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Marvel Studios’ MS. MARVEL Review | A Superhero Cosmic Adventure

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Say hello to the newest cosmic Super Hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who’s just trying to balance high-school life, family dynamics, and her newfound emerging superpowers.

The new series created exclusively for the streamer, introduces a new, teenage superhero to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One that I find will most certainly be one of Marvel’s most relatable characters. Kamala Khan is a normal, fun kid who’s thrust into a rich new world that throughout the season will take her to exciting places where she’ll ultimately discover truths about her past and family.

Thanks to Disney + Coastal House Media got to watch the first two episodes in advance and each showcase an epic, vibrant story that is stylistically unique and takes us on another cosmic journey through her culture and imagination. Kamala’s adventure begins exclusively June 8th on Disney+ 

Synopsis

Marvel Studios’ Ms. Marvel is a new, original series that introduces Kamala Khan, a Muslim American teenager growing up in Jersey City. An avid gamer and a voracious fan-fiction scribe, Kamala is a Super Hero mega-fan with an oversized imagination—particularly when it comes to Captain Marvel. Yet Kamala feels invisible both at home and at school—that is, until she gets super powers like the heroes she’s always looked up to. Life gets better with superpowers, right? 

Photo: Courtesy of Disney+

Review

A COMIC BOOK SUPERHERO COME TO LIFE 

As Marvel Comics goes, Kamala is still relatively a new character, as she was first introduced with a cameo appearance in Captain Marvel issue No. 14 in 2013 before getting her own solo series the following year. The origin and multicultural appeal of the character were inspired by real-life experiences of executive producer Sana Amanat who also co-created the first Muslim superhero character with writer G. Willow Wilson, artist Adrian Alphona, Editor Stephen Wacker and Jamie McKelvie. 

Ms. Marvel feels new and fresh but still aligned with the core principles of what Marvel characters have always stood for. Every Avenger, X-Men, and Inhuman were mighty and fantastic but they’re also people that are flawed with vulnerabilities that come across as very relatable to readers and viewers. However Ms. Marvel is so different and unique from all the other heroes, she doesn’t have fancy technology or a suit of armour, she’s just a teenager with a rich culture who proudly hails from Jersey City. Kamala is trying to figure the world out when she’s suddenly imbued with powers. 

In fact, this authenticity stuck a cord globally with fans across the globe as the first issue run sold out and is currently in its seventh run quickly becoming one of Marvel’s top-selling collections.  And while her identity puts a different lens on this Marvel story, she is still so relatable. Marvel which has been around for over eighty years also has characters that are full of comic book history, one of the most important characteristics of Kamala Khan is that she’s the ultimate super-fan of all these Marvel Superheroes, specifically Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel. Danvers is the hero Kamala wants to embody before fully becoming her own. 

Phase four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe showcases the aftermath of the Infinity Saga and how the Heroes have moved forward after Thanos wiped half of the world’s population for five years only for Tony Stark and the Avengers to bring them back. 

With Disney + Marvel Studios gave familiar characters such as Wanda Maximoff and Loki expanded roles with their own story arcs that integrate with the theatricals. But it’s also been about introducing the next generation of superheroes. 

Photo: Courtesy of Disney+

Adapting the comics for streaming was the perfect job for Bisha K. Ali, who Marvel went in-house for since she was already working in the writers’ room for Loki and was also a really big fan of the Ms. Marvel comics and was inspired to make a play to get on the project. The series is its own experience but still has the essence and spirit of what the comic portrayed. Many will see themselves represented as the creatives present the South Asian/ Pakistani culture respectfully and showcase the food, music and the relationship between parent and child. And for Ms. Marvel directors Adil and Bilall, Meera Menon and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy share all these unique multicultural aspects of Kamala’s story where something that they all connected to, whilst mixing it with new elements, familiar faces and storylines that go to some unexpected places. 

The great advantage of bringing any Marvel property to life on Disney+ is that it allows the filmmakers the opportunity to tell the story for six hours. This gives us time to visit the many places Kamala Khan’s journey takes her, for example, AvengerCon, but throughout we also get to spend time in the world of her family and friends who are very important to her and to the story. 

Identity also plays a part in telling Kamala Khan’s story as on a cultural level she’s in between two worlds, and cultures and at the same time dealing with her powers whilst also being a teenager. Ms. Marvel is about a young girl’s experience shown through the lens of someone who happens to be South Asian and happens to be Muslim. Kamala is a young woman coming of age and throughout the first two episodes, I’ve seen, showcase her determination and empowerment. 

Each of the directors has brought their own unique vision from diverse backgrounds and a passion of telling authentic stories with real connectable characters. 

INTERNATIONAL CAST

Iman Vellani makes her acting debut as Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel. She truly is the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and she was born to play the titular character. This is her coming-of-age story that is fun, colourful, and intimate as she struggles with identity and the understanding of her newfound powers. The filmmakers spent many months finding the right teenage actress to play a character who breaks down cultural walls. Iman embodies the character through and through as she’s also a huge super fan of Marvel, she knows the finite details of every character which is exactly like Kamala Khan, it feels very meta and she shows that a little nerdy can have tons of heart. 

