That finale sealed the deal for us.

As you all know, Taylor and I were a little unsure how we felt about Ms. Marvel as a whole after episodes 4 and 5, mainly because of the plot being a little funky from it. We had a lot of needs coming into this episode and may I say, it met each and every one. For the most part, it covered everything we needed it to in order to marry episodes 1-3 with episodes 4 and 5. I don’t want to get to much into it just yet before I make sure everyone has a chance to listen to the full podcast episode in-depth that covers what we thought about the episode altogether, along with some of the important moments. You can click the button below to find the listening platform of your choice or start listening in live time by clicking play on the link below.

Let’s start this all off with saying the biggest thing I am still not a fan of was that the DODC ended up being the main villian of the show. I think this very much goes off the issues Taylor and I both have with the plot, and while they showed up in episode 6 strong and mighty, it didn’t help ease the disconnect. The Clandestines were a threat that were very equal to Kamala and there felt that there was more of a personal issue at stake between the two sides. Having the DODC be the villain felt sort of like a cop-out. Regardless, this won’t be the end of them, although I do expect them to be silent for awhile. Keep in mind, so far when we have seen them they have really been going after heroes who have been in the public eye. They also, so far, have been kids. One thing I want to point out is the rift that is clear between the two main agents at the DODC. While the man is clearly bonkers, he still very much understands that public image is important, which might force me to throw out my thoughts on them being Kree or Skrull. At this point, they are likely just a funky and possibly corrupt government agency that has been given quite a bit of power in the last few years and doesn’t quite know how to use it. I think that when the Young Avengers appear, the DODC will be a very imminent threat to them, since so far, they fit their MO.

The high school scene is definitely going to go down for me as one of my top MCU show moments, as I don’t think you can beat how freaking funny it was. It was very Home Alone-like and I think it was just beautifully done. In that moment, all the characters are putting everything on the line for Kamala and you can really see the loyalty her friends and family have for her. This is so important to her story and even expands further, as her entire community protects her during the fight scene outside of the school a few clips later. The reason I say this is extremely important to her story is because in the comics, Kamala very much can be considered a home body. She protects Jersey City and her people there as that is her turf, so I think the show also showing how the people respect and protect her as well is really powerful for her character background.

Since I have been sort of talking about it, let’s get into this fight scene with Kamran, Kamala, and the DODC. I want to get into Kamran’s storyline a little more specifically in a second, but as a whole, this fight scene was shocking, to say the least. I think what bothered me was how the DODC was treating these kids, especially in front of all the onlookers. But at the end of the day, I loved that it was Kamala who talked down Kamran and protected him, making sure he could escape and get to safety. They’re very similar, which will be an interesting dichotomy that will likely be addressed in another season or movie. I think the three different forces allowed Kamala to grow into the hero we knew she would become and her trying her best not to hurt people is what did it for me. She’s a kid who has these abilities and is just trying to do the right thing. Once again, this is paralleled in Kamran, who allows his anger to control him at times and has little control over his own abilities. The DODC was the perfect villain for Kamran, but Kamran walking a line between good and bad is the real fight Kamala needed to be in. All around, it was written and executed perfectly.

While we didn’t get the full Kamran villian-origin story in this episode, we definitely walked the border of it and I fully believe this was done to show us it is possible. This entire episode proved he had trouble controlling his powers, much more than Kamala, possibly because his powers come from the Veil and not the Noor dimension as a whole. Regardless, I still stand by my theory that the Veil will corrupt him over time and use him as a vessel for its’ power. His ending also very much sets up another season or movie (although season is most likely), even though we won’t see him again for a good bit. If another season comes, I wouldn’t be shocked if he was the villain in the long run. As I mentioned before, the final fight scene cut those lines pretty clearly and showed the differences between him and Kamala, differences that would make her a hero and him a question mark.

There was one thing we didn’t have much time for in the podcast that I want to quick address and that was how Kamala’s powers were. So, I personally don’t love the way that they portray her powers now that we have seen more of them, but I understand why they had to do it this way. During the fight scene, her ‘Embiggen’ was iconic, don’t get me wrong, but she looked really funky and it felt almost comical and not in a good way. I know this all comes down to her being a little too close to Mr. Fantastic’s abilities, but it still felt a little off. I would like to see if maybe they can make it look a little better when we see her in The Marvels.

The season finale gave us two really important end credits, one that blew our brains and one that we expected. Getting into the first one, we seemingly have gotten confirmation that Kamala is going to be the first Mutant in the MCU. Now, we didn’t have this information during the recording so it isn’t in the podcast, but we have since also gotten confirmation that Kamala was actually supposed to be a mutant in the comics. The only problem was that she came much later than the rest of the original mutants, and by the time she arrived there was already the split rights with Fox. So in order to use her, they made her an Inhuman to avoid fighting for rights with Fox, which all means that once again rights came into all of it (move over Spidey, you’re not the only poster child anymore for rights issues). This all being said, the mutants are coming, which we all knew, but Kamala is the first in our universe to be confirmed. This also means we can probably throw out our hopes and dreams of Inhumans, as for now it is unlikely that they would introduce both groups around the same time anyway.

