicted as super heroes without having their power sets tied to cultural stereotypes? Most of Marvel’s most interesting heroes that have been created in the last 20 years are POC that didn’t have powers derived from ethnic or cultural stereotypes. (I’m referring to 616 Kamala, Miles, Riri, Amadeus, about a dozen newish X-Men). Ethnic and culture backgrounds were very important to the depiction of these characters, but none of that tied into their powers.
You should call out the shows creator on Twitter.
Biggest surprise of the episode: The Tiny Hulk costume returning.
Plus that dude was rocking it. I hope he’s our Hulking.
Wow, Clan Destine was low on my list of origins, though a lot of folks on the internet had been floating the idea, since they were started by the marriage of a human and a djinn. I like it.
I assumed that the blue-skinned arm is supposed to tie in with Hindu deities often having blue skin.And Clan Destine … man, that is a tasty deep cut.
That’s probably true, but knowing the MCU, it’ll still be a Kree and they’ll turn out to have been at least partially responsible for the depictions of those deities.
First saw the blue arm and thought it was confirmed kree, then when they said ‘djinn’ I wondered if the kree thing was a mislead and the blue arm was a slightly distasteful nod towards Robin Williams genie in ALADDINBUT no…totally kree tech, the clandestine just wanted to utilize it to get home. But now I’m thinking…Bruno said the power actually came from inside her. Clandestine said only earth born Clan could access their full powers. My guess is kamala gets both bands, taps into her full power, they are the nega-bands, and she gives them up to another kid…who will become NOVA cuz that young avengers is totes coming Also, they could still do the Robin Williams genie nod by giving her stretchy powers back after she gives up the bands lol
Why would the kid who gets the nega-bands become Nova? Those are more of a (og) Captain Marvel thing. Plus, there already is a Nova Corps in the MCU, so the pieces for a proper origin for Nova are already in place.Nega-bands = KreeNova = Xandarian
Although I enjoyed the episode, I thought the big fight scene was pretty blah. The pacing felt pretty inconsistent and the Djinn seemed unremarkable meat, more like Tracksuit guys than supernatural beings.I feel like they could have worked a lot more of Kamala’s learning curve into the fight and used more of the setting — they’re in a kitchen so do more with props like pots full of soup, cabbages and cleavers.It’s disappointing because Vellani seems like a pretty gifted physical actor, and while of course she’s leaving a lot of the hard work to stunt pros, it seems like they still could have used her skills better in those scenes.It almost felt like they were setting this up as that trope where the villians are trying to lull her into a false sense of security by not killing her right away, and not doing better was all part of their diabolical master plan. Probably just mediocre staging, though.
I thought the big fight scene was pretty blah.One too many moments of Kamala taking a hit, then vanishing around a corner. Or under a table. Five or six attackers, and she manages to escape multiple times by just sort of crawling around on the floor? Ehhh.
Having the Clan Destine show up is one hell of a deep cut; I think the last time they showed up anywhere in the comics was a quick cameo or two more than a decade ago. A forgotten bit a Marvel history, they were a wealthy family of immortals with Djinn ancestry (the patriarch, a European explorer, married a Djinn several centuries ago and she’s kept them ageless ever since; it comes off a bit colonizer-y today) who hid from humanity until the two youngest members revealed themselves by becoming superheroes, forcing the entire clan to follow suit and become a family superteam. If I’m making this sound a bit like a cross between the Fantastic Four and the Eternals, that’s pretty much what it was. But what’s interesting is that Clan Destine were (mostly) good guys; this is the first example I can think of where heroes have been adapted for the MCU as villains. That’s a pretty drastic change, but no one has done anything with these characters for quite a long time, so it’s not like having them show up as bad guys all of a sudden would rock the comics universe to its core.Anyway, this episode was notably missing Kamala’s imagination doodles (aside from one establishing shot) and felt less in her head than the previous ones. As a result it felt more generically Marvel-y, especially once the fight started. I realize that the plot is getting more serious (it’s insane that this season is already halfway done; D+ needs to make longer seasons. Cut the budget per episode if needed, just give the story some breathing room) but there should be a way to marry strong action with Kamala’s unique perspective.
But that’s okay because the wedding really was a ton of fun, and I loved getting a glimpse at traditions I’m not familiar with. And the fight scene was very well done despite being a bit typical. I loved how no one in the kitchen took Kamala seriously when she told them to evacuate. Way too many extras in movies seem incredibly eager to flee a building the moment any rando tells them to.
