Ms. Marvel episode 2 moves the story forward with a bit of mystery, and a bit of action. Here’s our Ms. Marvel episode 2 recap and review.
Ms. Marvel Episode 2 Recap
WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Ms. Marvel episode 2.
Don’t miss our Ms. Marvel Season 1 Recap & Review.
Ms. Marvel episode 2 starts off with a very confident Kamala Khan entering school. She corrects a teacher for mispronouncing her name, has a swagger when walking down the hall, and forcefully parts the couple who is always blocking her locker. She accidentally bumps into a boy, one that by the look on her face, she has a crush one. When she meets up with Bruno, they discuss what powers she might have, and that she has tried to fly and shrink like Ant-Man.
Before long she realizes how popular Zoe has become after talking about being saved by her last episode at AvengerCon. Of course no one knows the superhero was Kamala, and she is even a little bit tempted to give up her secret identity just to see how many followers she could get, but she doesn’t. Zoe tries to play it off like she is friends with the hero, and even gives her a superhero name of Nightlight. Zoe also lets the whole school know she is throwing a party, including Kamala’s crush, who is a senior and new to town.
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After school, Kamala shows Bruno her powers. He asks her what it feels like, to which she replies it feels like an idea come to life. This gives off very Green Lantern (from DC) vibes, as she is thinking of things and creating them with the energy. She makes her hand turn giant, before it crashes to the ground from being too heavy. In Marvel Comics, Kamala can grow and stretch, and often does this with her hands to use her giant fists in battle. This is clearly a nod to that, and a way to let fans know that while she might be a little bit different, she is still very much the same Kamala.
The energy has a diamond looking texture whenever she uses it. Next in Ms. Marvel episode 2, we get a montage of Kamala training. She is trying to work out and figure out what else she can do. Bruno scans her with an iPad and they learn that the power is coming from inside of her, and not from the bangle. But claim the bangle must have unlocked the superhuman part of her — sort of like the Terragen Mist in the comic books unlock inhuman powers. They decide to name her powers. It comes out of her, and it hardens, so Kamala calls it “hardlight”. The longer the montage goes on, the better she gets at her powers.
Kamala heads to the Mosque with her friend, Nakia, who is also Muslim, and as they prepare for prayer by washing themselves, one of the tiles falls to the ground. Later, while participating in the prayer, they discuss how the men’s part of the Mosque is pristine, but the women’s is falling apart. When they are called out about chatting, Kamala is completely unafraid to say that it is hard to see from where they are. He tells her it is wonderful for her to share her voice, but not during the lecture.
When Nakia notices that her new shoes have been stolen, and apparently this is the 22nd pair of stolen shoes at the Mosque and the board doesn’t care, she decides to run for the Mosque board. She enlists Kamala to be her campaign manager.
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At home, Kamala apologizes to her mother about sneaking out, before asking her if she can go to Zoe’s get together. She plays it off like it will be a very small thing, when in fact, the whole school is basically invited. Her mother allows her to go.
When she gets there someone offers a drink. She asks if there is alcohol in there and he says no, but when she drinks it, there clearly was. They think about leaving but then the cute boy that Kamala likes (who is named Kamran) shows up, and jumps into the pool. When the police show up, he tells them to follow him to his car and he offers to drive them home. Kamala and his connect over Bollywood movies, and Bruno butts in to their conversation. When he drops them off, he puts his number in Kamala’s phone. When she gets home she dances around the house dreaming about Kamran, and the two start texting.
The next day at school, her nose starts shining with her energy powers and she has to run off to the bathroom and hide until it goes away. Nakia follows her in there and the two talk about growing up, and how difficult it can be. Nakia says she has always been too white for some people, and too ethnic for others. She has realized that she doesn’t have to prove herself to anybody.
In Mr. Wilson’s office, Bruno is told that he got into the early emersion program at CalTech and will be spending the next semester at the school — and everything is paid for. Bruno is having reservations about it, which is likely because of his relationship with Kamala. Ever since Kamran entered the picture, he seems quite jealous.
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Kamran offers to give Kamala a driving lesson, and the two start to hang out. They have a lot of fun together and it seems like something is developing. They discuss Bollywood movies, and laugh and joke a lot. She spots her brother and his fiancé outside the restaurant they are sitting in and the two hide their heads behind a menu. Her brother sees her and she panics, introducing Kamran as their cousin.