Lastly, the end credit scene that didn’t seem to surprise many of us was the appearance of Captain Marvel at the very end of Ms. Marvel episode 6. Now, while we might not have been too surprised at her appearance, since The Marvels is right around the corner, I want to discuss how she got there. So as soon as they did their little switcharoo I immediately went to see if Carol had any bracelet on her arm or something that could be like the bangle. We know the bangle was what caused them to switch, so I was curious to see if Carol found the second one as it had been confirmed that there were two. Alternatively, she could have found it, but wasn’t at the time wearing it, just standing close enough to it. Either way, now Carol is on Earth and Kamala is, well, who knows. So how will The Marvels go? I assume Carol will go looking for people she knows on Earth, while Kamala might have landed up with Fury. This would connect her to Monica and would be the first destination for Carol after she leaves Earth. I do hope we get a scene with Carol interacting with Kamala’s family, just to solidify everything from this series to the film, but either way Kamala is about to get into something a lot bigger than she saw in her show.

Believe it or not this is the end of our coverage on Ms. Marvel, as we have officially crossed it off our list as one of the last Phase 4 shows. Of course, there has been a lot of news out of Comic Con over the past week and you better believe we will be covering it. This Friday, you can look forward to that episode! Also make sure you are signed up for our Newsletter, which will arrive in your email the first of each month. Lot’s of stuff to look forward to so stay tuned, as Marvel just blew your mind, so let’s talk about it.

Image: “Ms. Marvel Episode 6”, Vrinda Mundara, Meaww

That’s certainly one way to set up a series finale.

This was such an interesting episode solely because of how it was set up. The episode took place in three different main locations, each location having a different character included and following a different story. We started off with the ‘flashback’ we’ve been waiting for for ages, moved into Kamala’s current dilemma, and then finished with the final setup. Each part was of varying importance, so I want to get into everything we saw and the story that has fully unfolded. But before I do all of that, if you want to hear everything we said about this episode without some paraphrasing involved, make sure to listen to our entire podcast episode. You can access it on the platform of your choice by clicking the button below or listen to it while you read the blog by hitting the live link.

This is the type of episode where I think it’s pretty important to follow it in the order things took place, so let’s start with the flashback. I feel like we needed this an episode or two ago, only because a flashback taking up 1/3 of the fifth episode is what I think forced everything else to end up being rushed. Of course, this has nothing to do with the flashback itself but more of the actual thought process behind the show. Anyway, I loved the flashback because it gave us Kamala’s background and the bangles’, but it also so intricately showed us the Partition and what it was like to live during it. I continue to love the Marvel pieces that show us different cultures and historical moments (and no I’m not referring to CATFA). They’re extremely powerful works and of course, this one was crucial to the larger story as a whole. Especially that last little bit in which Kamala appears at the trains and her story intersects Aisha. Give me a moment and I will get more into the deeper time things with this, but I want to give credit to our friend @juliermig on Twitter who 100% predicted that Kamala was the trail of stars from her grandmother’s story. You know I always give credit where it is due and that was an awesome theory that ended up playing out.

The bigger thing past the emotional and plotline weight of these semi-flashback-like scenes is that in order for Kamala to have been the one to help her grandmother each time, there had to be some sort of time traveling happening. In the podcast, I related what we saw to the third Harry Potter film in which Hermione sort of time travels in a similar way. That doesn’t mean it makes more sense, but it at least might help some feel a little less confused. The main issue I had with this is that Marvel has already laid the groundwork for how time travel is supposed to work in the MCU and Kamala pretty much being on an endless loop of going back to help her grandmother, which is what allows her to get on the train and eventually have her mom then Kamala, feels very much like it somehow goes against some of the things we learned in Endgame and Loki. I’m not sure at all how this works in the long run and what the effects of it could be if there are any. I feel that there would be some since time travel seems something that should be heavily moderated since the TVA is in existence (or at least somewhat are in existence cause who knows with that Loki ending).

My biggest issue with the whole episode was that the flashback was given a lot of time and so it felt that some of the other current show moments were rushed. By current show moments, I mean what is happening in real-time to Kamala. My two big moments that seemed poorly written? The Djinn and how quickly they sort of just were written off and then the Red Dagger and the quick end to that. For the Djinn, it was especially weird because they were depicted to be the biggest threat to Kamala and made the most sense to me (at least in this version of Ms. Marvel). I anticipated some major fight scenes to come in the finale and for us to see Kamala be able to use her powers fully against them. Instead, they were killed rather quickly by the Veil and that was considered the end of their story. I feel like my time was wasted with them as they were so quickly done away with.

Then after this bit with the Djinn, Kamala’s friend Kareem just kind of said peace out and left afterward. This really bothered me, as I said in episode 4 how I was already feeling a type of way about the Red Dagger’s entrance into the show and I hoped they would utilize them more than just plot devices. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what they were used to, and as soon as the Djinn were dead and Kamala had gotten the information that she needed Kareem was gone. I get characters can come and go from shows and some only appear for certain reasons, but to introduce a whole group of these fighters who are supposed to be battling things bigger than them and then just throw them out when the plot moves past them is such a waste to me. I really hope that Marvel is able to once again utilize Kareem somewhere else so that his short introduction doesn’t go completely unused.

