All great superheroes both reflect the time period in which they were created, and then they transcend them.
Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, both Jewish men, created Superman partially as a response to their fears of the growing worldwide fascism of the late 1930s. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Hulk partially as a reaction to the widespread fear of nuclear warfare, and the X-Men have long been seen as stand-ins for the Civil Rights movement.
Now, not all heroes have such high-minded origins. Some are representative of aspects of the human condition, and some are just supposed to look cool. (Which is, of course, totally fine.)
But all that is to say Ms. Marvel, aka Kamala Khan isn’t just both the most popular and one of most interesting superheroes Marvel and Disney (DIS) have debuted in a decade, she’s also part of a long lineage.
Ms. Marvel Has Become One Of Disney’s Defining Superheroes
Ms. Marvel is a superhero moniker that dates back to 1977. It was originally the codename for Carol Danvers character, as there was another superhero dude back then named Captain Marvel. (It’s a long story. DC Comics also used to have a character named Captain Marvel. That’s also a long story.)
Eventually, Marvel Comics upgraded Danvers to Captain Marvel, revamping the character under the direction of star writer Kelly Sue DeConnick.
Legend has it that when DeConnick’s became a hit with fans in 2012, Marvel Studios immediately began planning to adapt the character for the big screen, culminating in the Brie Larson starring “Captain Marvel” in 2019. (Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige had, by that point, taken note of the grumblings that Marvel didn’t have enough female superheroes, to say nothing of the fact that no women had ever headlined their own Marvel film.)
With the moniker of Ms. Marvel not in use, Marvel Comics decided to take a chance that at the time some onlookers thought was risky, but now seems common sense.
It had become increasingly clear that the population of America as a whole and the comic book fan community was becoming younger, more racial diverse and more female than the comic book industry had expected.
The idea that comics were a thing for boys, and white boys at that, had become increasingly untenable. One only needed to visit any online comic book forum or visit a comic book convention in person to be disabused of that notion.
The backlash to this progress, though, was a troubling cultural resentment that brewed in some toxic corners of the internet and society writ large. Marvel’s creatives felt the need to push back against this revanchist sentiment.
At the same time, social media fostered a new, hyper-engaged breed of young fans that were eager to trumpet their devotion to their favs. So Marvel decided to create a character to represent these fans, and to prove once again that anyone can be a superhero.
Created by a team of editors and artists that included Sana Amanat, Stephen Wacker, G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona and Jamie McKelvie, Khan is a post-9/11 Pakistani American Muslim teenager who lives in Jersey City.
She’s also an obsessive fan of superheroes, who are naturally huge celebrities in the Marvel Universe. After gaining super powers, she fashions herself in the image of her idol Danvers and gets to super heroing, eventually joining The Avengers and becoming buds with Spider-Man.
She became an immediate fan favorite and media sensation, and before long it seemed inevitable that Khan would be introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
So What Are Critics And Twitter Saying About ‘Ms. Marvel’?
When Disney launched its Disney+ streaming service in 2019, it played it just a bit safe.
Because of the pandemic, all of its Marvel Cinematic Universe shows were pushed back. But when they were finally ready, Marvel at first focused on characters like The Falcon and The Scarlet Witch who hadn’t gotten much of a focus in the often very-crowded Marvel films. (And as seen in the recent "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” those shows did indeed tie back into the films.)
In that way, the Marvel shows were similar to the various one-shots and miniseries that Marvel Comics have long put out that told the stories of secondary characters, sometimes turning them into A-listers in the process. But Marvel is aware it needs fresh blood and fresh characters. And following the success of the Oscar Isaac-starring “Moon Knight,” comes “Ms. Marvel,” which debuted this week. (Just in time for Ms. Marvel to appear at Disneyland.)
Developed by writer Bisha K. Ali, “Ms. Marvel” has won praise from critics for blending superhero action, geeky humor, teenage soap opera dramatics and an insightful look at the American Muslim experience. Though some Facebook bigots are upset that the show exists, everyone else is already enjoying the series.
In particular, fans and critics are praising the performance by Iman Vellani, who nails the requiring fangirl enthusiasm, because that seems to be who she is in real life.
The reactions and reviews are in, and Variety thinks "Ms. Marvel" is a welcome addition to the MCU.
Rolling Stone's Alan Sepinwall is absolutely here for the coming-of-age drama.
Vulture loves the sweet tone, as well as the visually inventive ways the show found to depict the reality that teenagers constantly send text messages all day.
IO9 appreciates how the show thoughtfully challenges stereotypes.
IGN praises' Vellani infectious enthusiasm.
The Verge wonders if "Ms. Marvel" is the future of the MCU, representing a new generation of superheroes.
Some fans are a bit miffed that Khan's powers from the comics (she can shape shift and "embiggen" herself) have been changed for the show, but EW explains why. (Long story short, some powers are just hard to translate to film without looking super silly.)
Oh yeah, and the fans love it also. Including a few famous ones!
