Ms. Marvel Recap: Finale Sheds Extra Light on Kamala's Powers — Plus, Who Showed Up in a Mid-Credits Scene?
The following contains spoilers from Ms. Marvel’s season finale. Proceed accordingly.
Picking up where we left off, Ms. Marvel‘s season finale kicks off with Bruno and Kamran rushing onto the subway after narrowly escaping the explosion at the Circle Q. With Damage Control hot on their trail, this is the absolute worst time for Kamran to struggle with his powers. Fortunately, though, his uncontrolled light bursts create a barrier against the agents, and the pair evades authorities.
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Elsewhere, Kamala has an important announcement for her family: she’s the Light Girl/Night Light. But nobody is surprised since Muneeba told Yusuf, who passed it onto Aamir… and so on. While Yusuf is supportive of his daughter’s superhero status, he wants to make sure that she’s being careful and not seeking out trouble. But as Kamala points out, he didn’t raise someone who would sit by and do nothing while other others needed help.
Muneeba gifts Kamala a legitimate costume complete with her very own symbol — inspired by Kamala’s broken necklace in the previous episode — and the red scarf Kareem gave her as they said goodbye in Karachi. But she isn’t given much time to appreciate the present because there was an explosion at Bruno’s, and he is now missing.
Speaking of Bruno, he and Kamran head to the mosque to hide out from the cops. Nakia is quick to point out that this a terrible idea since the mosque is probably under surveillance by everyone including Damage Control and the JCPD. The Islamophobia is real.
Right on cue, Agent Deever and her DODC squad burst through the doors to inquire about Kamran’s whereabouts. Sheik Abdullah and the other worshippers are used to cops dropping in without notice and whip out their IDs before the agent can finish her all-too-familiar request. This distraction allows Kamran and Bruno to escape through the back door, where they run into Kamala, but she tells them to go ahead to the high school while she makes an important call to Kareem. She asks Kareem for his help in smuggling Kamran out of town, and the newly minted Red Dagger (R.I.P., Waleed) comes through with a friend who will meet them at the harbor at midnight.
At the high school, Damage Control locks down the area outside while the gang braces for a showdown. The group includes Kamala, Kamran, Bruno, Nakia, Zoe (who was filming TikToks in the theatre’s good lighting) and Aamir (who was sent by their mom to chaperone). Much like her rendezvous to AvengerCon, Kamala formulates an elaborate plan involving every fire extinguisher in the school and a cart full of softballs.
Agents barge in and are met with a series of Home Alone-like booby traps, including a distracting disco ball, fire extinguishers fogging the hallways, and a giant foam bath created in the chemistry lab. During the commotion, Zoe streams live to her followers, urging them to rush to the school and help out against the DODC.
As Kamala and Kamran hide in an office, they hold hands and nearly kiss but are interrupted by Bruno. The latter creates a diversion while the super-powered teens get away, and he is violently arrested. Aamir, Zoe and Nakia are also apprehended after pelting officers with softballs.
During a quiet moment, Kamran tells Kamala that in the face of these threats, he needs his fellow ClanDestines, namely his mother. Kamala breaks the news that Najma pierced the Veil, and Kamran pieces it together that she died in the process. In a rage, he uses his powers to fight back against the cops, and Kamala intervenes before he can smash one of them with his fist. Kamran then walks outside and is surrounded by armed police and a huge crowd — thanks to Zoe’s video — watching and filming behind the barricades.
The cops open fire and Kamala leaps in front of Kamran, forming a shield with her light to protect them both. Agent Deever orders a drone blast that knocks the teens to the ground, much to the crowd’s horror. As the machine gears up for a second shot, Kamala utters her famous catchphrase, “embiggen,” and does exactly that. The much larger hero is a formidable match against the cops, as is Kamran, who’s getting the hang of his powers. But when Deever points a gun is his face, he can barely contain his rage and unleashes his power — threatening the crowd in the process.
A fast-thinking Kamala forms a dome around them, giving the pair a chance to talk (and for Kamran to calm down). Kamran is visibly upset, saying that these people are never going to accept either of them because of their powers. That’s when Kamala tells him that his mother used her last moments to protect him, that she chose him in the end. And when Kamran asks how he can possibly be normal, Kamala points out that “there is no normal. There’s just us, and what we do with what we’ve been given.”
Kamala punches a hole in the ground, allowing Kamran to escape to the harbor while she brings down her wall of light. As soon as the barrier goes down, the police rush in to arrest Kamala. However, the crowd surrounds the young hero, effectively blocking the cops from getting to her. But Kamala gets away anyway because, you know, light steps!
An angry P. Cleary calls Deever to relieve her of her duties after she disobeyed his orders and opened fire on a pair of teens. So yeah, that’s a wrap on the standoff.
In the aftermath, everyone is buzzing about the new superhero. Kamala proudly stares at herself in the mirror wearing her new suit, a picture of her hero Captain Marvel hanging right above it on the wall. While talking to her dad, she reveals that she’s still figuring out her superhero name. Yusuf then explains how he and Muneeba lost hope of having a second child until she finally arrived, and that’s why they named her Kamala. Kamal in Arabic means “perfect,” and in Urdu, it means… “marvel.” Kamala, of course, is amazed to know she shares the same name as “Carol frickin’ Danvers.”
A week later, Kamala catches up with Bruno and Nakia, who jokingly argue over ownership of Kamran’s car since he fled the country. (An earlier scene showed Kamran meeting up with Kareem in Karachi.) In private, Bruno confides in Kamala a new development: He looked at her genetic make-up again and thinks they got it wrong the first time. They know how she can access the Noor and why she can wield it, but something in her DNA is “off” compared to the rest of her family. There’s a… mutation in her gene, he reveals, as the theme from the animated 1990s X-Men series plays (as confirmed by the closing credits). Kamala quickly brushes this off, but it looks like there is more to her story. (In Ms. Marvel #1, Kamala was exposed to Terrigen Mist and underwent Terrigenesis, a process that activated her latent Inhuman powers. Is yet another mutation of that origin story on tap…?)
Additionally, in a mid-credit scene, a resting Kamala is roused by a flare of her bangle. As she stands up and curiously eyes the bangle, she appears to be “yanked” through her closet door — from the debris of which rises Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, who quickly surveys the strange, teenager’s bedroom and mumbles, “Oh, no, no, no, no…,” before dashing off.
What did you think of Ms. Marvel‘s finale? Grade the episode and full season below and then leave your thoughts in the comments.
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