I want to get into the Veil and what it’s all about. So I will say I thought it was super cool that when the Veil was open, you could begin to see the Noor dimension spreading out into ours. I really loved that as that was a critical detail that was shared with Kamala and us in episode 4. But I was first extremely thrown off by how it was opened, as we pretty much see Kamala come back to the present day and the Veil is open. My thoughts are that the power of the bangle opened the Veil as it was trying to bring Kamala back to our present day, almost like in Thor: Ragnorak when Heimdall opened the Bifrost to help Thor and Loki escape Hela and only ended up bringing her right to Asgard. Yet I had really expected to do something more with the Veil, so that’s why I’m wondering if it opened in more than one place. It could set it up for a battle at the series finale, having Kamala fight to close it everywhere, but everything that happened with Kamran in this episode may contradict that (give me five and we will talk about that). I just can’t feel that this is it, so I’m clinging to hope that more is coming from the Veil.

So we see Kamran’s mother whisper his name and suddenly the Veil closes and shifts itself to give power to Kamran…okay. Listen, I know Marvel has some inexplainable stuff like purple aliens, but this one was one of the weaker written moments of the show. Regardless, I think this is Kamran being his Inhuman comic equivalent and we will see him follow that storyline into being a villain. I don’t think it will happen in episode 6, as to Taylor’s point in the podcast, it would be a pretty hard turn from where we saw him with Bruno. But I do wonder if the Veil may be corrupting him over time, as Kamala’s power isn’t powered by the Veil but the Noor dimension itself. We have to see the Veil as an evil entity, so I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if the Veil is able to play some mind games to convince Kamran to try and open it again. For now, he will likely help Kamala fight in the final episode of this season, but an end-credit scene setting him up to be evil would not shock me.

Lastly, since I’ve mentioned the final battle, I guess we have to come to terms that the DODC must be the main villain of the show. If this is really what holds true, I’m going to be pretty angry and disappointed, as the storyline was so chaotic it almost feels like a scapegoat. I liked learning more about the DODC, but I think making them the final villain just leaves me feeling empty. I enjoy villains that fit the hero and the threat feels even, as the Djinn felt even to Kamala and fit her story. The DODC doesn’t (at least yet) fit Kamala’s story like that and just feels out of place. Regardless, they are obviously after Kamran too after he escaped their prison and now also has some powers on him, which is why I’m thinking the final fight will be Kamala and Kamran vs the DODC. I don’t expect them to beat them completely, though, or that also will be a waste of this group, unless they are in fact corrupted by Skrulls or Kree and that is how they become exposed. I mean, at this point there is still not a full connection to where Monica and Carol are regarding the bigger part of the cosmic MCU, so I really am throwing in our last real option here.

Overall, I will say I’ve been a little disappointed in how this show has turned out so far. I love the culture and Kamala as a new addition to the hero roster, but I think poor writing may have hit this one a little too much. I’m hoping some things are turned around in the final episode, which airs tomorrow(!!), to save some of the chaos and plot issues that the middle few episodes created. As for the podcast, you guys can expect us to release our reactions to the final episode by the end of the week for your listening pleasure. Of course, it has been extremely busy here lately, so we get to slow down a little bit after the end of Ms. Marvel, so make sure to follow us on Twitter and check out our calendar to stay up to date with what’s next. Don’t forget to watch the series finale of Ms. Marvel since Marvel just blew your mind, so let’s talk about it.

Image: “Ms. Marvel Episode 5”, Aeron Mer Eclarinal, The Direct

Episode 4 is continuing to be the cliffhanger episode of all the series.

This week we followed Kamala to Pakistan where we learned more about her roots and hopefully got a few clues as to where her power is really coming from (other than the Noor dimension). The parts of the episode that did give us information gave us some pretty heavy stuff that we have to delve into, but before I start breaking anything down for you all, make sure you listen to all our thoughts in full in our latest podcast episode. You can listen on the platform of your choice by clicking the button below or following the link right here in live time to listen now.

I have to first say that in a real-world scenario there is not a single way possible that Kamala would’ve gotten her mom to take her all the way to Pakistan. I mean, the girl just crashed her brother’s wedding then fled from it and refused to talk to her mom when she tried to be there for her. Granted, I know why obviously but still it doesn’t exactly warrant her mother to want to just drop everything (including the rift she has with her mother) to take her daughter halfway across the world. For practicality points, I’m sorry Marvel, but you took a fat zero on this one. But for the sake of the show I got where it needed to go so I’m just going to go on my merry way and pretend this isn’t the largest issue with this whole series so far.

