Ms. Marvel Spoiler Thread - S1E6 No Normal

[lonestar]

I'm always pumped for new MCU content, and the more I watch about the girl playing Kamala, the more interested I am. She's straight up a lifelong fan, not just an actress, and I'm hoping her passion shines in this.


Anyhoo, 5 days and counting...

[Adami]

I’ve been reading Ms. Marvel since day one. I am bummed they’re so drastically altering her origin story and powers but I’ve come to terms with it and I’m really pumped for this.

[ariich]

I loved the first episode. Very minor thing that took me out of it slightly was the over-the-top-ness of things going wrong at AvengersCon (the Ant Man head just kept rolling and rolling), but otherwise I liked everything about it.

[The Letter M]

A pretty good first episode, though I did find myself feeling a bit distracted during parts of it, I did enjoy it. It definitely has a lot of style, and is VERY unique among the other MCU Disney+ shows, and just within the MCU in general. Kamala is definitely in her own world!

Also, be sure to stick around for the mid-credits scene, featuring a returning MCU character/actor that I didn't expect to ever see again!

-Marc.

[lonestar]

This has potential to be very, very good. It has all the basic elements in place, and the girl playing Kamala is just wonderful.

Very excited to see how this plays out.

[lordxizor]

Decent start. Middle aged white guy is not the target audience for this show, but it was a nice change of pace for the MCU. My one minor quibble is that I find it hard to believe Captain Marvel would have super fans. How do they even know who she is? She shows up to fight Thanos and then basically immediately leaves. I feel like there needed to be another Captain Marvel solo movie before this. But for the sake of enjoying the show I'll buy the premise.

[lonestar]

I think what's helping me dig it is that my daughter was that same massive geek when she was in school (and still is) , except her favorite was Rogue.

[soupytwist]

Decent start. Middle aged white guy is not the target audience for this show.

Which is probably why it'll get review bombed, as every angry entitled youtuber (who sadly tend to be middle aged white males) will be getting their sheep followers to drop bad reviews on it.

[ariich]

Decent start. Middle aged white guy is not the target audience for this show.

Which is probably why it'll get review bombed, as every angry entitled youtuber (who sadly tend to be middle aged white males) will be getting their sheep followers to drop bad reviews on it.

Yep. This cultural thing in the past few years is such a shame, audience reviews/ratings are now just completely meaningless. They were never perfect of course, but they at least gave a decent indication of what audiences thought of something. Now they don't even do that.

I also think it's a shame that middle aged white males not being the target audience is even a thing. I know that it is, it just doesn't really make sense to me - like, what is it about other MCU outputs that is specifically for white middle aged men that's missing here?

[jingle.boy]

It was ok, I guess.  I don't know shit about the character, but I liked the family dynamics.  Jingle.son absolutely loved it - thought (as a 1st episode) it was better than pretty much all the other D+ shows (incl WandaVision).  Didn't really see the need for the post-credits scene, but ok - establishes it's the same universe as No Way Home I suppose.

[gmillerdrake]

Trailer didn't look like my cup of tea so I'm going to sit this one out. I'm not a Marvel super fan by any means so I don't think skipping this one will throw my life out of whack.

[lordxizor]

Trailer didn't look like my cup of tea so I'm going to sit this one out. I'm not a Marvel super fan by any means so I don't think skipping this one will throw my life out of whack.

Makes sense to sit it out. If it gets done and everyone is raving, then go back and watch it. I was actually planning to do just that, but I had time last night to watch it and couldn't think of anything I'd rather do.

[lonestar]

I think what I'm digging is the Spiderverse vibe it has, and I frikkin loved that one.

[ErHaO]

I don't like the fan aspect of Ms Marvel. Did not enjoy that at all from what I have seen of The Avengers videogame, so I doubt it will work here for me. It can be endearing as a trait (see Spidey), but superhero fandom being a core part of a character does not appeal to me. But maybe I am wrong. If it's good I will give it a watch.

[ZirconBlue]

Decent start. Middle aged white guy is not the target audience for this show, but it was a nice change of pace for the MCU. My one minor quibble is that I find it hard to believe Captain Marvel would have super fans. How do they even know who she is? She shows up to fight Thanos and then basically immediately leaves. I feel like there needed to be another Captain Marvel solo movie before this. But for the sake of enjoying the show I'll buy the premise.

The general public seems to know a lot of what happened with the Avengers.  I presume this is due, at least in part, to Scott Lang's podcast that was mentioned in the episode.

