Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Ms Marvel: Critics praise Disney's 'joyful' first Muslim superhero story

Ms Marvel: Critics praise Disney's 'joyful' first Muslim superhero story

Critics have hailed the release of Ms Marvel, Disney's first on-screen Muslim superhero story, as a "joyful" slice of "pop culture history".

The show centres around geeky teenager and Avengers comic book fangirl Kamala Khan, played by Pakistani-Canadian newcomer Iman Vellani.

She struggles to fit in until she gains superpowers, becoming Ms Marvel.

In a five-star review, The Guardian said: "She's funny, charming and effortlessly bats off preconceptions."

The paper's TV critic Lucy Mangan wrote: "Normally, you would fear for a young actor, but Vellani seems so born to the purple [the colour of her powers] that you almost have to shrug and say, as an elder might to a nascent superhero in - oh, I don't know, the MCU [Marvel Cinematic Universe] perhaps - that it is her destiny."

Mangan said the two available episodes of the six-part Disney+ series were "full of charm, wit, warmth, brio and truth".




Marvel superheroes have been leaping off the pages of comic books and onto TV and film screens since the 1970s, but more recently there have been attempts made to diversify its characters.

Early in the new series, Khan notes the lack of superheroes that look like her. "It's not the brown girls from Jersey City who save the world," she sighs, focusing her attentions on being an artist, vlogger and Avengers superfan instead.

However, that that soon changes when she happens upon an old bracelet that belonged to her reputedly mystical great-grandmother.

"The bangle allows her powers to be tied to Kamala's Pakistani heritage and the trauma of Partition in particular," Mangan continued.

The Disney Plus series is her first on-screen appearance


In a four-star review, the Financial Times said Vellani's on-screen debut "charms" in "an adventure story as much about heritage as battling evil".

Journalist Dan Einav described the series, which depicts the Khans as an ordinary family, as "a small yet significant piece of pop culture history".

He wrote: "That Kamala is a practising Muslim of Pakistani origin isn't treated as incidental.

"Like the recent Pixar film Turning Red (and everything from Bend It Like Beckham to The Big Sick), the series humorously and sensitively reflects on the cultural gulf between parents rooted to tradition and children caught between their sense of identity and the desire to assimilate."

Khan first appeared in a solo comic book series in 2014, and Rolling Stone magazine described the character as "a genuinely great addition to the Marvel superhero ranks in print".

Alan Sepinwall's review of the streaming adaptation said that, in the first two episodes, she is still a "fascinating" character in the context of an on-screen teen drama, but cast doubt on her "uninspired" superhero credentials.

"The best and worst thing I can say about Ms Marvel is that there are long stretches where it's easy to forget it's a Marvel show," he wrote.

He added: "The show's first two instalments do such a strong job of establishing Kamala, her family, her friends... and the local Muslim community, that the MCU tie-ins can feel almost beside the point."

Her newfound superpowers, he underlined, serve as "a metaphor for Kamala trying to expand what she can be beyond familial and societal expectations".

Vellani will reprise her role in the upcoming movie The Marvels


The actress, who secured the role at an open casting call on her last day of school, seems to agree with his assertion, telling The Express Tribune: "I think that's the main theme of our show - to subvert expectations and throw away all the labels and become your own person."

She noted how her Pakistani heritage was something she had been "very dismissive about" and "disconnected from" before making the show.

While noting the efforts of the producers to improve representation, The Independent judged Ms Marvel to be "brash, tolerable and very much made for kids".

Critic Nick Hilton wrote: "I'm not here to review good intentions - indeed, Marvel is such a rampantly commercial enterprise that there are doubtless cynical motives at play here - but it's refreshing to see such commitment to creatives of South Asian origin leading a high-profile project."

He noted that the series was written by British-Pakistani comedian Bisha K Ali and directed by Belgian duo Adil & Bilall. "The creative influences are far more Michel Gondry and Edgar Wright than anything from South Asian film, but the whole thing is infused with a deep love of South Asian culture all the same," he said.

"But I suppose the only real question is whether this works as a superhero property."

For Empire magazine, the answer to that question was yes. In a four-star review, Destiny Jackson wrote: "Frothy and fun, Ms Marvel's opening act is relatively lightweight, but for both adults and its teen target audience, it's a compelling and unique addition to the MCU.

"For those who can roll with the punches of the awkward-but-relatable approach, there is much promise here."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×