What’s actually really important about the fact that Kamala traveled her way to Pakistan is that it was almost like a series reset button was pushed. Personally, I don’t love this, as I now feel the series is getting a little muddled with too much happening in it and I have concern for how this all will hit a meeting point in the last two episodes. But nonetheless, the series sorta restarted, with new characters, new locations, and new stories. I believe for the sake of the series that Kamala will need to finish in Jersey City, especially since we still have the pesky DODC over there and it doesn’t appear that they have jurisdiction outside of the U.S. I also think it would really screw with the series for Kamala to not finish with all the characters we were first introduced to and what actually is true to who she is. As I said before, this is my prime concern on the whole restart button part because I’m worried the show doesn’t have the time to finish itself properly, but of course we will have to see.

Let’s get into this Red Dagger stuff. So putting aside the comic book relation and just looking from the show perspective, I immediately felt stressed about this. This is mainly because the whole going to Pakistan thing already had me thrown off with the show and then we had this new random organization that shows up. For the sake of the show, it felt like we were getting too busy and that too much was starting to happen. However, relating to the comics, our buddy Kareem is actually a singular vigilante who goes by the name Red Dagger, but obviously we see them as an organization in this series. I’m curious what else we are genuinely going to see of them, considering Kamala is sorta…well not present anymore and I firmly believe the series is going to end in Jersey City. I don’t see Kareem being a one off, as it would be a waste, but it will be interesting to see if they continue to use his character moving forward.

It’s pretty funny that the Department of Damage Control is a topic in this episode’s post because they weren’t exactly in it, yet we somehow got some big pieces of information about them. They clearly are a big enough government organization to have a mega prison and so it makes you think still who the heck these people are. We’ve seen many corrupt organizations before and this one actually was part of SHIELD for awhile, so with this information I really wouldn’t be surprised if they’re up to something much worse than we think, since we all knew what grew within SHIELD. I’m not going to let go of the possibility that they are some sort of Kree or Skrulls because I truly don’t feel that it can be as simple as a corrupt organization since Marvel is now bigger than that in my opinion, but I will keep my options open as they definitely aren’t any good one way or another. That prison of theirs is meant to hold a lot more than just regular criminals, that has been proven to us now.

Before I get into the juiciest part of this episode, I want to also bring up that I believe we may have just gotten a Sharon Carter villian origin story on our hands. Kamran went to prison trying to save Kamala, who sorta up and left him to go to Pakistan, not thinking twice. The Clandestines (and literally his mother) then chose to leave him in prison to find his own way out due to his betrayal to them. He risked that to help Kamala but so far she doesn’t seem to care much at all. With this, I hardcore believe we are getting a villian origin story, since in the comics he kinda already has that going for him.

And now this is why I brought up how every episode four so far has left us with quite the cliffhangers because what the heck does that ending mean now? We have gotten some amazing theories thrown our way for this one, along with some thoughts we have picked up on the way. For one, the imagery for when the bangle is pierced with the weapon looks very similar to what our universe looked like when Clea cut her way into it. This of course raises the thought process of figuring out if this might have universal/multiversal implications, but I want to get to that in a second since the ending has to be talked about. We have to assume one of three things has happened, Kamala is back in time, she is in a memory, or she is in a different universe. I don’t want to make anyone’s head hurt too much so I’m not sure I need to go to into it, but regardless she is likely either going to witness Aisha use the bangle to save her grandmother or she is going to interact with Aisha who will tell her the full story of her past. All the needed information rests with Aisha, which could be why the bangle reads that what you are seeking is seeking you. Or, as a listener pointed out, we might be talking about Kree but I’m waiting on episode 5 before we get into that.

I credit this one entirely to Taylor for bringing it up, but we are now going to address the possibility of Ms. Marvel opening the Multiverse. You might be sitting here thinking why the heck am I even saying this, and quite frankly I am too. As I mentioned about 5 seconds ago, it is possibe Kamala and her battle with the Clandestines are what may cause an Incursion. As this episode explained, the Clandestines home essentially runs parallel to our universe and so if you take it that their home is another universe…well then we might have two universes colliding. We don’t have much that we can go off with this other than the knowledge that it is possible and would make sense as to why we (in the MCU) were introduced to Incursions right before this show came out. What would be intersting is figuring out Kamala’s powers would exist if our world and the Noor dimension were to collide, as she manages to essentially straddle both sides right now.

We are one day away from the next episode, so I hope these theories get you thinking for it! Make sure you guys are tweeting us your theories on Twitter or commenting on the blog posts (you might get a shoutout in an episode if we end up talking about your theory!). Remember we have a big week, as Thor: Love and Thunder premieres this Friday as well, so keep up with Marvel content along with ours, as Marvel just blew your mind, so let’s talk about it.

Image: “Ms. Marvel Episode 4”, Michelle Jaworski, Daily Dot

I was sitting on the edge of my seat during this one.

This episode did everything I needed it to. I honestly kept hoping it wouldn’t end since I felt we were finally getting everything we needed. Every plot point was hit, each piece of character development was furthered, and the connection to the larger MCU slapped us all right across the face. To tell you the truth, so much happened I don’t even know yet where I expect to see the next episode go, as this one gave us a lot to digest. But we don’t need to worry about that quite yet, as we still have to through everything from this episode. So grab some popcorn and get ready to listen to the podcast that is linked below or find your platform of choice by clicking the button.

