Ms. Marvel EP Shares the AvengerCon Moment That Didn’t Make It to Screen — Plus, Grade the Premiere
In Disney+’s Ms. Marvel, which debuted its first episode on Wednesday, Kamala Khan is Captain Marvel’s biggest fan. The teen runs a superhero-themed YouTube series, makes her own cosplay outfits, and aspires to be just like her favorite Avenger.
Kamala’s fangirling is familiar territory for head writer and executive producer Bisha K. Ali, who admits to geeking out when she was younger and thus approached fan culture through a celebratory lens.
“I was a nerd when it wasn’t acceptable and cool… so I understand the passion and love of fans,” she tells TVLine. “That was really important to us in the construction of this show, that Kamala Khan herself is a fan. This is a show for fans, and for a fan’s fantasy of becoming part of Marvel.”
For Ali, the Disney+ series needed to “speak to this generation of viewers who have got the MCU in their bones. It was really exciting to be able to tell a story from that perspective. Kamala is going to represent the audience so much in the story going forward.”
In Episode 1, Kamala sneaks out of her house to attend AvengerCon (an Avengers-themed convention) and participate in the Captain Marvel cosplay contest. The scene featured plenty of Easter eggs, like Captain America cosplayers, a Groot T-shirt referring to him as Mr. Tree (because no one knows his name), and that giant Ant-Man head that tumbles across the event space when Kamala first (and most unexpectedly) displays her powers.
According to Ali, the original scene contained even more Avengers nods which got pared down before making it to screen.
“At one point, there was a guy dressed in full Korg (as in Thor: Ragnarok) cosplay and he couldn’t get through the security barriers,” she explains. “That’s was in a very early draft that no longer exists.”
Ali also suggested a “winged horse” as in the kind Valkyrie rides “so that we can represent everybody in the show,” but that also didn’t make the final cut. “The bananas first draft of AvengerCon, which will never see the light of day, had everybody in it,” she notes.
And while AvengerCon remains a fictional event in the series, the Ms. Marvel boss is hoping to one-day make it a real thing.
“I have an email drafted to [Marvel Studios boss] Kevin Feige, with our pitch for how we can make AvengerCon real in the real world,” she shares. “I still haven’t sent it, but I’m like, ‘We need to make this happen somehow.'”
What did you think of Ms. Marvel’s series premiere? Do you hope AvengerCon becomes a real-life event? Grade the episode below, and then leave your thoughts in the comments.
It was fun and yes, I would love for there to be an actual Avengercon. My Queer Nerd self would be there is a heartbeat.
I like the idea of a superhero fan becoming an actual superhero (although the amount of Marvel Universe promotion in this show was off the charts). Still, they went too far in depicting Kamala as a head-in-the-clouds daydreamer who has trouble focusing on real life, and who doesn’t even seem to know where she is half the time. (The driver’s-test scene — when she slammed on the gas in reverse from a parking space and immediately rammed another car — was maybe supposed to be funny, but actually made her seem impaired.) Is this really the sort of person we want to have superpowers? I imagine her destroying the world a lot more than she helps it.
I really enjoyed the first episode, but I do agree with you to an extent. It’s like they only know how to depict teenagers as aloof and sarcastic.
This, plus the family drama was way too cliche. She won’t let her parents in, and they won’t accept her and give her room to grow. The parents version of compromise is to ignore everything she tells them and micromanage her hobbies. On the flip side she totally rejects the parents involvement in her hobbies/passion and shames them for even trying to meet her half way. Any competent parent could see the rift forming and change the approach, but not K’s mother. Worse still, if there is a queer love triangle involving the blonde friend/former friend things with her parents will get even worse. The only thing worse than bringing home a non Muslim white boy, is bringing home a non Muslims white girl.
Sounds like a fresh idea. I’ll give it a try.
I enjoyed it… very similar in story and tone to Naomi… teenage super hero fangirl gets powers…. even her friends are similar…. but this one had a better budget and better writers.
I was amused that the snooty classmate at the con was basically wearing the first version of the Ms. Marvel costume. The whole scene had so many Easter Eggs.
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It seemed a little slow but set up a lot. The lead is utterly charming, but the character isn’t “perfect.” My heart broke a little for her dad when she lashed out in frustration when he tried to Hulk out for her.