[The Letter M]

Decent start. Middle aged white guy is not the target audience for this show, but it was a nice change of pace for the MCU. My one minor quibble is that I find it hard to believe Captain Marvel would have super fans. How do they even know who she is? She shows up to fight Thanos and then basically immediately leaves. I feel like there needed to be another Captain Marvel solo movie before this. But for the sake of enjoying the show I'll buy the premise.

The general public seems to know a lot of what happened with the Avengers.  I presume this is due, at least in part, to Scott Lang's podcast that was mentioned in the episode.

Scott definitely seems the type to really blab about the whole thing, from his being stuck in thr Quantum realm for 5 years, even though it was like 5 hours for him, and his adventures through time with the Avengers. I'm sure he'd also brag and boast about being Giant Man for The Battle Of Earth. I wonder if there happened to be any surveillance footage by Stark or other parties involved. I guess there's nothing to indicate the battle WASN'T recorded, so if they wanna retcon that, they could always show footage of the battle.

Edit - I just realized something. What if Scott Lang doing a podcast is a direct response to the kids in the diner not knowing who he was when he, Steve, and Natasha went to see Bruce? He probably wanted the fame and attention, and I wonder if his public persona will impact how he works as a hero and what that means in his own film next year.

-Marc.

[ProfessorPeart]

Decent start. Middle aged white guy is not the target audience for this show.

Which is probably why it'll get review bombed, as every angry entitled youtuber (who sadly tend to be middle aged white males) will be getting their sheep followers to drop bad reviews on it.

And it is. Saw a story just before I watched it tonight mentioning that it is getting review bombed. Critic score is through the roof and the 'fan' score is tanked.

I wasn't sure what to expect but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Looking forward to things picking up now that the baseline has been set.

[bosk1]

My one minor quibble is that I find it hard to believe Captain Marvel would have super fans. How do they even know who she is? She shows up to fight Thanos and then basically immediately leaves. I feel like there needed to be another Captain Marvel solo movie before this. But for the sake of enjoying the show I'll buy the premise.

Apparently, in-universe, it is well known somehow.  Remember it coming up in WandaVision as well that Captain Marvel went toe to toe with Thanos?  That drop bugged me a bit in WandaVision.  But I guess I got over it, so it didn't really phase me here. 

Overall, I really liked the show.  The MCU is getting really good at capturing the "fun" vibe in its D+ shows.  And after Multiverse of Madness, the change of tone was nice.

[faizoff]

I really enjoyed that episode, wasn't expecting anything out of it as I thought it would be geared towards annoying pre-teens but like someone said above, it has those spidey vibes. I think it's over the top in some scenes, but I think they kinda worked with the overall vibe they were going with.


Also enjoyed the visual style of the show. Meshed really well with the show.

[lonestar]

I really enjoyed that episode, wasn't expecting anything out of it as I thought it would be geared towards annoying pre-teens but like someone said above, it has those spidey vibes. I think it's over the top in some scenes, but I think they kinda worked with the overall vibe they were going with.


Also enjoyed the visual style of the show. Meshed really well with the show.

I'm gonna guess they went heavy on the vibe for the initial episode, and will tone it down as they develop the story. We'll see though.

[DoctorAction]

I liked it. Really enjoyed how strong the South Asian vibes were. The main girl is really great. It all felt a little bit pantomime in a way? But had charm. Will stick with it for now. Great effects on the backgrounds.

Fingers crossed it doesn't nose-dive into rubbish like Moon Knight did.

[hefdaddy42]

I thought it was great.  Clearly in the same connected universe, but just as clearly its own separate thing as far as the way the story is told, not the regular MCU formula.  Very nice.

[Adami]

As I've probably said too many times, I'm a fan of Kamala since issue number 1. So I'm a bit biased. Still not a fan of not making her an Inhuman, but I'll live. That said, the first episode was VERY charming. The actress is fantastic and I really loved the world they're building for her. Don't worry, the show will become people shooting beams at each other eventually, I just hope they keep up the good character work.

[Orbert]

I'm obviously not the target audience.  We watched it the other night, and it was basically what I expected; a teen sitcom set in the Marvel universe.  Stereotypical parents, stereotypical high school drama/trauma, kid with attention deficit issues.  Driving test, she tries to slowly pull out but "accidentally" slams the car into reverse and smashes the car behind her?  And of course it's the driving instructor's car.  This is supposed to be funny?  If not, then it's supposed to be... sad?  Or just a look into her life?  Geeky friend.  Mysterious bracelet that obviously will be much more.