So we hit the beginning of this episode with the ground running, meeting this mysterious woman and her friends. We learn about their history and that they are currently stranded in our universe trying to get home. And this all sounds good and dandy until they don’t quite get their way and go after Kamala on a murderous rage. So let’s give some background on these Djinn. First and formost, I initially did believe they may hold a piece of their history related to the Inhumans and were just a fancy or more culturally accurate name for them. But upon research, Djinn in the Muslim religion are created by Allah and have the abilities to control and manipulate humans. They do have the ability to reproduce (Kamran would be an example) and they live for a long time. So some of this we sort of got from their explanation, but if I’m going to be introduced to a new super powerful being I want to know more.

Naturally, I do more research, as I do it so you don’t have to. In Marvel, Djinn are a race that were created from the Muslim mythology as I mentioned above and actually had ties to Asgard in the comics. But in all honesty, there wasn’t much more I could find about their stories in Marvel. Pretty much, that’s all I got. So where does this all take us? Well we can officially rule out Kamala ever being an Inhuman, as they have confirmed her power is because she is part Djinn. We know the Djinn are pretty tough and have slowed aging, which means we can theorize that Kamala’s great-grandmother is alive and went on the run from the rest of the group. I mean, hanging with a bunch of angry who-knows-how old people willing to do whatever it takes to get home would exhaust me too. And lastly, we can believe they will continue to play a huge threat in the show, whether arrested or not. Remember, I still believe that the Department of Damage Control is corrupt in some way (and possibly alien), meaning they will quickly find they have a lot in common with the Djinn and their want for Kamala.

Now it’s time to give me the biggest credit ever and say heck yea was I right about the connection to Shang-Chi’s rings (and if you need proof literally go look at my past few blog posts). Since they mentioned that they were two bangles, I will strongly suggest that the second bangle is in fact the rings. And right here people is the connection I was talking about. We have now connectd Shang-Chi, Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel, Dr. Strange (mainly Sorceror Supreme Wong) and Hulk all in one and only one of the people mentioned was involved in the Multiverse storyline. The underlying cosmic story is coming and now I won’t be shocked if this is furtherd also in She-Hulk, as we know Bruce is in that.

Our man Eric Selvig was name-dropped once again and honestly, I’m starting to think he is the most name-dropped person in the MCU (besides maybe Cap or Iron Man). It’s been a while and I have to think it wasn’t an accident he got brought back into the action since we have Thor: Love and Thunder coming around the corner. But then again, this show has been dropping quite a few prominent names, so there is no saying that it might have been a one off and that’s it. I will say, I would love for this to be the subtle hint to the return of Dr. Selvig in newer works and with Jane returning it wouldn’t surprise me fully to see him come back too.

I’m going to momentarily interrupt our normal programming by just fangirling about how adorable Bruno is. Now hold on, I say this only because I truly love how dedicated he is to understanding, accepting, and being a part of Kamala’s culture. Obviously, this has been apparent since the start of the show but I really enjoyed seeing it during the wedding scenes and how he 100% supports Kamala.

Okay, moment over, it’s time to address the final big part of the episode and ironically I’m not talking about the Djinn fight scene or the fall out from the wedding being crashed, but I’m talking specifically about Kamala’s grandma. She knows a lot more about the bangle and what Kamala has gotten herself into, so I’m hoping she acts as the mentor that Kamala needs right now. She is being pulled in so many directions and is creating many enemies, so getting accurate information about her powers and her ancestory is extremely important. Of course, Kamala doesn’t think she will be able to go, but I believe the show rests on her getting this information from her grandmother. I also think it might mean Kamala will be the type of hero whose family knows her secret. For one, her family has closed in on her more and more throughout this last episode, but two, if her power is in her familial line, then it would be weird for especially her mother to not know of her double life.

There’s more to talk about of course, but you have to listen to the podcast to get all of it (and I do too cause I have no clue what Taylor and Davis talked about this week). Not to worry, all will be returning back to normal this week with Taylor and I both covering episode 4 of Ms. Marvel and also our Thor: Love and Thunder predictions will drop this weekend as well. I can’t believe we are already there but we are and so naturally that means two weeks in which we have two episodes per week. Make sure to stay caught up with all of Marvel’s content, along with all of ours, as Marvel just blew your mind, so let’s talk about it.

Image: “Ms. Marvel Episode 3”, Christine Dinh, Marvel

We got the training reel *whoop whoop*.

We are chugging through Ms. Marvel, getting yet another episode and some much-needed story additions this week. Kamala continues to be our relatable queen and takes on high school now as a super-hero (or sort of as one). But what is going to be the big topic to handle is this suspicious Department of Damage Control that is getting weirder and weirder. So while this episode was a lot of exposition and setting up more characters, it ended with some major moments that we need to talk about ASAP. But of course, before I give you the synopsis of our podcast episode, make sure you go and listen to it to hear everything we really had to say about the newest episode. You can listen on the platform of your choice by clicking the button below or start listening by hitting the play button on the link provided.