In “Ms. Marvel” Kamala Khan is a 16-year-old Pakistani-American girl growing up in Jersey City. She’s a nerd, a gamer who writes fan fiction and most of all a huge fan of the Avengers, particularly Captain Marvel, who is her hero. Kamala spends her time hanging out with her best friends Bruno and Nakia and is close with her family. As Kamala begins to discover her new destiny, it puts a strain on her relationships as she struggles to understand her new reality. 

Photo: Courtesy of Disney+

In the series, Kamala’s two best friends are Bruno and Nakia played by Matt Lintz and Yasmeen Fletcher. The actors describe their characters’ dynamics.

Bruno and Kamala have grown up together and been best friends since second grade,” says Matt Lintz. “You see that in the first episode in the way he interacts with her family and when they hang out at the Circle Q where he works. Bruno is very loyal to Kamala, especially when she gets her powers, which created a new dynamic between them from just two amazing friends going to school, having fun and being big fans of the Avengers and Captain Marvel. Nakia is such a strong character and breaks a lot of the stereotypes for hijab girls, She’s opinionated and is willing to fight for anything that she believes in.

Throughout Ms. Marvel, Kamala’s family is the anchor in her life and throughout the family household, it’s her father Yusuf (Mohan Kapur) who’s more open to his daughter’s creative aspirations and fascination with Superheroes. Her mother Muneeba (Zenobia Shroff) however definitely has the upper hand in the household as she’s much more conservative and wants her daughter to follow a more traditional path.

While Kamala stretches the boundaries of her family dynamic, her brother Aamir ( Saager Shaikh)is her ally in softening her parents’ traditional values and expectations.

Photo: Courtesy of Disney+

Verdict

Ms Marvel combines action, drama, humour, and a spectacular soundtrack of music and throughout the episodes, Ms. Marvel becomes a visual treat with its action sequences and the mixture of animation and live-action. This coming of age story included familiar elements of a teenager struggling to figure out a path ahead, her faith and managing her parent’s expectations. This series is shaping up to be another exciting addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I can’t wait to see what Kamala Khan does next.

FILM RATING
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Disney +

Peter Pan & Wendy | Official Trailer – Disney +

Live-action adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s classic tale of a boy who wouldn’t grow up and recruits three young siblings in London to join him on a magical adventure to the enchanted Neverland island.

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Genre:

Action, Adventure, Comedy

Release Date:

2023

Director:

David Lowery

Cast:

Ever Anderson, Alexander Molony, Joshua Pickering

Plot Summary:

Live-action adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s classic tale of a boy who wouldn’t grow up and recruits three young siblings in London to join him on a magical adventure to the enchanted Neverland island

FILM RATING
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Adventure

Why ‘Return to Oz’ is one of my favorite films now

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I have said it once and I’ll say it again. Nothing could match the sheer brilliance of the 1939 Judy Garland-led film The Wizard of Oz, but there is another film that was flown under the radar that was forgotten by many Oz fans after its release. That film was Return to Oz.

The movie is the unofficial sequel to the 1939 classic film. It follows a young Dorothy Gale six months after she came back from the Land of Oz. She is sent a key by the scarecrow via a shooting star and gets back to the magical land of Oz using a raft on a floating river. She is accompanied by a talking chicken, a metalhead named Tik-Tok, a Gump and Jack Pumpkinhead. 

The gang battles the evil Princess Mombi and her boss the Nome King. They must find the Scarecrow and unfreeze all of the inhabitants of the Emerald City. 

The film bombed at the box-office and only received mixed reviews, but, over the years, it has gained popularity, thanks to the internet and other Oz fans. 

As a child, I have always been fascinated with the idea of a person or a group of people traveling to a distant and fantastical land of wonder and amazement. That’s why I love movies like Alice In Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz and The Chronicles of Narnia but this Walter Murch film from 1985 seems to capture my attention whenever I’m on Disney+ trying to kill some time. 

The story is so simple that it takes the journey of the hero and breathes new life into the marvelous land of Oz and the films that inspired it. It has a certain kinship to the nostalgic movies that I previously watched as a child in the 2000s. 

Another reason that I love this film so much is because of the magnificent score by David Shire. His music is so beautifully crafted that it makes one weak in the knees and the heart. Each note is a transformative thrill into Murch’s vision of what L. Frank Baum’s Oz was. The film uses every single strand of filmmaking techniques that the 1939 film originally hosted. 

Since its release, it has been acclaimed as a cult classic and its nostalgic charm is what makes it so likable and watchworthy. 

FILM RATING
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Disney +

The Mandalorian | Season 3 | Official Trailer – Disney +

The third season of the American television series The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal as the title character, a bounty hunter traveling to Mandalore to redeem his past transgressions with his companion Grogu. It is part of the Star Wars franchise, set after the events of Return of the Jedi.

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Genre:

Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Release Date:

March 1, 2023

Director:

Jon Favreau, George Lucas

Cast:

Pedro Pascal, Giancarlo Esposito, Katee Sackoff

Plot Summary:

The third season of the American television series The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal as the title character, a bounty hunter traveling to Mandalore to redeem his past transgressions with his companion Grogu. It is part of the Star Wars franchise, set after the events of Return of the Jedi.

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