Ms. Marvel arrives on Disney+ on June 8th. I was introduced to Kamala Khan while playing Marvel's Avengers. The story focused around her and maybe that's why she's one of my most favorite characters in the game. In fact, I barely used any other character.

Kamala is a teenage Pakistani. She's obsessed with the Avengers, especially Captain Marvel, and fantasizes about being a super hero (and a teenage guy). In the game and comics, she gets her powers from a Terrigen bomb that went off. "Super heroes" created this way are usually called "inhuman." You may recognize this term from the show of the same name (which I haven't watched yet) or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Her powers are pretty much (at least in the game) that she can "embiggen" her fists and feet. This is much like Mr. Fantastic, but quite different.

Erik Voss's breakdown mentioned that it looks like she gets her power from Kree technology, the wristband she wears. We can see her slip into what seems some other form of reality, which could be the Negative Zone, which is where the Fantastic Four gets their powers from. Seeing her go into this reminded me of when we watched Monica Rambeau go into Wanda's reality bubble over Westview after Wanda threw her out. Kamala, Monica, and Captain Marvel will appear together in a movie soon called "The Marvels."

The MCU has introduced us to numerous young characters, which are actually in the Young Avengers in the comics. It appears the MCU is setting them up and Kamala could very well become one of them, even though she isn't in the comics.

I haven't read many comics, so most of my knowledge about a lot of this comes from New Rockstars on YouTube. I'm familiar with other comic book related media, too. I'm glad Kamala's coming to live-action, although I'm going to miss seeing the one I'm used to in the game. I think the actor they chose seems like a good fit though. It reminds me of how I liked the Kate Bishop in the same game and missed her, but the live-action version of her was really good.

Oh and I like how in the trailer she corrects someone on how to pronounce her name. You might remember when that happened with someone else *wink*.

What do you think? Are you looking forward to this? What do you know about Ms. Marvel? Have you played Marvel's Avengers?

Check out my spoiler-free review of Marvel's Avengers: https://cheerfulghost.com/GregoPeck/posts/4659/marvel-s-avengers-a-spoiler-free-review

Will_Ball   Game Mod   Super Member wrote on 03/16/2022 at 02:58pm

Looking forward to it, but first Moon Knight!

The Avengers game sits in my backlog. Maybe soon!

Azurephile   Super Member   Post Author wrote on 03/16/2022 at 03:16pm

The game was kinda "meh." I think getting to know Kamala and Kate Bishop were some of the best parts of it. Shiny Iron Man-looking costumes for everyone was cool, too. Plus, it has microtransactions.

Travis   Admin wrote on 03/17/2022 at 09:49pm

Itā€™s very weird that they changed her powers so drastically.

Itā€™s been very hard for me to pronounce Kamala Harrisā€™s name properly because itā€™s the opposite emphasis of Kamala Khan. I kinda love that nod in the trailer lol

Travis   Admin wrote on 03/17/2022 at 09:50pm

Also yeah I played some Avengers. Kinda want to play more but eeehhhh itā€™s not a fave. I loved Kamala in that game though

Azurephile   Super Member   Post Author wrote on 03/17/2022 at 10:11pm

Yeah, it is curious that they changed her powers, I wonder why that was. From what I've gathered, it seems the TV series "Inhumans" didn't do so well in it's single season. Maybe they're trying to shy away from that. Still, she has cosmic power like Captain Marvel and Monica. All three have that all encompassing cosmic area around them at some point. Maybe the bracelets are Kree tech, maybe a Skrull had them. I'm looking forward to this, though. The actress looks adorable, I like her hearty smile. I think she's going to be fantastic.

Travis, have you played Avengers multiplayer? I haven't. I last played when the Black Panther part was released, but I haven't played any of the newer Spider-Man content. I read that he didn't get a story bit like Hawkeye and Black Panther. I think he's just a playable character, I'm not sure. Also, what do you think about Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy? I haven't tried it yet.

Travis   Admin wrote on 03/23/2022 at 03:02am

I also havenā€™t tried Guardians but it seems like more of what I was expecting from Avengers from reviews Iā€™ve read. I may dive into it when it hits a sale or something.