After ten minutes, I switched it off, and Mrs. Orbert objected.  She said we'd barely seen anything, while I thought we'd seen enough.  I also assumed she felt the same as I did, but she didn't; she was enjoying it.  Okay, so we finished the episode.  It wasn't horrible.

So like I said, I'm obviously not the target audience here.

[hefdaddy42]

I'm obviously not the target audience.  We watched it the other night, and it was basically what I expected; a teen sitcom set in the Marvel universe.  Stereotypical parents, stereotypical high school drama/trauma, kid with attention deficit issues.  Driving test, she tries to slowly pull out but "accidentally" slams the car into reverse and smashes the car behind her?  And of course it's the driving instructor's car.  This is supposed to be funny?  If not, then it's supposed to be... sad?  Or just a look into her life?  Geeky friend.  Mysterious bracelet that obviously will be much more.

After ten minutes, I switched it off, and Mrs. Orbert objected.  She said we'd barely seen anything, while I thought we'd seen enough.  I also assumed she felt the same as I did, but she didn't; she was enjoying it.  Okay, so we finished the episode.  It wasn't horrible.

So like I said, I'm obviously not the target audience here.

Not sure what your home was like, but those didn't seem to me to be stereotypical parents.  They seemed to be specifically Americanized Pakistani parents.  And the driving test was happy AND sad, like so many other things in teenage life.  So she's like most other teenage kids in many important ways, but also has things specific to her family that she has to deal with that other teenagers would never have to endure (being allowed to go to the con, but only as the Hulk, and only with Dad also dressed as Hulk as chaperone?  WTF?).

[Orbert]

Okay then, specifically Americanized Pakistani parents, presented as sitcom stereotypes.  They only want her to succeed, which means she cannot have fun, she cannot go do things that others kids do, because they want more for her.  The dad especially is a moron.  Hulk and Hulk, Junior?  And mom was all upset because she made those costumes herself.  When?  10 minutes ago, she wasn't even allowed to go.  When did she make these costumes, and how did it not even occur to them to consult her on this?  It was all just completely stupid.  As far as I can tell, all sitcoms are like that.  "Sitcom" is short for "situational comedy"; in other words, ha ha these people are fucking idiots isn't it hilarious?

[bosk1]

I'm not sure you watched the same show the rest of us did.

[Orbert]

To be honest, I was surprised at the near-universally positive response.  I thought it had some neat ideas, and the animated effects were very nicely done.  But the overall tone I thought was aimed squarely at teenagers full of angt, misunderstood by their parents, struggling with life, etc.  And that's fine; I presumed I was not the target audience.  Then I find out that middle-aged white people (who we've established is probably not the target audience) thought it was great.  So I don't know.

[ZirconBlue]

I'm not sure you watched the same show the rest of us did.

That's what I'm thinking.  I grew up friends with kids who had strict parents.  Nothing rang false about any of that, to me.

[lonestar]

Interesting, for me it was more a caricature of teen life and teen angst, while being on the silly side of how the parents and brother behave, the way she zeroed in emotionally on the guilt and shame over hurting her dad was fucking brilliant. She is so perfect for the role, and I personally am looking forward to see where they take this.

Adami, I agree that I really hope they save the shooting lasers at each other for the Marvel's movie and spend the majority of this show doing what hey did so well in that first episode.

[Orbert]

I'm not sure you watched the same show the rest of us did.

That's what I'm thinking.  I grew up friends with kids who had strict parents.  Nothing rang false about any of that, to me.

Wait... I never said any of it rang false.  I said it was all stereotypical, precisely because everything about it was what we've all seen 1000 times.  And then in the next moment, they're acting like complete idiots, not just out of touch with their kids, but with common sense.  That's the part I object to.  The basis of humor is conflict.  Conflict between what we expect and what we observe.  I realize that watching supposedly intelligent people acting like idiots is funny to a lot of people, but it's just never worked for me.

[bosk1]

watching supposedly intelligent people acting like idiots

I'm not sure you watched the same show the rest of us did.

[lordxizor]

I'm with Orbert that it all seemed a little stereotypical of a teen drama where the parents were involved. It didn't take away from the show too much, but I see where he's coming from.

[King Postwhore]

It's stereotypical because it rings true for a high percentage of female teens.

[lordxizor]

It's stereotypical because it rings true for a high percentage of female teens.

Not arguing that. Every teenager thinks they have the overbearing parent. And most parents make an awkward attempt to connect with their teen. It just would have been nice to see something different.