Ms. Marvel Episode 2 review: More shock value and all about loving Shah Rukh Khan!

Ms. Marvel's second episode features more shock value and cultural references, which is wonderful to see in a Marvel title.

Iman Vellani in and as Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel

Story:

The escapades of Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) take on a lovely realism in this second episode, which thoughtfully tackles the difficulties of fitting outsized abilities into the box of parental expectations. Kamala is a Captain Marvel fan with a vivid imagination; she feels out of place at school and sometimes even at home until she gains superpowers similar to the heroes she admires.

Review:

In the pilot episode, we met Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), a 16-year-old high school student who is a huge fan of the Avengers, especially Captain Marvel. Kamala and her best friend Bruno (Matt Lintz) finish her Captain Marvel cosplay for AvengerCon while evading her stern parents, Yusuf (Mohan Kapur) and Muneeba (Zenobia Shroff), after failing another driving test and visiting with school counsellor Gabe Wilson.

Kamala receives a gift from her grandma, a golden bangle, which Muneeba dismisses as trash. After failing to persuade her parents to allow her to attend AvengerCon, Kamala and Carrelli go out nonetheless, wearing the bracelet as part of her cosplay. She puts it on after getting ready, but it causes her to project constructs of cosmic energy, unwittingly wreaking devastation.

Carrelli rushes Kamala home, where Muneeba begs her to concentrate on her own story and grounds her. In a mid-credits scene, Agents P. Cleary and Sadie Deever of the Department of Damage Control (DODC) review a video of Kamala's incident at AvengerCon and travel to New Jersey to identify and jail her.

After discovering her powers, Kamala is unstoppable as she keeps on practising with Carreli on how to go about it. And the second episode is high on teenage drama and hot stuff regarding superpowers. From a handsome boy making his debut in school to Kamala coming to the rescue as a superhero, we see it all in the second episode.

Every moment is so thrilling that it's tough to find any flaws in the second episode. And to add to it, the episode turns out to be a special ode to none other than superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

We expect, being a Gen Z girl, Kamala might have her favourites sorted with the current lot of pop culture faces. But the makers made sure to keep the Bollywood element and the love for Shah Rukh Khan intact throughout the episode.

Not just that, we even get deeper into the traditions of the Khan family in New Jersey with Eid celebrations, weddings around the corner and more.

Kate Gritmon has penned the second episode, which is directed by Meera Menon, and it continues to have those colourful moments that set the premise for the show in the pilot beautifully. Moreover, we get to witness the Khan family’s backstory, which explores the gut-wrenching times of Partition.

It's delightful to watch how the makers, especially the writing, touched upon the minutest details of how Kamala gained her superhero status. The origin story is so fresh that it goes way back to the ancestors, which is something one could only think of.

There are moments where you will gasp for breath and wonder how this happened, especially the cliff-hanging end to the second episode. I won't be surprised if you start searching for the "next episode" option soon after the end credits.

Kamala Khan is the hero we deserved, and kudos to Gritmon and Menon for taking forward the stupendous work done by Adil and Bilall, and Bisha K Ali in the first episode.

Once again, the music and the background score leave an impressive mark. Along with the increasing shock values in the episode, your feet will continue to tap to the amazing music.

Verdict:

The second episode of Ms. Marvel has more shock values and more cultural references, which are refreshing to watch for a Marvel title. The episode goes the Bollywood way, which gives a quirky touch to the brilliant show, which is progressing well.

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