Current Events > Ms. Marvel Co-Creator On How Woke and Cringe Show Became Highest-Rated

(+) Yeah! (+)

A month after "Ms. Marvel" was released and after a flood of negative review, the show is now the highest-rated Marvel project on Rotten Tomatoes higher than "Blank Panther" and "Avengers: Endgame."

Sana Amanat, the co-creator and executive producer of the Marvel Disney+ series and comics, said she wasnt surprised by the initial backlash, which she also saw when the comics were first released in 2013.

I think it comes from a place of anger and a sense that their identities are being threatened. If they cant connect with it, then thats OK. I just wish they wouldnt try to put it down, Amanat told NBC Asian America.

A wave of negative reviews was posted when the series was first released, criticizing it for its diversity and calling it too woke and cringe. Ms. Marvel was initially the lowest-rated Marvel Cinematic Universe series, with thousands giving the show one-star reviews many of the reviewers were men over the age of 30.

Amanat said everyone at the studio knew there would be negative reactions to the show, but she was more focused on the positive responses, which have been evident across social media and in reviews since the first episode streamed on June 8.

Despite the negative backlash, representing a diverse teenagers experience turned out to be the shows superpower.

Its amazing to see how theyre internalizing that imagery. I just hope it gives them a sense of competency that, frankly, I didnt have growing up, and a sense of connectedness inside of their culture and who they are because I think thats incredibly important, she said.

The series follows Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), a Pakistani-American teenager who is obsessed with the Avengers especially Captain Marvel and struggles to fit in at school and home until shes endowed with superpowers by a bangle passed down from her great-grandmother.

Kamala learned her family has mystical ties to Islamic spirits, called djinns, and is being hunted by The Clandestines, a group of people headed by Najma her love interests mother (Nimra Bucha) from an alternate dimension. The group is searching for the bangle to open a gate to their realm and take over our reality.

The latest episodes show Kamala traveling back to India in 1947 as she learns more about her family lineage and steers clear of The Clandestines.

Amanat said the show, praised by many in the Muslim community for its representation, wanted to dive deeper into the characters than the comics did.

Online users appreciated the show for its accurate Islamic and Urdu phrases and nods to popular South Asian American culture, including the musical group Swet Shop Boys, calling out gossiping women in the community by referring to them as illumin-aunties and debating Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khans best film.

In episode two, Kamalas best friend, Nakia (Yasmeen Fletcher), defied stereotypes in the show and ran for a seat on the mosque board.

The biggest challenge is making sure that we represented the feminism and strong voice that Nakia specifically has, Amanat said.

She said having Nakia join the mosque board also highlighted the fact that Muslim women, especially women who wear hijabs, are often misinterpreted as oppressed.

Its a lovely way of showcasing the mosque and Nakias role at the mosque, but also the larger context of it because so many people have such a specific point of view of what mosque life is, she said.

The series also spoke to the magnitude of the 1947 Partition for many South Asian families who were forced to cross over the newly formed India-Pakistan border.

The event is pertinent in Kamalas family and the bangle-possessing powers passed down to her as her mothers side of the family left India on the last train to the city of Karachi.

This was very much an idea that came out of the writers room, Amanat said. The comics only lightly referenced the Partition with small vignettes and flashbacks but the writers saw it as an opportunity.

One of my favorite things, when I came onto the show, was that this is the anchor point of the series, this idea of what the Partition has done to multiple families, but also what its done to women, she said. And how often, women are forgotten in stories of trauma, but also in the big story and big historical events. Its the women who bear the brunt of the pain but whose stories are not told.

The period of political unrest included an influx of gendered violence with thousands of women being abducted, raped and murdered. Many victims never spoke about their trauma.

Amanat said incorporating the Partition into the story created more depth in the relationships surrounding Kamala, like her mother Muneebas (Zenobia Shroff) relationship with her own mother, Sana (Samina Ahmad).

The intention was to say, Well, what happens to these women after that?" she said. "The emotional disconnect, constantly searching for this place called home," she said. "So I thought that was a really interesting way of telling Kamalas identity.

Its not woke.

What's supposed to be "woke" about it? The fact that she's a Pakistani superhero?

It has a non white person in it. Literally the wokest of woke to ever woke the wokens wokest woke.

The latest episodes show Kamala traveling back to India in 1947 as she learns more about her family lineage and steers clear of The Clandestines.

"I enjoy it, so it must not be woke."

This makes me think she learns about the Partition of India, which Doctor Who also covered in series 11.

That episode is one of my favorite episodes of Chibnall's run, and frankly I've turned on him otherwise. Demons of the Punjab, the episode in question, is still one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes in years.

I remember when the show launched, there was so much shit levelled against it. Now people are going "it's not woke" in response to its better reaction. Maybe it's worth watching as far as MCU shit goes.

Edit: literally didn't read further where the showrunner acknowledges the Partition, lol. Shit. Still, the fact that the Partition is becoming a more mainstream historical event is pretty awesome.

It stars a none straight white male so it must be woke.

i actually enjoy the inclusion of pakistani culture in this show.

my main problem is how boring it gets. like i dont mind "slice of life" type of stuff but it just has too much of it. i dont need to see Kamala shopping or whatever... lol

So has Marvel gone broke yet? I've been hearing they were finally gonna go broke for being woke since Black Panther came out yet every time that prediction is made for one of their properties it ends up breaking some sort of milestone or record.

So has Marvel gone broke yet? I've been hearing they were finally gonna go broke for being woke since Black Panther came out yet every time that prediction is made for one of their properties it ends up breaking some sort of milestone or record.

What? So TV shows arent even allowed to show other cultures anymore without being woke? Fuck off with that shit.

Kind of irrelevant since it's gone from a great first episode or 2 to pretty damn fucking boring

Kind of irrelevant since it's gone from a great first episode or 2 to pretty damn fucking boring in the last 2. It wasn't really a good run.

Maybe tonight's episode shines, but the show has been weak with many questionable decisions like using Jinn.

Sounds like the other Disney+ shows I've watched

Its my favorite Marvel show yet.

See, I'm the exact opposite. The best parts of the show are the slice of life. The superhero stuff so far is actually really bad.

When someone is unironically using words like "woke" or "cringe", you know you're dealing with a dunce.

When someone is unironically using words like "woke" or "cringe", you know you're dealing with a dunce.

woke is now a pointless garbage word, just like how communists are just dictatorships.

sorry i mean communists/rad left or whatever is often used as an insult when someone is advocating for human rights like fair wages, then completely forgetting what actually happens in communist countries.

Well, woke used to be a phrase symbolizing social consciousness and awareness.

Then right-wingers co-opted it and used it as a blanket term for anything involving a non-white/non-straight/non-male character in a leading role and thus destroyed all of the meaning.

Yeah, I don't think showing a different culture in a show should be considered woke, but apparently that's the state of the world we in.

See, I'm the exact opposite. The best parts of the show are the slice of life. The superhero stuff so far is actually really bad.

Kind of irrelevant since it's gone from a great first episode or 2 to pretty damn fucking boring in the last 2. It wasn't really a good run.

Maybe tonight's episode shines, but the show has been weak with many questionable decisions like using Jinn.

What's supposed to be "woke" about it? The fact that she's a Pakistani superhero?

higher than "Blank Panther"

Can the word "woke" be retired already? It's been used so much itt I've gone cross-eyed.