I spoke about it last week and I have to say I was absolutely thrilled to get a training reel from Ms. Marvel. It’s not common nowadays for us to get one, but the training reel once again solidified how relatable Kamala is. I mean, let’s be honest, with all of the heroes we know who wouldn’t try to see what powers they have in similarities to those heroes? But one thing about all of it that really makes me think is the fact that Ant-Man once again was mentioned. Now out of all the heroes in the vast MCU, I think it’s pretty interesting that he once again was mentioned when Kamala was figuring out what exactly her abilities are. It makes me think we might need to keep an eye out for a connection with our favorite tiny dude. Where this could take place? Not a clue, as I don’t see him being a cameo in this show, nor do I think she will appear in the next Ant-Man film, but they sure are pressing a possible connection further down the road.

While we have talked about the Inhumans before, I want to give a little background prior to getting into why we think we still might get some Inhuman storyline. Inhumans pretty much have a dormant gene that is activated by a special type of mist. This idea was sort of confirmed through Bruno saying that the bangle seemed to have activated something already inside of Kamala and was not necessarily feeding her power. This also confirms the theory Taylor had last week, so I do have to give her credit where it is due. But what is really cool about this is that Marvel is very much leaving the door open for the possiblity of Inhumans and Kamala’s involvement with them further down the road. It also makes her little crush a bigger key player than this episode already made him out to be, as in the comics Kamran also is an Inhuman.

So let’s get into Kamran and that whole storyline. I want to just say from the get go I was suspicious of him, mainly because he seemed to single out Kamala a little too quickly for my liking. This meant I wasn’t totally surprised when the ending came and he was in the right place, right time with his ‘mother’. I put mother in quotes cause for now, I don’t trust anything. The woman in the car is the woman appearing in Kamala’s visions, so I have a sneaking suspicion she is much older than she appears to be to us. In fact, I might even go as far as to say I think she could be Kamala’s great-grandmother, although how Kamran fits into that is still very much unknown. Either way, her presence is either going to greatly help Kamala by being a mentor to her, or begin to hinder her by possibily trying to take the bangle for herself. She has clear ties to it and the intriguing world that almost looks like it lives within the dream state of the bangle. I’m very excited to see this storyline play out in episode 3 and understand more of this ladies’ background.

There have been quite a few name drops happening in the show so far, along with some major easter eggs, but I think my favorite so far has been the topic of Kingo in Ms. Marvel. For one, I found it funny how they were talking about Kingo and Kingo Sr., very much confirming that the regular folks of Earth do not know who Kingo really is (other than a Bollywood dynasty of course). But this also makes me think about the celestrial that is sticking half out of the Earth that has yet to be addressed. Either way, not the point, but I think it is important that Kingo is one of the heroes whose name is being dropped (just like Ant-Man). For one, I think Shang-Chi’s rings and Kamala’s bangle very much have a cosmic tie, as we already got a hint of that at the end of Shang-Chi. But two, I think this may play directly into connecting the Eternals as well. From the time of Eternals, many, including us, have wondered how they would tie in with other heroes and I think this is our answer. They fit best with cosmic characters and pieces of jewelry from space for some reason seem just to have their name on it. This is certainly a long-ride theory, but it will be cool if we get confirmation of any of this by at least the end of Ms. Marvel.

You can’t expect me to finish a blog post without talking about the weirdos over at the Department of Damage Control. Obviously last episode I was already not their fan, but when I tell you I audibly gasped at how they treated Zoe and then when they used the Stark drones to try and take out Kamala I’m 100% not even lying. We were introduced to another agent in this episode and she was just as fishy as the first. I truly don’t believe these guys to be human, but if they are they are certainly some sort of corrupt. Think about how weird it is that they are going after Kamala so aggressively. They’re the Department of Damage Control, there should be no reason they are using drones to bring suspects in when they literally are causing more damage. Their tactics are turning extremely aggressive and I certainly continue to back my theory of them being Kree or Skrulls even more. They are collecting weapons and know far too much about the power Kamala exuded to be regular people. Think about the fact they knew exactly the demographic to look for once they saw the power being used. If this bangle has been away from people for awhile, there’s no reason a regular government group would have that type of information. I am telling you to watch those guys cause there’s no way they’re human.

I think I am certainly most excited to see where episode 3 takes us, as I want answers to some of the random chaos we have gotten in this latest episode. I need the plot to thicken as we move to being almost halfway done with Ms. Marvel (weird). But before I sign off here, I do want to remind everyone that I will be missing from the podcast covering episode 3, so Davis will once again cover on my behalf. I hope you don’t miss me too much, but don’t worry Taylor and Davis will have plenty to talk about, as Marvel just blew your mind, so let’s talk about it.

Image: “Ms. Marvel Episode 2”, Thomas Bacon, Screen Rant

So us being obsessed with the Avengers is now canon. Thanks, Kamala.

