Who amongst you had Ms. Marvel’s trailer on their March 2022 bingo card? Because I didn’t and my mind almost exploded when I saw Marvel Studio’s tweet about it. It has been a long road to get this show to screen, both for fans and those behind the scenes. However, we finally have our first look at Kamala Khan in all her glory. So without further ado, let’s break down the footage of our newest Marvel Hero.
[Warning: Spoilers and discussions from Ms. Marvel’s trailer are below! Read at your own risk!]
The trailer opens up with a shot of Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan doodling and daydreaming at her desk, with the same World History textbook I used in high school over a decade ago. That image alone felt super nostalgic and created this sense of excitement for the project instantaneously. As the Marvel Studios logo slides onto the screen in an animated doodle way, “Blinding Lights” by The Weekend begins to play. The vibes are already immaculate and we haven’t even seen Kamala in action yet.
Continuing, we see shots of Kamala’s ‘normal’ life, prior to gaining her powers. Mr. Wilson the guidance counselor (Jordan Firstman), provides a voiceover about how difficult high school and boys can be but is worried how Kamala seems too focused on her fantasy land of being a hero instead of real life. Spliced throughout his voiceover we get glimpses of Kamala with her friends Bruno (Matt Lintz), Nakia (Yasmeen Fletcher), and bully Zoe Zimmer (Laurel Marsden). Kamala laments about Zoe’s comments, leading to some play fighting with Bruno in a Circle Q.There’s also a shirtless look at Kamran (Rish Shah), which appears to cause both Nakia and Kamala’s jaw to drop. Kamran seems to be someone Kamala daydreams about frequently. The chemistry already within this cast is terrific and I cannot wait to see it play out over time.
A lot of these beginning shots help establish Kamala as this normal Jersey City teen, torn between her fantasy world where she is a hero and the real world. Vellani’s delivery of “It’s not really the brown girls from Jersey City who save the world. That’s a fantasy too,” broke me. Not only because of what is to come in her story but because she had to grow up in a world where that thought was the norm. I would love to see more of this conflict and how she learns to balance it along with heroism.
All of that changes quickly when she finds a bracelet/gauntlet in an attic that sets her life into motion. The trailer bounces between some scenes of Kamala’s family, such as interactions with her brother Aamir (Saagar Shaikh) and father Yusuf (Mohan Kapur) while she attempts to gain control of her powers. An exploding Circle Q quickly flashes as fans get their first glimpses of her glowing purple hands. In a collection of scenes, we see Kamala construct purple crystal platforms to walk across as well as large purple fists that stretch farther from her body than her normal reach. Visually, her powers are stunning. The change to purple crystals looks so impressive, that I *almost* forget that they changed her powers.
There seem to be two different forces that coming to cause Kamala difficulty. Some official government cars race onto a scene, with business-dressed individuals hustling out of them onto the scene. My guess is these are agents of N.I.C.E., looking to capture Kamala for her powers. As well, there’s a glimpse of four individuals standing in shadow, who I may be the ClanDestine, a group Ms. Lizzie wrote would appear in the show. Why they are after Kamala, we don’t know just from the trailer, however, the line “Do you know what you are?” from Najma seems to hint that Kamala is more than human. Hopefully inhuman if the comics serve as a guide.
“I always thought I wanted this kind of life but I never imagined any of this” Kamala states in a voiceover of beautiful shots and epic fight sequences. The voiceover alone gave me chills, and along with seeing her in action, I’m confident that Vellani was the perfect choice for this role. She balances the heroism with the perfect amount of nerdy geek out at being a hero. Any worries I had about the changes to Kamala’s powers were squashed by the end of the two-minute teaser trailer.
Ms. Marvel is premiering on June 8, only on Disney+. What did you think about the trailer? Were you as thrilled as I was about what we saw, or were you left disappointed by it?