In general I agree that some of these series should be longer, or at least not all seemingly married to 6 episodes. But Ms. Marvel might end up being perfectly timed here. It doesn’t feel rushed or overstuffed, and there’s plenty of time to breathe and get to know the characters. I mean, I’d love a traditional 24 episode order of this stuff, as I’m absolutely loving this series, but I also won’t mind ending this season really champing at the bit to see The Marvels.
Yes, as a former server, the reactions of the staff felt very real. From “ignore the crazy” to “oh hell no!”. Been there!
Neither am I, and part of the reason I’m addressing this so late in this
piece is that I am still so, so angry about Agent Cleever not taking
her shoes off when entering the prayer space. She’s not there in an
emergency situation, there’s no reason she and her colleagues can’t take
their shoes off. No reason, except that she knows it’s hugely
disrespectful and therefore it’s a power play.
That’s why you hire Alysia Reiner for the part…If nothing else, she showed in OITNB what a tremendous rude, bullying asshole she can play. This is exactly the kind of behavior I would expect from one of her characters. She doesn’t seem to mind being horrifically unlikeable on screen.
She plays a normal awful person in Shining Vale, but yeah, she pretty much exists as a hatesink. Interesting of DODC is portrayed here. They were the ultimate cause of the Vulture in Homecoming, having shut down Keaton’s business in order to gain access to tech, leading him to turn to crime. So, do they exist to just be baddies for “reasons?” Does this indicate some huge ongoing shift with the post-Snap government? Ultimately, the government in Falcon and WS was more chill than is being shown here, having just let Sam keep the shield and all. I mean, if you have Arian Moayed, why not send him to the mosque to lean on some cultural common ground? Seems like DODC is carrying the idiot ball here. Especially when it would seem, to me, that there would be an advantage to courting mid-tier supers. Sure, a Wanda or Captain Marvel is walking nuke if they wanted to go off, but Kamala, so far, has just shown street level powers.
They played a similar role in No Way Home if I remember correctly.
Who? Arian Moayed? Yeah, I believe so. But my point was, if you were in charge of sending one to a mosque, there’s an obvious better choice.
No I meant the DODC. I may have misinterpreted, I thought you were asking why they are suddenly acting in more of an enforcement capacity than a cleanup one.
Yeah, as someone who read the various Damage Control mini-series when they came out and loved them, I’m disappointed in their MCU depiction.In the comics they were basically a superhero insurance company for civilians who would come by and clean up your home/business/whatever if a superhero fight caused you any damage. They had no legal authority and didn’t arrest anyone, and the mini-series’ were played for laughs.But the MCU has decided to also make them government agents that strongarm people, make arrests, and threaten to take away your rights. Sigh.
It’s impossible to separate the “religious” from the secular in SA weddings. Nowadays it’s extremely common for people to just include whatever they want in their weddings alongside any traditional ceremonies. So South Indian weddings now have sangeet and mehndi, which did not used to be a thing, and I have attended several SA wedding receptions where they’ve cut a cake. My brother refused to have a “reception” for his wedding and instead had a cocktail party. This is all just in the subcontinent, so I’m sure SA-American weddings can be even more hybrid.
There’s also Tyesha’s family traditions being mixed in. While I don’t think it’s been explicitly stated if they’re Muslim or not they’re definitely bringing in some more Western details, e.g. the men dressed in suit-and-tie.
I watched this episode and then as I read reviews I read a few comments (Never read those) that made me realise just how important this show really is but also a big issue. Ms Marvel so far is not doing well in viewership and I realised why – there are too many people simply against it, and nit just the ones you anticipated. It stars a young girl so sexist misogynistics. Then she’s brown so the racistsThen she’s Muslim so you lose not only the Islamophobes BUT also Islamists ( Cause she’s not Islamic enough) Then Indians – cause some of them complain about Pakistanis coopting their culture (Even though its a shared culture FFS) Then conservative Pakistanis cause its showing too much Indian stuff (Again shared culture FFS) Frankly it’s exhausting all the reasons people hate the show without even addressing its actual quality – but just for existing. But it’s because of that I realise how important it is. My daughter is growing up in exactly this environment (Brown, Muslim, expat, Liberal but practising etc) and all these groups will be judging her like this TV show across all of these vectors. It makes me angry, no girl/no person should have to manage all that. So this show is striking home for me in a way I never expected as a dad. Not the just the show but the Meta story around it.