And yeah I played a bit of multiplayer in Avengers but really didnā€™t care for it. It seemed like that game was trying to be a lot of things at once and had some great ideas but they didnā€™t come together as well as I had hoped

Azurephile   Super Member   Post Author wrote on 06/08/2022 at 04:14pm

Be sure to check out the single post-credits scene!

Kamala is a teenager and I find her high school plight totally relatable. I like her family's accents and the Pakistani culture the show exposes us to. I love learning about cultures that differ from what I've been a part of.

I like this! I was digging the music right away! I was introduced to Ms. Marvel by playing Marvel's Avengers video game. I loved her (and Kate Bishop, who was also introduced to me by the game). This Kamala Khan is certainly different, but I'm looking forward to seeing more of her. Welcome to the MCU, Kamala Khan! Avengers assemble!

Azurephile   Super Member   Post Author wrote on 06/10/2022 at 06:43pm

I can't stop listening to the intro song on repeat over and over again! I love it so much! https://youtu.be/fHI8X4OXluQ

Travis   Admin wrote on 06/10/2022 at 10:53pm

Iā€™m shocked you hadnā€™t been exposed to Blinding Lights yet! I wasnā€™t a fan of The Weeknd until that album, but that album and especially that song is incredible

Will_Ball   Game Mod   Super Member wrote on 06/11/2022 at 04:48am

First episode was great!

Azurephile   Super Member   Post Author wrote on 06/11/2022 at 05:05am

How were you exposed to it? That will answer your shock. I know I'm missing out on lots of newer music. I guess music news and new music just doesn't come my way easily or often. I even checked in w/ Orgy's discography to make sure I haven't missed out. Sadly they haven't had anything since the last one that I'm still obsessed with. I get email from Pearl Jam and another band (you can guess who, it doesn't need to be said and I can tell you more about that if you want).

If I'm not listening to something I'm already aware of that I have or find on YouTube, I listen to the radio when I'm driving, but that's ROV and The River (like ROV but stationed in my area). They're "classic rock" stations, so it's always been Dad's music to me (which I still always liked), but now our favorite music that we "grew up on" is "classic rock!" I don't have a car anymore so I haven't been listening to CDs. I tried streaming services, but always get disappointed of hearing the same things repeat all the time. It's why I hate radio (other than commercials and static).

I checked out The Weeknd's 4th CD and put that song on repeat multiple times! It's an interesting song, because I heard it and liked it right away. It wasn't the lyrics, but now that I'm used to hearing it and more familiar with the lyrics, I've discovered that they speak to me.

This happened with Moon Knight, too! That song was Engelbert Humperdinck's "A Man Without Love." It became my theme song. I've played it so many times! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6YSuK6H8jU)

Azurephile   Super Member   Post Author wrote on 06/11/2022 at 05:19am

I'm glad you enjoyed it, too Will_Ball! I love Kamala so much!

Who would you guys cosplay as? I think if I went to AvengersCon I'd most likely cosplay as Doctor Strange, because he's my current favorite Avenger. I don't want Benedict Cumberbatch to stop being Doctor Strange! Lucky guy's getting Clea finally! Thor's tempting, too, but that's mostly because of our hair length. I wish I looked like him LOL. He also has a zombie variant that's the only zombie I like and I think he's very awesome!

Will_Ball   Game Mod   Super Member wrote on 06/11/2022 at 04:55pm

Hmm. Probably iron man.

Azurephile   Super Member   Post Author wrote on 06/11/2022 at 10:18pm

I wish he didn't die and that Robert Downey, Jr. would continue. He did a great job, I think. I feel like I can kind of identify with him as a tech enthusiast who has no super powers. I'm not a genius or drunk though.

Azurephile   Super Member   Post Author wrote on 06/11/2022 at 11:25pm

Kamala's powers haven't reached their final form yet: https://youtu.be/VynD37ZhXm0

Travis   Admin wrote on 06/12/2022 at 12:31am

Greg, I was exposed to Blinding Lights on YouTube first actually. I kept getting suggestions for covers of it (and some of them are amazing!)

Azurephile   Super Member   Post Author wrote on 06/12/2022 at 01:32am

Interesting. How did you initially find it on YouTube?

