Embiggen!: Ms. Marvel Anticipation

[Meredith Quill]

Anticipate Here!

[arc]

I've been re-reading the comics today and now I'm really excited for the show.

[Ailianna]

I'm not able to see Dr. Strange 2 until it's on streaming, but I know she's introduced there. Without any spoilers or reasons, should I hold off watching this until I see Dr. Strange 2? 

[arc]

Unless I missed a tiny Easter egg, she’s not introduced in Dr Strange 2. America Chavez is, but she’s a totally different character.

[Ailianna]

Thank you! Trying to stay spoiler free obviously confused me!

[aghst]

I thought at first this was a series meant to appeal to children, featuring a superhero character who seems barely out of adolescence.

Not sure what to make of this latest attempt to do a United Colors of Benetton for the MCU.

On the one hand, if you're going to have hundreds or maybe even thousands of superheroes, yes let's not make them all white.

On the other hand, it seems an obvious attempt to appeal to a certain ethnic or socioeconomic group, just as Disney is making blatant attempts to cater to the Chinese market with casting and careful messaging on certain sensitive political topics.

United Colors of Benetton was of course a cynical ad campaign as well.

Of course if Disney/Marvel want to be taken seriously, the series has to depict something about the Pakistani-American experience since they made her ethnicity a key part of the character's identity.

I don't doubt that they'll try nor that a lot of Pakistani-Americans, especially those around the age of the main character or younger will take it as a positive depiction of their experience.  Certainly African-Americans took great pride in Black Panther with its depictions of a superior black civilzation.

But is a superhero movie the best way to depict issues around being an ethnic minority, an outsider in America?

I rather suspect that movies like My Beautiful Launderette or Bend it like Beckham gives a better idea of life for South Asians in the UK than a Disney property shows a similar experience in America.

Certainly the Disney show has the potential for much greater reach, in the US and probably everywhere this show is streamed.

[Dandesun]

Given that Kamala Khan was created as a direct result of a Pakistani-American editor at Marvel sharing anecdotes of how she grew up in America, yes, the premise was trying to tell a super hero story while also conveying the experience as a child of immigrants from what they considered to be an authentic place. The people who created the character lived those experiences and shared them through Kamala. So Kamala's relationship with her family, her friends, her mosque, her community, her school... are all a part of that.

The comparisons of Kamala and Peter Parker are there for a reason, they are relatable characters that focused just as much on their personal foibles and overcoming them as much as fighting villains. Kamala doesn't have the tragedy Peter does but her determination to step up once she had the capacity to do so in a big way, and her perseverance when she failed, are aspirational.

[arc]

2 hours ago, aghst said:

United Colors of Benetton was of course a cynical ad campaign as well.

Listen, a company doing a 30-ish film franchise that averages around a billion at the box office each time plus sells boatloads of merchandise and has theme parks… was not doing the white superhero films with a pure heart untainted by concerns of commerce. They were doing it to make money those times too.

2 hours ago, aghst said:

But is a superhero movie the best way to depict issues around being an ethnic minority, an outsider in America?

A superhero story is a vehicle. And it’s a very versatile vehicle that can be taken to many different places. No one vehicle (genre) is the “best” for anything. Execution matters a lot more than whether a story fits into a genre, particularly a very malleable genre like superheroes.