One of the best-reviewed MCU shows on Disney+ has been Ms. Marvel. The series’ first season just finished its six-episode run, and the story of Kamala Khan is one for the ages. The Captain Marvel fangirl came into her own and is now the hero she never thought she’d have the chance to become.
While the first season may have finished its freshman run, that doesn’t mean fans don’t have lingering questions. There are still plenty of unknowns about Kamala’s origins, the Clandestine, the DODC, her mutation, and much more.
So when can fans expect to have some more answers? Well, a second season has yet to be confirmed—so probably best not to bank on that possibility. Could The Marvels have a few answers up its sleeve?
Either way, those avenues for information are a long ways off. In the meantime, The Direct was able to sit down with a writer for the show to see what they may be able to share in regards to some of the biggest questions fans may still have.
Fans’ Biggest Ms. Marvel Questions Answered
In an exclusive interview with The Direct’s Russ Milheim, Ms. Marvel writer Fatimah Asghar responded to some of the big questions fans might still have after the show’s first season.
When it came to seeing the final product of the show she worked so hard on, the writer noted that “seeing people’s responses [was] really, really amazing,” as was watching it come to life herself:
“It was really great. I mean, I think having worked so intimately on crafting the story for it for so long and then seeing it come out was just really amazing. And I think there's also the fan response, like watching that happen online, it was just really cool to be like, oh, this thing that you kind of are like, working very secretively on something, and then it's out in the world. And seeing people's responses is really, really amazing.”
Obviously, one of the biggest changes to Kamala Khan was her power set. Asghar revealed that the head writer of the show, Bisha K. Ali, was really “excited about going into that direction:”
“I think Bisha [K. Ali] really was like, excited about going into that direction. And so we were like, ‘Let's do it, you know, let's go in this way.' And it was really cool to kind of give her a different powerset that, you know, is typically associated with her in the comics.”
For her first adventure, Ms. Marvel was up against the Clandestine, a ground of interdimensional beings hellbent on getting back to their home Noor dimension. It’s previously been reported that the show had to cut a lot of the villains' story when it came to what made it into the final version of the series.
Asghar shared that when it came to what was cut, “there was a lot of their backstories… and where they were coming from:”
“For me, I mean, I think that there was a lot of their backstories, so there was like, a lot of understanding a little bit more about them and their motivations, and where they were coming from, and so I kind of I missed those things. But I think that what is in there is still really great. So it's really cool to see that in terms of how everything was playing out.”
One thing many viewers were left wondering about was the logistics behind Kamran getting his Noor abilities after his mother’s death. So, what actually happened there?
Asghar explained that in Najma’s final moments, she is basically giving this “kind of final prayer, praying for the Noor to go to Kamran:”
“Yeah. I mean, I think that kind of what you see in Episode 5 is, you see Aisha in a moment where she's about to die. She’s praying for like what she seeks, what she wants most is to get her family on the train. She’s like, ‘What you seek is seeking you,' right? That is kind of what allows Kamala to come through and get [her family] onto the train. And I think that in that same moment with Najma, she has so much regret over abandoning [and] leaving her son behind. She’s been really fighting to... go back to her world, to bring Kamran back to her world, and also like, has felt like deeply betrayed by him, you know, and so in that moment, she's seeing [the Noor] destroy the people around her and she knows it's going to do that, and so she tries to seal the portal, and [while] doing that [she’s also giving this] kind of final prayer, praying for the Noor to go to Kamran. So it was basically like [her dreaming for Kamran] to be able to access his Noor; be able to be of his home. And so that is kind of what you see in terms of Najma with the Noor and Kamran.”
But was the end of Season 1 the true conclusion of the Clandestine’s story? Asghar admitted that she “[doesn’t] know what’s coming next” for the group but that she is excited to see what might happen in the future:
“Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure. I don't know what's coming next for Kamala at all. I don't know what's coming next in terms of the Clandestine. I'm excited as a viewer to see."
When it comes to the big finale, the Clandestines weren’t really a part of the big climax. They were basically already out of the picture, besides Kamran himself—instead, a lot of the focus was on the DODC. Was that always the case?
Asghar revealed that they “always had [the Clandestine’s story] coming to a head in Episode 5,” but the room always intended on having Kamran still active on the board:
“We kind of always had it coming to a head in Episode 5… I think Kamran is really interesting, because he is a Clandestine.... He says that even in Episode 6 when they're talking [to] the Red Daggers, him and Kamala, and he's like, 'I'm a Clandestine, like, those people are not safe for me...' And so, in terms of like, the Clandestine story, Kamran is still a part of that story… but with the [other] Clandestines, [the ones we see being led by Najma], that was going to come to a head in Episode 6.”
