Ms. Marveldirectors Adil El Arbi and Billal Fallah have recently responded to the MCU show being bombarded with an overwhelming amount of negative reviews following the release of episode 1. Joining a slew of other MCU shows likeWandaVision,Loki,The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, andHawkeye,Ms. Marvelis the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to debut on Disney Plus.
Ms. Marvelfollows Pakistani-American teenager and mega Captain Marvel fan Kamala Khan,played by Iman Vellani. Kamala constantly feels like an outsider amongst the two cultures that reside within her identity, as her character resists the urge to conform to racial stereotypes that exist in the world around her. Due to the fact that Kamala feels extremely isolated from both her peers and family, she resorts to the world of Marvel superheroes in order to find some sort of belonging. As the series progresses, Kamala starts to develop powers of her own and fans follow her journey of learning how to master and channel them. Following the show’s highly anticipated debut,Ms. Marvelhas been an overall success amongst critics so far, with many praising Vellani’s authentic performance as the MCU’s first Muslim superhero. However, despite the many positive reviews and reactions from fans,Ms. Marvelis now becoming a major target of review bombing online. Quickly after the first episode aired, the show was hit with a surplus of 1-star reviews on IMDB from a small pocket of ‘fans.’
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What’s quite ironic about the extreme amount of criticism being directed at the series is that these fans are not even citing reasons or explanations as to why they feel the show deserves such a low rating.Ms. Marvelis just the latest show on Disney project to be review bombed, a practice that generally involves bad-faith actors trying to make a statement. Other Disney projects such asObi-Wan Kenobi,Captain Marvel, andEternalshave also found themselves in a similar boat, becoming the target of those who decried the inclusion of Black, female, or LGBTQ+ characters. Now, in a brand-new interview withGizmodo,Ms. Marveldirectors El Arbi and Fallahrespond to the recent review bombing campaign. The film-making duo expressed that they owe the whole reason they even get to make the series in the first place to the MCU fandom. Therefore, even when a project they make is met with criticism, it’s still all love and gratitude for them at the end of the day.
While the review bombing is partly directed at the inclusion of a hero who is both Pakistani and Muslim, some of the criticism is for legitimate reasons such as tone or creative changes. “Well, I think fandom values are a reflection of society, you know, so you have to have the good and the bad - we believe that it’s overall good. I mean, fandom, for us, is the reason why we make these TV shows and movies. They make Marvel MCU heroes big and that’s why we have AvengerCon. We attempt to do that homage to the fandom, that’s why Kamala Khan is a fan. You got to also respect the fandom because they’re so passionate about that," El Arbi stated about the legit criticisms. “I think that we tend to focus just on the positive aspects of it, because of the love and the care that they give - you will not have that in any other job, and it’s a real pleasure. We hope that our humble contribution to the MCU will please the fandom everywhere in the world, especially the younger fandom.”
It seems clear that the extreme passion that the MCU fandom carries has ultimately rubbed off on El Arbi and Fallah. Kamala is in fact a superhero herself who mirrors the enthusiasm that comes from being a massive MCU fan, and she reflects back to fellow fans watching at home that they too are just as magical and powerful. Whether the series continues to be bombarded with negative reviews is irrelevant to the directors, asMs. Marveltruly was a labour of lovefor both of them.
Ms. Marvelepisode 1 is now available on Disney Plus.
MORE:Ms. Marvel’s First Episode Takes A Subtle Approach Toward Kamala’s Internal Conflict