The very first episode of Ms. Marvel has been released and I have to say that personally, it hit a little close to home in quite a few spots. But nothing had me feeling more called out than when she had her Youtube that was dedicated to the Avengers as if we don’t have a whole podcast created to cover the MCU…*sigh*. Marvel clearly has our number, don’t they? Either way, being fans of the Avengers has officially made it to the official MCU screen and I really hope we see more of it, whether that’s through Kamala or other characters later on. For now, we will focus on our new hero, so click the button below to find your listening platform of choice or hit the link below to start listening to the whole podcast episode.

As I sort of already said, Kamala is definitely relatable. I think this opening episode really was there to drive that home and get the viewers to understand how similar many of us are to her. I know even down to how her parents I was relating because I’m not far from my teens, I know how that game works. I found her endearing and I think this is something we missed a little with Tom’s Spider-Man since we didn’t get to see really who he was before being a hero. I think it puts Kamala on a different plane, as now we see she was just a normal girl who obsessed over superheroes and wanted to be one so badly. It’s also cool that we are going to see how this plays out moving forward with Bruno and how she hides it from her family, very much giving Andrew’s Spider-Man era ‘hiding from the parental figure’. Something for me that really sets it all apart is how it is filmed. You feel extremely immersed in her world as you see art and animations dancing on the screen with her. They help us jump into Kamala’s mind and see sorta how she thinks, but also remind us of how young she is.

Taylor brought up a great point in the podcast about how we couldn’t quite figure out how the world knew so much that happened in Infinity War and Endgame. It wasn’t until MoM that we really had this driven home, with the man in the church straight up asking Strange if it had been the only way. Then we have the first scene of Ms. Marvel giving us Kamala telling a good chunk of the story and man was I sitting here like “what the heck?”. But then we finally get that explanation, and simply it’s that Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, is the world’s biggest blabbermouth. It helps to fill in these holes and I’m actually super curious about how this is going to be brought up in the next Ant-Man film. Hope is obviously an Avenger too, so I want to see how she reacts to this Scott blabbering about one of the biggest moments of Avengers history. We know he told even the smallest of details, including the line about Cap’s butt, so what else did he tell? And what exactly didn’t he tell? One thing is for certain, since Endgame, we saw a lot of tributes to Tony for what he did, but we finally saw Black Widow being honored in Ms. Marvel. I would like to think Scott may have been the reason she is getting the recognition she deserves for her just as important sacrifice.

A huge topic that we covered in the predictions episode was whether or not they were going to tie Kamala in with the Inhumans, as her powers appear to come from a bracelet. Well, the powers do come from the bracelet and it appears she has to be wearing it in order to have those powers. I sort of hope this isn’t true, as I think it is super limiting to her and her abilities if she has to have an ancient bracelet to give her powers. And this isn’t a problem exactly, since Shang-Chi uses the rings, except that isn’t who Kamala is. She is an Inhuman who eventually gains her own powers. So, I theorize that maybe the bracelet is a band-aid for right now, just until Marvel gets their cards all ready with the Inhumans. Then they can introduce the Inhumans, along with the mist that gives them their powers, and somehow work this into Kamala’s story and give her the powers from the bracelet permanently. It would allow for them to utilize her as they need now, while still saving some of her comic book past for future works.

Truly the biggest part of the episode was actually the end. I think (but correct me if I’m wrong) this is the first show that has an end-credit scene in the first episode. I feel that Marvel is reallyyyy trying to make up for the lack of end-credit scenes in MoonKnight. But the end credit scene ended up being the most important piece to the puzzle, even if we don’t know the whole puzzle yet. I say this for two reasons. One: the end credit scene connects Ms. Marvel to Spider-Man by using the same department and same agent from Homecoming and NWH. Two: that agent is super sus and we didn’t know it until now. I theorize that he is likely a Skrull or Kree that is undercover, utilizing all of these aliens and high-tech machines that the department has been gathering to stockpile for war. Think about it, they have all the tech from the first Avengers, the Stark drones from FFH, and now are alerting to Kamala after using the bracelet. What will really interest me is how this is going to possibly connect us to Peter. We have made a lot of connections to him already as far as character personality and he and Kamala do only live across the river from one another. I guess we might just have to wait and see if we get a web-slinging cameo anytime soon.

As we prepare for the next episode of Ms. Marvel, we have a few good things to look out for. One is those pesky end-credit scenes, which seem to be very critical to this storyline so make sure to check for them before closing out at the end of the regular show. Two will be our enemies from within the Department of Damage Control and how they’re going to play a part in this. And two will be any cameos, as this show is not quiet about being tied to the rest of the MCU as MoonKnight was. Coming up this week we will be covering the second episode, with Davis coming in to cover for Taylor as she has a scheduling conflict. Get ready and get excited as Marvel just blew your mind, so let’s talk about it.

Image: “Ms. Marvel Episode 1”, Samuel Spencer, News Week

Another new superhero is upon us.

Whether your brain can comprehend it or not, we are already halfway through 2022 and have hit another show premiere. Ms. Marvel has entered the chat and we all need to be ready for another future generation of Marvel superheroes to hit us. She brings quite a few possibilities into the MCU realm, which we will get into momentarily, but before I spew everything, make sure to check out our podcast that highlights everything we had to say about where we think Ms. Marvel is going to take us. You can find your listening platform of choice by clicking the button below or start listening right away by hitting play on the link provided.

