‘Ms. Marvel’ Episode 2 Review: Hard Light And Crushed Hearts
High school is complicated. It is a time of high expectations and even higher follower-driven cliques of hierarchies. What’s neat about Kamala’s story, as we cover in our Ms. Marvel Episode 2 Review, is how social media plays into this modern theme. Whether it be Kamala’s Sloth Baby productions youtube channel, Instagramming at Mosque, or her rival Zoe’s influencer following, social media’s role in making Ms. Marvel feel as modern of a superhero feels genuinely unique.
This is critical for two reasons. First, it lets viewers see through the lens of a Pakistani and Muslim young girl almost immediately. With everything regarding social media being direct: “This is me!” forms of storytelling. The second is because making the story stick to modern times helps with the distancing from the horrors of the past regarding Apartheid. The period where India and Pakistan completely segregated, leaving an unstable mess and a series of wars.
How this episode sort of addresses this was brilliantly done, as it sort of nodded that these tragedies happened while adding, that everyone has a sad story about that period. You see this with Kamala’s parents and their origins. You also see this with the Illuminaunties gossiping about her great-grandmother, Ayesha. Kamala Khan’s lineage seems like it will play into this story in ways that the comics never had.
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It’s revealed that it’s not the bangle, but something within Kamala that’s manifested inherent (possibly inhuman) abilities. Her powers, possibly delving into her family, and maybe even into her Pakistani, history. What’s great is that it’s all subtle backdrop material that fits naturally into the environment. Details which are sprinkled across the story while Kamala is having fun.
Now, the appeal of Ms. Marvel is in Kamala’s positively infectious energy. So seeing her swagger and confidence in the opening scenes of her high school while blasting Mase’s song “Feel so good” is pretty funny. Kamala, for the first time in her existentially uncertain history, feels like she belongs after saving the day at AvengersCon. She’s one step closer to becoming her hero: Captain Marvel.
This is the exact kind of funny and lighthearted drama, rife with poetic music selections, and awkward social sensibilities, that are the fun parts of Kamala’s story. Seeing her learn how to be a hero with Bruno in this one, in a very Ant-Man/original Spider-Man-inspired training montage, is a lot of laugh-out-loud fun.
Kamala Khan/Night Light Powers: Hard Light
You have to admit, Night Light is a pretty funny yet fitting nickname given by Zoe that sort of puts a whimper on Kamala as a superhero. Perhaps even more so than Nakia’s nickname of Budget Captain Marvel.
The episode focuses on Kamala’s abilities and limitations. Which the series seems to officially be called Hard Light, as it’s her power to project light energy and crystalize it into form. This power, vastly different from Kamala’s stretchy limbs and embiggen from the comics, allows her to glow and stretch light from her appendages that can crystalize in form. It can also be a fun homage to Spider-Man because she can fire light energy off like webs, that can then be make plated disks and slides, kind of like X-Men’s Iceman.
This is all told via the zany scene-breaking emojis and life through a doodle-riddled Instagram filter that is Kamala’s headspace. Making the experience feel genuinely different from other hero montages of the past. So much of it works because Iman Vellani is fantastic as the character, as she’s a newcomer in terms of acting just as Kamala is new in terms of being a superhero. This is a positive thing. Because there was a lot of uncertainty about whether Vellani could pull this portrayal off, and yet, I can’t imagine anyone else playing the role.
Not only is the actress a genuine fan girl who also loves Marvel Studios, but she is also Pakistani-Canadian. She is someone who knows what it’s like to thread both worlds. Everything about her candor and positivity is heartwarmingly genuine. This is why Iman Vellani works as Kamala: because it’s so hard to tell she’s even acting. She really is Kamala Khan.
How The Teenage Identity Issues Get Explored With The Supporting Cast
Now, one of the best things regarding Ms. Marvel’s themes of identity, both in the comics and in the Disney+ series, is her interactions with her supporting cast. In the early issues, this was very reliant on Nakia and Bruno, and it’s excellent that the Disney+ series is following suit.
With Nakia, her story arc has sort of been a look at Pakistani-American issues. That whole exploration about what it’s like threading the line between cultures and seemingly forced to fit-into American standards. Especially, in high school.
“My whole life I've either been too white for some people or too ethnic for others and it’s been this very sucky, in-between,” Nakia says in a powerful moment this week regarding her wearing of a Hijab, “So when I first put this on, I was hoping to shut some people up. But I kinda realized… I don't really need to prove anything to anybody. Like, When I put this on, I feel me. Like, I have a purpose.”
“Growing up, not only women of color, but women, in general, were made to feel really small and invisible and told to be quiet and that their voices only matter when people tell them that their voices matter,” said Yasmeen Fletcher in an interview with Refinery29. The actress plays Nakia in the series. Just like her character, Fletcher also stresses the importance of addressing the need to be heard regarding female Pakistani-youth and Muslim-youth identity issues. “That was a really big thing for me growing up, that I didn't feel like if I said anything, anybody would be listening because there was another guy that was saying the same thing a little bit louder.”
As for Bruno, his voice is sort of the typical uncertainty of your average American teen. He is someone with a bright future who’s stuck in wanting to stay close because of his crush/close friendship that he has with Kamala.
“Yeah. You know that part in a movie where someone comes to the main character and says, ‘You’re going to be a Jedi!’ or ‘You want to answer phones of a demanding but impossibly chic magazine?’” asks guidance counselor Mr. Wilson this episode regarding Bruno’s inability to make the right college decision. “Well, that's this movement. You’re the lead character. I’m Meryl Streep,”
Bruno’s indecision mirrors a lot of youth who don’t really want to think of life beyond high school. In fact, it’s a common thread in both his and Kamala’s journey, as both would rather spend the days obsessing over Avengers and being that age, than having to seriously contemplate the future. A theme that I think many high schoolers would agree on.
Be Still My Crushing Heart: Kamala’s In Love With A Captial I… for Infatuation
Crushes are really hard when you’re a teenager. And this episode mostly sets up the Kamran story arc from the comics and Kamala’s absolute swooning over him, as the adorable dance sequence over The Ronettes, “Be My Baby” implies.
I’ll admit, Kamran is a good-looking guy, in shape, and well off given both his car and what I’m going to assume, is professional diving lessons that he showcases while at Zoe’s pool party. Between his scenes and a whole lot of meet-cute and almost hand-holding moments in this one between him and Kamala, there’s a lot of plot set-up here that has his moments running parallel to the bigger themes of this story. It also fits a bit too perfectly, as he even gets along with Kamala’s brother, whose engagement storyline in this one gave us some interesting side-character backstories.
Still, it’s really his meeting with Kamala that drives this episode. Because everything that I’ve detailed above revolves around this crush as the A-story, which strangely, doesn’t even have much going on besides a tugging of the heartstrings as a driving factor. It’s also pretty obvious both Kamala and Nakia are attracted to him, much to the jealousy of Bruno who is by all definitions: in the friend zone right now.
The biggest revelation though is in Kamala’s round 2 of playing her as… Night Light. Because in yet another social media-driven scene where a child tries taking a selfie while hanging off a tower, he nearly falls and Kamala has to save the day. It goes… awkwardly. With the mysterious organization somewhat closing in (after their convenient interrogation of Zoe). But who bails Kamala out of this mess-up by picking her up in a car? Well, it’s Kamran and his mother. A woman who strangely knows about Kamala and what’s happening.
How this all ties together will be interesting to see, because so far, I think Ms. Marvel has continued to knock it out of the park.
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Source: Refinery29