Review by C.J. Bunce
If you have any doubt young actress Iman Vellani was destined to be the next Marvel Comics superheroine, just watch her in the first episode of new series Ms. Marvel, and watch the short background feature that follows (A Fan’s Guide to Ms. Marvel). Her character is similar to Hailee Steinfeld’s Hawkeye, who we only met last year in her new series. Both grew up admiring Avengers in a world where Thanos ruined five years for so many, and both take actions to become those superheroes. Both actresses have created characters with a respect for their family, culture, and upbringing, but both want to be themselves, too. Vellani’s character, a 16-year-old named Kamala Khan, faces the same teen angst issues of most American teens, and her choice is to distract herself with other things. Primarily that’s marveling at Carol Danvers’s Captain Marvel, who she admires from afar (actor Brie Larson is not expected in this series, but both will appear together in the forthcoming Captain Marvel movie The Marvels). This coming of age story has much going for it in only its first 47-minute opening episode, premiering this week on Disney+.