The first thing that is important to know about Ms. Marvel is that she is an Inhuman. Now there are a couple reasons why this is important and should be common knowledge prior to watching the show. The first reason is the fact that we might not see her really be an Inhuman. Inhumans are made through a type of mist that gives them their power and then they go through a sort of butterfly cocoon stage before coming out all superheroey (yes this is extremely simplified). The thing is, we see Kamala get her powers from a bracelet that she puts on and don’t see any mist in sight. This means they may be undoing her Inhuman past. What this ends up meaning is that while we did see Black Bolt in MoM and that gave people hope, it appears Marvel may still continue to ignore the Inhumans after the failed show. One last-ditch way we might get them is if Secret Wars does play out since we do know that Inhumans exist in other universes. The issue with this one is they would have already written the Inhuman part of Kamala’s story out and so she would be sidelined in any Inhuman storyline.

That of course leads us then to see that we should be paying attention to Kamala as a Marvel (you know like Captain Marvel, her idol, and the future movie we are getting). If they take away her Inhuman background, it may be for the sake of playing more into this story of her, Carol, and Monica being space heroes. As I mention in the podcast, the Multiverse may be a pleasant distraction from some other threats, including cosmic ones. I’m going to table this thought for now, but don’t worry because I will be coming back to it in a bit.

Another huge question going into any of these series is who is the bad guy or what do they want. The interesting thing about Ms. Marvel is that we don’t get that answer. We don’t know who the bad guys are or what exactly they want but don’t worry because we of course have theories. One theory that is running and makes the most sense is that her foe will be Kree. Of course, if you know anything about Captain Marvel and where those storylines are going, you know the Kree are currently the baddies that we have been dealing with. To make them the bad guy is easy, almost too easy. So then we throw out the possibility of it being Skrulls. This is huge since the last place we saw Skrulls they were Captain Marvel and Nick Fury’s buddies. But we have Secret Invasion coming and the entire premise of that comic line deals with the Skrulls taking over civilizations with their ability to shapeshift. With Secret Invasion close, I think it’s highly possible we might get the switch on the Skrulls in this show and this becomes why Monica and Kamala are needed to help Captain Marvel in The Marvels.

Since I’ve been throwing the names around, let’s talk about who might get to appear in this show. We obviously know that Ms. Marvel’s idol is Carol, so do we think we are going to see her? If we do, it will only be for a short period of time, so short it may even be looked at as a cameo. But I do think we have a really good chance of seeing Monica. While we don’t have an exact timeline of when this takes place in comparison to WandaVision, Monica was just in New Jersey visiting Westview. She also is on Earth that we know of, rather than Carol being who knows where. With Monica being newer to the power world and the same with Kamala, I think the two would be a great duo to help each other out before meeting up with Carol. Carol isn’t used to working with a team, at least not in her realm of space, so establishing Monica and Kamala as a pair prior to them meeting Carol just makes sense.

The funky thing about this show is that we know almost exactly where the hero is going after it’s over. She may make a peekaboo appearance in Secret Invasion, but we know she will be part of the team in The Marvels. This is a big reason why I think we will get Monica in this show or at least a cameo from her or Carol. Monica and Carol have a relationship, but Kamala would be the odd one out if they don’t introduce her to at least one of them in her show. There’s no reason Carol or even Monica will feel that they need a kid’s help unless she is spoken for already. Putting some of the introductions in Ms. Marvel saves some time in The Marvels and allows us to really focus on whatever plot they are putting forward.

The last thing I have to say is based on what I told you earlier we would touch on at a later time. Well, the time is later. We speak and probably explain it a lot better on the podcast, but essentially I am starting to run with the theory that there are three or four different plotlines coming together. While we have been talking a lot about the Multiverse and have been distracted by the ideas it brings forward, we have had a magical/cosmic storyline running under it since Shang-Chi. For those who don’t remember, Bruce, Carol, and Wong all appeared in the end credit scene of Shang-Chi, trying to decipher his rings and concluded they were calling to something. His rings are also very similar to the concept behind the Eternals, roping them into this a little as well. Since this connects Carol into the story, we have to expect there to be a connection with Kamala eventually too. Not to mention, the bracelet that gives her powers looked both alien and similar to Shang-Chi’s rings. I wouldn’t be surprised if the bracelet calls an enemy to Kamala’s location once she activates it and holds a connection to the rings.

With all of this being said, I conclude our Ms. Marvel predictions. Of course, the show premieres tomorrow, so you can expect our podcast coverage of the first episode on Friday! For now, we will be fully in Ms. Marvel mode, so prepare for some cosmic chaos (and I use that not in relation to Wanda for once). We are super excited about this show and the underlying storyline it may further, so we are hoping all of you are too and if you weren’t, this blog post helped you get a little more excited. This is a big month full of content, so keep up, as Marvel just blew your mind, so let’s talk about it.

Image: “Ms. Marvel”, Chris Smith, Trusted Reviews