'Ms. Marvel' Episode 1 is a Victory Lap For the MCU

Brady Langmann
·2 min read
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a thing for 14 years now. That means a bazillion characters, 28 movies, and now, seven TV series on Disney+—including Ms. Marvel, which debuted this Wednesday.

Apparently, Kevin Feige and co. thought a victory lap was in order.

Ms. Marvel's debut episode, "Generation Why," introduces Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old who, like, really fucking loves the Avengers. Our (initially) un-superpowered hero is so infatuated by Earth's Mightiest Heroes—especially the space-bound Captain Marvel—that she's constantly day-dreaming in comic-book panels, which somehow makes for a better visual trip than anything we saw in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Ms. Marvel's pilot, which is a total delight, revolves around Kamala's dreams of going to AvengersCon, the first fan event celebrating the likes of Captain America and Black Widow. If you haven't seen Ms. Marvel yet, you probably guessed that she gets there and superhero antics ensue.

But we have to talk about how damn Inception-y AvengersCon is. Seeing the fictional fans visit fictional booths for fictional supeheroes, inside of a real TV series that has legions of real fans?! It's more meta than Thor: Ragnarok's Matt Damon-starring play within a play. And it also feels like the Marvel Cinematic Universe coyly taking a victory lap. Think about it. In Ms. Marvel, Kamala becomes an avatar for you, the viewer, someone who ideally loves the MCU as much as she does. By throwing this huge party—stuffed with winks and nudges to the MCU's 14-year history—it's like Feige is throwing his own birthday celebration.

This isn't a particularly good or bad thing, by the way. It's just beyond interesting that this massive experiment in filmmaking has become old enough to celebrate itself within itself. Hell, AvengersCon might even become real. Check out what Ms. Marvel's head writer, Bisha K. Ali, said about it. "It was very cathartic for all of us to see that and we were shooting Spider-Man: No Way Home on the stage right next door, the scene with the three Spideys," Ali said. "The crew from that movie kept sneaking over to see [AvengersCon]. I think that might be fun to do sometime. Yes."

There you go, folks. Do you love the MCU enough to go to a fan event based on an MCU series celebrating the lore from its movies and other TV series?

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