It was disappointing to see Ms. Marvel get review-bombed from the get-go, continuing the trend of trolls hating geeky media that so much as features a woman. In just a few hours of release, the new show was subject to 1-star reviews that complained about Wokeism.
Due to all the racism spread by irrational viewers, Ms Marvel co-director Adil El Arbi addressed the situation. With review-bombing becoming the de facto move for racist trolls it’s become hard to ignore the problematic comments. Nevertheless, El Arbi’s response was as chills as possible.
Ms. Marvel director takes the good with the bad
Fans hoping to see vitriol from Ms. Marvel co-director Adil El Arbi will be surprised to know that he has a fairly calm reaction to the show getting review-bombed by racists. During an interview, Arbi says that fandom values are a reflection of society and you have to take the good with the bad. Overall, Arbi is thankful to the Marvel fandom since he feels they wouldn’t have a job without them.
"Well, I think fandom values are a reflection of society, you know, so you got to have the good and the bad,” Arbi tells Gizmodo. “We believe that it’s overall good. I mean, fandom for us the reason why we make these TV shows and movies. They make Marvel MCU heroes big and that’s why we have AvengerCon. We try 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 continued to explain that the comments received were expected, so it’s easier to ignore. With the “anti-woke” constantly frothing at the mouth for attention, it’s easy to simply focus on the positives.
“I think that we tend to focus just on the positive aspects of it, because the love and the care that they give,” they said. “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."
Considering all the racist insults thrown at Ms. Marvel, seeing such a calm and level-headed reaction to them is nice to see. It’s more than the bullies deserve if we’re being honest but that’s probably why Arbi has the Ms. Marvel job in the first place. Social media makes it easy to attack and insult other people, so reminders like this to be kind and let hatred go are important.
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Ms. Marvel hijinx was based on real-life experiences
Thankfully, the Ms. Marvel directors weren’t just asked about the review-bombing from trolls. When asked about some of the awkward teenage experiences that Ms. Marvel went through in the first few episodes, Arbi reveals that they’re based on things he and co-director Billal Fallah went through.
"And that’s the same as Kamala Khan between the Pakistani Muslim-American culture. Iman Vellani is a Pakistani Canadian so she understood that character so well. And we put a lot of our experiences, our cultural background, the relationship with the family, the parents—all the other cultural aspects, like going to the mosque was also present in the comic book, which was very recognizable,” says Albi. “And Iman Vellani, just like the character, she’s the biggest MCU fan there is. She loves Kevin Feige and he’s her idol. Iron Man is her favorite movie. She never thought that she would be part of the MCU. And all of a sudden, she’s an actress. She’s the main character, a superhero! And that’s the same as Kamala Khan looking up to Captain Marvel. And all of a sudden, she has superpowers. So you see a lot of parallel between, our story, [Ms. Marvel comic creator] Sana Amanat’s story, and Iman Vellani’s story."
Ms. Marvel has been one of Marvel’s more relatable characters in a long time, taking that throne from Spider-Man. It’s heartwarming and kind of funny to see the show’s co-directors using some of their experiences for Kamala Khan’s Disney+ adventures. This kind of relatability is why so many fans have connected with the character and we’re sure that trend will continue once The Marvels hits cinemas next year.
Fans can check out the first episode of Ms. Marvel on Disney+ now, with the second episode coming out this Wednesday, June 15. If you don’t like it, that’s fine, but don’t ruin the experience for those that do.
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