At dinner at home, Kamala’s father talks about how they moved to America to allow their children to be anything that they want to be. They discuss the Partition and how the British left many Pakistani families with a mess. Kamala’s mother gets upset and leaves the table, but her father tells the story to Amir’s fiancé as her mother cries in the kitchen. As the story is being told about how Kamala’s great-grandmother lost sight of her father and followed a trail of stars to get back to him and a train, the bangle does some weird stuff. Kamala sees a flash of someone, and hears a train, before she passes out.
She decides to call her grandmother to ask about the bangle. She confirms what most viewers likely suspect at this time, that the bangle belonged to her great-grandmother (whose name is Aisha) — the one that disappeared. Her grandmother tells Kamala that she will not talk more about the bangle because it will upset Kamala’s mother. Her father hears her talking on the phone and tries to burst in her door, but she uses her powers to close it. When he finally get in, she pretends to be asleep, and he assumes he was hearing things.
The next day Kamala asks her mother about Aisha, and she asks where she heard that name from. She explains that she put shame on the entire family, and that she had to move halfway across the world to forget her, and begs Kamala to do the same.
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The Mosque is having a huge celebration and this is where Nakia, Bruno, and Kamala decide to help Nakia campaign for the Mosque board. While Bruno and Kamala tackle the several different groups present, Nakia goes after what she is calling her white whale — Kamala’s father. She manipulates him a little bit, knowing that his best friend is also running for the Mosque board. Nakia stresses how Kamala is her best friend, and that women fought for this right, and he wouldn’t ever rob two young women of that future, would he?
Zoe finds herself at the DODC with Agent Cleary. He pretends to be a fan of her videos in order to try to get information about the “enhanced individual”. The other officer from the Ms. Marvel episode 1 end credit comes in and asks if the individual had an accent. Judging by Zoe’s face they decide to search every local temple and mosque looking for the superpowered individual.
Kamala is using the gossiping of the event to try to learn what her great-grandmother did to bring shame to the family. Some women say that she had a secret family, but it also has been said she killed a man during the Partition. When a young child starts to fall out of a window in a high up tower, Kamala changes into her costume in order to save him. People start shouting out that it is Nightlight, as she moves towards him to help.
Kamala uses her powers to reach him, and when he slips, she catches him, placing them both on one of her energy obstacles — everyone cheers and the Avengers theme plays. When she reaches out for him, however, something happens with the bangle again and she sees a woman reaching out for her. This causes her powers to glitch, and he falls. She is able to conjure up a few “hardlights” to get him down safely, but he does hurt his ankle.
The DODC shows up and tries to capture her, but Kamran pulls up in his car and tells her to jump in. She is still in costume at this time, so he must have known who she is. Then, a woman in the backseat speaks to her, saying she has been waiting a long to meet her. Kamran introduces her as his mother. There is no end credit scene for this episode.
Ms. Marvel Episode 2 Review
Ms. Marvel episode 2 explores Kamala’s powers quite a bit more, as well as gives fans a glimpse at where they come from. The montage training scene is a great way to show she is learning how to use them in a quick and efficient way. The storyline following her friend Nakia running for Mosque board is a great way to help incorporate the culture.
However, between Nakia’s storyline, Kamala’s main storyline, and then Bruno’s storyline surrounding his CalArt dilema, it feels like there is a bit too much going on in this show — especially for only being two episodes in. Throw in the background about Kamala’s family and the episode feels very convoluted.
Luckily, there is a great action scene where we get to see Kamala once again use her powers to save someone, that helps bring the whole episode together. The reveal that Kamran is interested in Kamala in order to introduce her to his mother, who likely has powers too, is a nice touch, but feels a little rushed.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Next: 50+ Best Ms. Marvel Series Quotes
About Ms. Marvel
Marvel Studios’ “Ms. Marvel” is a new, original series that introduces Kamala Khan, a Muslim American teenager growing up in Jersey City. An avid gamer and a voracious fan-fiction scribe, Kamala is a Super Hero megafan with an oversized imagination—particularly when it comes to Captain Marvel. Yet Kamala feels like she doesn’t fit in at school and sometimes even at home—that is, until she gets superpowers like the heroes she’s always looked up to. Life gets better with superpowers, right?
MS. MARVEL is streaming now on Disney+.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.