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Powers look fancy but we’ll see how practical they are. I completely get why they needed to switch her original powers, but another normal human with a device and no actual powers might not be wget the MCU needs. I always wonder how a normal person, no more a young girl, is going to take a punch without getting splattered. But the “Nega Band” seems like a good nod to the Marvel line for powers.
I didn’t enjoy all the little stylistic choices (like writing text messages in chalk on the sidewalk) but I felt that got a lot better about 20 mins into the episode. Either I got used to it, or they just overdid it with too many in quick succession right at the beginning, and I’m not sure which it is. I agree Kamala came off a little too much as a cliched teenager but I expect that’s on purpose as a “starting point” for her journey. Again, not sure it was a wise choice to go that way, but it’s one I understand.
My teen and tween LOVED the way she was presented. “She’s a YouTuber? Le’s goooo! Look at that channel! She’s hardcore! That’s a lot of time to make it that good. . .” They related to her instantly. Sometimes the cliches are on point.
I’m too old for it and that’s okay! It’s cute, but not compelling for me at all beyond that. The scene where Kamala jumps out of the window is one of the worst things I’ve ever seen though.
I’m not in this demographic, and I wasn’t sure how well this show would work for me, but as soon as I heard Iman Vellani’s voice there was no doubt. Such happiness, such a joyful kid, how could you not feel good watching it? And the production backed that up completely. I was glad to see it to gave itself room to establish character and background.
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As for Kamala’s parents, yes, they’re screwing up some things, just as Kamala did her driving test, and it needs to be sorted out, but that just gives the show somewhere to go. I liked them, and they raised good, healthy children. You can tell that the people making the show wanted to show how they loved their own families.
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Of course, we’ve only seen one aspect of them so far. For example, Kamala’s mother knew about the band and didn’t want her putting it on. There’s history of some kind, and she’s clearly overcompensating, trying to protect her daughter. It’s pretty evident that when Kamala gets out in the world as Ms. Marvel, and they find out, things will open up.
It was okay. I’m not the target audience, so maybe they’ll like it more. But I felt most of the show was very formulaic. Family drama, mean girl at school who’s secretly nice, gay BFF. I realize these are all straight from the comics, but they could have done something different.
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But like I said, I’m not the target audience. Things like that play better with teens and the YA crowd. I’ll keep watching but I do hope the show veers off from the standard molds at some point.
Gay BFF? NTTAWWT and all, but he looked like he wanted to kiss her. Though he dated other girls in the comics, it seemed like they were more setting up a “he likes her but she’s infatuated with the new hot guy (to be introduced later)” love triangle.
The comics are incredible popular. You acknowledge that these things are coming from the comics. Why would they change the basics when they’re so popular? As it is, my tween, who is a Ms. Marvel super fan, is pissed and thinks they’ve changed too much! She kept walking out of the room in disgust. She was OK with the minor change of making Kamala a YouTuber instead of a blogger, but things like Bruno’s look being wrong were killing her. I doubt she’s an exception in that regard.
Entertaining and fun! Got them Spider-Man: Homecoming vibes!
I really enjoyed it. It was a fun first episode. I can’t wait for the rest of the episodes. My heart broke for the dad when she said it was humiliating. He seemed to get into the whole thing and she just tore it down. I enjoyed the creative ways they showed the texting conversation. I think that this show is relatable to anyone who was ever a teenager (especially if they weren’t the popular kids) and even to anyone who is a parent.
I was super concerned when I heard about the drastic change to her powers (ie. I was prepared to hate it), but I just finished the premiere, and damn if I didn’t love it! I’ve read every single Ms. Marvel comic, and I love all the nods to her original origin while also making something fresh for the screen. I was also really impressed by the characterizations of Aamir and Abu. There seems to be a lot more life to them here than what is seen on the page. Looking forward to next week’s episode!
PS: Was that Mikey standing by the lockers, unnamed for now but setting her up for future seasons?
Actually loved the first episode. It is a little out of my demographic, but I found it enjoyable. My kids loved it. One small problem, though, and I realize I’m probably nitpicking. In New Jersey, the driver’s test is not done on the open road. There is a closed track that is used for the test. I realize that’s weird and it’s probably the only state that does that, but it is what it is.
It was great! Very engaging visual style and energy. My family watched it together.
Awesome show. Too me Marvel was always a highly diverse and inclusive form of entertainment (collected over 17,000 comics when I was younger. A relative of mine sold them all at a garage sale for 5 cents a piece when I shipped off to the Navy. I was sick! many of those were collector’s items worth $100’s a piece.)