The South Asian Community Is Loving the Little Touches in ’Ms. Marvel’

2022-07-02 09:00:49 By : Ms. Cindy QI

This article contains spoilers for Ms. Marvel episode four

Ms. Marvel has already been met with wide approval from the South Asian diaspora. Aside from the straightforward representation of having a Pakistani-American superhero in Kamala Khan, the show has delved deep into her family life, religion, and the second-generation immigrant experience in America.

This week’s episode takes a trip to Pakistan to visit Kamala’s grandmother and, perhaps more so than previous episodes, it’s absolutely crammed with tiny nods that prove the show’s creators know the culture. Right now, Twitter is lighting up with fans spotting accurate moments in the newest episode:

One fan recognizes the passengers ignoring the protestations of the air stewardess and getting up to retrieve their bags before the plane has landed:

They had me at scene where passengers are getting up even before the plane is landed.#MsMarvel

Another fan points to the accuracy in the set design of Kamala’s grandmother’s house:

There are probably hundreds of neat details in this room, but I want to point out the Nazar here, an evil eye to ward of other "evil eyes." They're common across a bunch of different cultures, even European. I love how we all have these shared traditions that connect us #MsMarvel pic.twitter.com/GxBalDEz46

As well as the tiny shots in the Karachi street scenes and the slang being true to life:

ABC = American-Born Chinese ABCD = American-Born Confused Desi I like that "Confused" connects back to our identity crisis. It can be insulting, like "You dumb American, you don't know your roots," but I think confronting that confusion is a core part of who we become #MsMarvel pic.twitter.com/ztLm5WEaiK

Others are loving seeing pani puri on screen (Kamala is wrong; this stuff is delicious):

PANI PURI CAMEO YES YES #MsMarvel pic.twitter.com/GOjRLSIIZx

ms marvel ep 4 spoilers #MsMarvel • • • • I love that they called it pani puri ngl, now i’m craving them at 9am pic.twitter.com/tL3vDHWtvn

As well as eating biryani out of a bag:

BIRYANI OUT OF A THAILI THIS IS PEAK KARACHI MOMENT 😭😭😭😭#MsMarvel

Ugh, great, now we’re hungry.

We’re now four episodes into Ms. Marvel, and the series doesn’t seem to be dipping in quality, or dragging like other Marvel TV shows. The final shots indicate that at least part of the fifth episode will be a time travel caper set during partition (gee, I wonder who’s going to provide the stars to lead her grandmother to the train…), so expect yet more fun little flourishes to come.

It’s clear that for South Asian audiences, Ms. Marvel is knocking it out of the park, so here’s hoping it continues on this exact trajectory.

Ms. Marvel airs Wednesdays on Disney Plus.