Are there covers you'd like to recommend? Wait until you see my incoming Midnight Suns posts, there's a couple Metallica covers in the trailers I'm sharing and I love them!

Azurephile   Super Member   Post Author wrote on 06/15/2022 at 11:33am

(Spoiler-free without ambiguity)

Oh my goodness I love this so much! It keeps me smiling and laughing! I think she's starting to take a lead over Doctor Strange as my current favorite "Avenger." This is really amazing!

I just started reading the Ms. Marvel series (2014-2019) by G. W. Wilson (noticed the GWW initials of the guidance counselor). I've just started Vol. 2 and I may be about 1/4 into it. This episode was very similar to what I just read and those things stood out and made me happy to see them. (I love these references!)

Also, comic book Kamala is a gamer. Trust me, she's definitely one of us. She makes a lot of references to things we'd recognize even if their names are different (like her favorite game is World of Battlecraft). She even referenced "All Your Base Are Belong to Us!"

There have been free comics Marvel's given out on their site via QR codes in the episodes, like they did with Moon Knight. You can see those here: https://www.marvel.com/msmarvelcomics

What I love about comics is that they don't necessarily spoil anything we see in movies and shows like this. It's a great way to get to know a character. It's also easy to be disappointed in how their adaptation to the live screen goes, but it's still cool.

Are you loving this, too? Have you read any of her comics yet? Would you like to?

Travis   Admin wrote on 06/16/2022 at 12:42am

Iā€™m so impressed that Kamalaā€™s actor has never done anything before this. Sheā€™s so great at it

Azurephile   Super Member   Post Author wrote on 06/16/2022 at 12:59am

Yes! She's also an avid Marvel fan!

I was thinking a thought that was sacrilegious, heresy. It made me wonder if I was on "the path" (Obi-Wan reference check) to the Dark Side. I was thinking that since this show started, I might be enjoying this more than Obi-Wan. Yet both are different so it's hard to compare the two. Obi-Wan is awesome, too. Ms. Marvel is just making me react in a different way. I think it's just a testament to how much enjoyment I'm getting from this. It's really among the best!

It seems the QR code from the 1st episode let us read the 1st comic from GWW's run in 2014. The one for this episode is the issue I just started on, which is the one I mentioned that was very much related to this episode.

I'd like to see the show do a time warp and show us what happened in with her family at that train. (It was her grandmother? Who she sees in visions which is the same actor that plays Kamran's mom?) It'd be culturally educational to show us what was going on during that tragic time in area's history. It would expose a lot of us to a history we may not be familiar with, one which isn't taught in American public schools. That's a scene I feel like can be anticipated. I love being exposed to such things. Diversity and cultural awareness is something I very much value!

Azurephile   Super Member   Post Author wrote on 06/21/2022 at 05:45am

BTW I wanted to let everyone know about how to pronounce "Kamala." Obviously, it sounds exactly as they say it in the show. I think of it as sounding like "Ka-maul-a." However, our Vice President pronounces her name like "Comma-la," which she's stated. I found videos of both so that I could become less confused with the pronunciation and get it right. I think acknowledging there's a "right" way to pronounce each is respectful and showing cultural awareness and acceptance.

If you want, I can link some videos to you. I just did a simple search and found videos where they say it multiple times.

Will_Ball   Game Mod   Super Member wrote on 07/16/2022 at 05:39pm

Ms Marvel was a great show. Really enjoyed it.

Azurephile   Super Member   Post Author wrote on 07/16/2022 at 09:38pm

Yes! The first two episodes were very fantastic! My enthusiasm kind of fell off after that, but I still enjoyed it. I really loved the wedding, which is the first and only one I can think of that I enjoyed watching. I'm glad we got introduced to Pakistani culture and the border crisis. I would love to see more about it all. I learned how to properly pronounce this "Kamala" with the VP "Kamala" and feel more learned and cultured for it.

I'm still confused by the Norr dimension and what happened with Kamran. I loved Kamala's last conversation with her dad, it really pulled at my heart strings. Her last conversation w/ Bruno was a WTF moment. I can't believe they said that and played that tune! This is a retcon, yet it follows with the original intention for the character.

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