Nani is for sure wearing the other bangle, right?
I’ve been wondering why they’re in such a rush to get back now and random MCU tie in theory is that maybe their status puts them on Gorr’s radar so they need to vamoose.
I am loving the costumes! Finally, you get to see Desi people who aren’t in something ugly (looking at you, harry potter and eternals). Kamala’s mehndi sharara was stunning, as were the bride’s outfits. Also, it’s nice to see Marvel trying to atone for that cringe-worthy “bollywood” scene from the Eternals with some *actual* Bollywood classics. And that’s an excellent point about the “Allahu Akbar” part. I remember the scene giving me a warm feeling, and I’m not religious at all. It’s nice to see it in Western TV not tied to a terrorist. I’ve never had representation to this extent before. Now I finally see what I’ve been missing and I want more!
The kitchen fight is fine but that’s because Kamala was still learning how to use her powers. Her moves were mostly on the defensive mode and not a lot of offensive until she figured out the extended light arm a moment later. My favorite line has to be “Explain again like you have a social life”. Iman is such a charismatic actress!
We finally streamed Multiverse of Madness last night, and Kamala is such a “learnin’ the superpowers ropes” contrast to America Chavez. Almost nothing worked for me (in that regard) in Multiverse, whereas Iman Vellani just sells everything. I blame the writing, not the actor (Dr. Strange said believe in yourself, and suddenly her powers work? Oooof), but it doesn’t hurt that Vellani has ten-thousand buckets of screen presence.
Bruno is absolutely a Rebecca Bunch-level parent pleaser, and I love it.
Seems sort of weird to me how the MCU largely is trying to ignore the effects of the Snap. I don’t believe it’s come up in Ms. Marvel, has it? It could have been a great reason why Nakia looks so much older than Kamala does in every scene. Like she has this enormous family, mosque family, and 50% of them should have been dusted and disappeared. There’s a couple of references in Strange 2, that fairly interesting side note in F&WS about how the Snap made things better for some, and in Black Widow with the entire un-dusting scene, but it sort of seems like the MCU is wanting to put a button on their big show piece from Phase 3.As an aside, how likely is it that a person Nakia’s age would be voted onto a mosque council? She’s still in high school, right, given the entire glowing nose bathroom scene? Also, Gucci shoes in high school?The scene in the convenience store had entire Kim’s Convenience Mr. Mehta/Appa vibe, especially in how Bruno didn’t want the help. Also, why would Bruno not want the help? I don’t really see how Kamala’s father would connect the dots of Djinn to his daughter being a masked superhero.Nice organic way to get a big Bollywood style dance scene. I’m glad they didn’t just shoehorn one in randomly (although it worked in Legion because…you know…insanity). Bon Jovi seemed like a weird choice though. Was it just to get a “Brown Jovi” gag in? I mean, I know it’s NJ, but using a, what, 30 year old song in a story set around teenager where the rest of the soundtrack has been modern pop/rap/chiptune? It would make sense if it was diegetic with the band playing for the older crowd at the wedding, but that’s not the route they chose.
The show already established Muneeba and Yusuf’s mutual love of Bon Jovi.
Fair. I probably missed something in the earlier episodes. I admit that Brown Jovi is chuckle-worthy. I just don’t see it jiving with the rest of the soundtrack. But, hey, peeps can disagree.
As great as the shock of the snap and the FIVE YEARS LATER was, I feel like it was a misstep when they decided they weren’t going to undo and live with those consequences.It was initially played for laughs in Spider-Man: Far From Home (look, those unsnapped people just appeared on the basketball court and got knocked over, that’s so funny, they aren’t traumatized at all), but the more you think about it, this should be a problem in *every* post-Endgame MCU project for a long time. An event like this would change the world and be an issue for everyone for decades.But you’re right – you could pretend the snap and FIVE YEARS LATER never happened in this series and it wouldn’t make any difference. Given the odds, half of Kamala’s family should have been snapped and they would still be dealing with the consequences of it.
The “We still have more votes to count” bit killed me. Like it is so funny. It’s from the scene where Nakia introduces herself to the Agents.