Editor’s Note: The following contains Ms. Marvel spoilers. Disney + ‘s Ms. Marvel is fearlessly carving out a space for itself unlike ever seen before on TV. Sure, we’ve had an abundance of teen superheroes and superhero origin stories but Ms. Marvel feels exciting and original in a way no other MCU property has. It’s so unabashedly itself without trying to bow down to traditional television or streaming ideals set by teen and superhero fare that it easily distinguishes it from the crop of content out there paying lip service to diverse audiences without actually doing the heavy work. Ms. Marvel is refreshingly relatable not just to the average MCU super fan, but it is explicitly Muslim and Pakistani, in a way that allows people like myself belonging to that region and faith, to be seen. But in doing so, the series is also going one step further, digging into the violent and tragic history of the region.
The series is centered on a New Jersey teen named Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), framing her All American upbringing and superhero coming of age story through the lens of her culture and roots. Kamala grows up fairly typically and is preoccupied with her love of superheroes, but she has little knowledge and understanding of the sacrifices her forefathers made for her to be able to afford such a good lifestyle.
With all the changes the MCU has made to Kamala’s powers, the biggest being the powers, the series’ approach to her origin story is perhaps the best retcon the series could have made to her origin story. While the show hasn’t spelled out the exact origins of the bracelet and powers Kamala wields, we know that it is a result of events that happened in 1947. For the MCU to dive into the turbulent time of the subcontinent is surprising given Marvel’s penchant. for staying out of anything remotely complex. Yet the series has tweaked Kamala’s generic Inhuman transformation arc and made her out to be something more, tying her powers and therefore strengths explicitly with her culture and background. The series has dropped plenty of clues so far that her great-grandmother was involved in some mysterious things and some unforeseen circumstances caused her to use her powers, leading her daughter Sana (Samina Ahmed) back to her mother when she was lost during the partition.
At one point in the second episode of the show, Kamala’s father Yusuf (Mohan Kapur) says that “Every Pakistani family has a partition story and none of them are good” which is a statement that rings true for not only Pakistanis, but a lot of other South Asians. Watching the MCU accurately portray Islam and Pakistani culture has been a shocking experience given the treatment Muslim characters get in shows like Elite that force regressive stereotypes without abandon. Having them discuss intergenerational trauma and the long-lasting impact of the British invasion and specifically the Partition has had on Pakistanis has been even more moving. Yet the series has done so with great accuracy. Karachi, the city Kamala’s family is from, is known for hosting a lot of displaced migrants post Partition, and the story of Ayesha (while still a mystery) losing Sana at the train station fits in with the general chaos that ensued there.
The partition took place as a result of the British Raj over India coming to an end on 14 August, 1947. However, their hasty departure became life-threatening when the borders drawn for the creation of Pakistan and India received backlash and caused rioting and discontent as there was a lot of problems between the Hindu Majority and Muslim minority population. The solution that the British had drawn did not practically work to a great degree and Kashmir being a disputed territory to this date, is a great example of it.
Hindus and Sikhs who fled from Pakistan to Hindu majority India and Muslims who came to Pakistan faced plenty of unspeakable violence. It’s very touching to see discussions about the partition, and particularly the toll it has taken on a generation of Pakistanis, on an MCU project. My own family for instance was marred by the horrors of the Partition violence with the majority of my grandmother’s family being murdered entirely in front of her eyes while she hid from the assailants under a wooden bed. It’s the kind of life altering experience that has defined many Pakistanis and has made them value the life, religion and freedom they are able to enjoy.
In this backdrop, Ms. Marvel deciding to revolve Kamala’s powers on the actions and story of her ancestor not only allows for richer world building but also adds greater meaning to her origins. Ms. Marvel has already established that Kamala’s powers aren’t due to her great-grandmother’s bangle, but the bangle just acts as a key to unlock the skills and powers she already possessed. What this change does is give Kamala more of an incentive to do right by the people she will protect as she realizes the importance and significance of her gift. While both the comics and the series allow our titular Ms. Marvel to not be the token brown girl, and flesh her out completely, the added layer of her history and culture being linked to her arc gives Kamala more of a reason to be proud of her superpowers and where she comes from.
From shots in the trailer, it seems that we are headed towards some kind of flashback episode or revelation down the lane where Ayesha’s life and powers will become clear. But it is a necessary part in Kamala’s own self discovery. Kamala’s mother Muneeba (Zenobia Shroff) clearly seems pained by what she knows of her mother and grandmother and Kamala’s grandmother has also sworn not to share details about her own mother, creating some much-needed mystery before we get the answers. Despite the effects of the Partition continuing to play out today, and it being one of the largest migrations in the 20th century, Pakistani and South Asian media (aside from a few period dramas) have shied away from deeper explorations of the topic, largely because of how dark the stories from that time are. There is also little discussion about its ramifications on families today. Which is what makes exploring this part of our history one of MCU’s finest and boldest decisions to date and one worth tuning into Ms. Marvel for, week after week.