Among the many new characters introduced in the six episodes of Ms. Marvel’s freshman season was the Red Dagger and the subsequent organization he represented.
Asghar exclaimed how “Red Dagger is like one of the coolest characters” and that it was “really cool to think about Pakistan having their own superheroes too:”
“I think that Red Dagger is like one of the coolest characters. We all loved him collectively as a writer's room... We were like, ‘Oh my God, he's so cool.’ And even in the comics… when he appears in the comics… there's this other brown superhero who's like, ‘ This is my spot’... he's kind of clowning her the whole time, because he's like, 'You don't know the ins and outs of being here. But I do. This is my turf.’ ... And so there were so many moments of us just wanting so much more of Red Dagger, you know, in the series as we were making it, and I really hope that we get to see more of him. Like, I just think he's such a fun, fun, fun character. And, I think that there's a whole world that exists there, and it's really cool to think about Pakistan having their own superheroes too, you know, and… having more than just Kamala as a superhero.”
When audiences were introduced to the Red Daggers, it became clear that their life mission seemed pretty focused on the very same Clandestines that Kamala had run into. But was that all they looked to protect the world against?
She admitted that “there’s so much more story that can happen,” but when it comes to the narrative being told in Ms. Marvel's first season, it made sense to keep the focus on the enemy at hand:
“I think that, again, we'll see more as things unfold… you know, in the series, they kind of come in at a really specific point where Kamala is kind of really up against the Clandestines, [so] they come up… in terms of the series, [that group is] their primary [focus], that's what we've seen their primary role to be… What's really cool is like, even when they're talking about the Noor dimension, there's so much that we don't know… they're kind of just introducing so much, like the Noor dimension, the Red Daggers, like, all of this stuff, and we just get the glimpse of it in this world. And so I think that there's so much more story to be told, and there's so much more story that can happen…”
When it comes to keeping track of over a decade of continuity, like time-traveling and any potential outside connections, Asghar teased that “the MCU is very good at tracking all their rules,” and everyone involved is “very into the depths, and nuances, and the details of what’s going on:”
“I think the MCU is very good at tracking all their rules… You’re working on [and in] your own show, but there are other shows that are going on, and you're working with the executives, and you're working with, you know, the showrunner like Bisha [who] is working directly with [Marvel Studios President] Kevin [Feige] and all of that… They're very into the depths, and nuances, and the details of what's going on, which I think is just a real testament to how… they can kind of keep track of all of that, because it's so much… I will say that the MCU is very good at knowing their properties.”
One of the most culturally significant aspects of the show’s story was the inclusion of the Partition, a historical event that the writers felt “important for [them] to have... be a central component to the story:”
“So many of us were talking about how important Partition is and how deeply that has affected so many of our families, our family members... the kinds of things that we're up against, and how it felt so important for us to have that be a central component to the story.”
Outside of its immediate story impact, Asghar noted that talking about the Partition “sparked so many conversations,” helping to inform audiences around the world:
“I think it's sparked so many conversations that, you know, in South Asian diasporas and also with non-South Asian people, about people just being like, 'I did not know about this.' Like, I did not know that this was a thing and I think that that's such a great kind of moment that we can do“… it's so incredible to see the MCU [tackle the topic], [and go] beyond just like stereotypical representation… I think that we really tried to handle that with a lot of care… and I think that was a really exciting thing that we were able to pull off.”
Hopefully, More Ms. Marvel Answers Lie Ahead
One of the biggest missed opportunities in the first season was to explore the Noor dimension. What is it? Where is it? What makes it unique? With how little information was given to audiences, it became a vague plot point that could have been expanded on.
The recently revealed concept art of the Noor dimension showcased that at one point and time, audiences were going to see more of it in the show. Now, fans will have to wait for a second season or next year’s The Marvels.
Though, it’s hard to believe that the upcoming film starring Brie Larson will find time to explore these concepts further, seeing as it will have a handful of other characters to worry about.
It’s understandable why Asghar is relatively tight-lipped about it all—who knows what plans are in place or what information has been held for a very particular reason? But there are undeniably a lot of blank spots that fans are dying to fill in, with one of the biggest being how Kamala's time-traveling worked.
Hopefully, all of the dots can be connected sooner rather than later. As strong as the first season was, many agree that Kamala’s convoluted backstory is not one of the show's strongest elements.
Ms. Marvel is now streaming on Disney+ while The Marvels hits theaters on July 28, 2023.
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