Ms. Marvel has a classic training sequence as we break down “Crushed”, the second episode of Ms. Marvel on Disney+. Now that Kamala Khan has powers, she needs to figure out how to use them, with a little help from Bruno. Meanwhile, Damage Control is after her — and a mystery is brewing about the origins of the bangle that lets her access her powers.
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Full Episode Transcript:
Alex: Welcome to MarvelVision, a podcast about Marvel, the MCU, and right now the second episode of Ms. Marvel. I’m feeling marvelous today. I’m Alex.
Justin: I’m Justin, and I’m feeling misses today.
Pete: Hey, I’m Pete.
Alex: And we are, as mentioned, going to be talking about the second episode of Ms. Marvel, which is live on Disney Plus now. So if you haven’t checked it out, go watch it because we’re going to spoil it. But brief overview here. Kamala… Kamala, excuse me… has powers now thanks to this bangle. We find out over the course of the episode that the powers are only seemingly activated by the bangle. They’re actually inside of her. And she trains with Bruno.
Justin: Inside of her.
Alex: Inside of her the whole time. She trains with Bruno, who clearly is crushing pretty hard on her. Particularly when a new hot guy shows up in town. Steps out of a pool at a party. He’s being pretty hot. Takes her on a hot date.
Justin: He’s just hot. Not stop hot.
Alex: Not stop hot.
Pete: A hot guy in a hot car.
Alex: By the end of the episode, at an Eid party, she ends up rescuing a kid kind of poorly, but at least practices using her powers. Damage control comes after her and the hot guy rescues her and it turns out he is more connected to this than anyone could have suspected. Now, before we get into this episode, though, I did want to talk to Pete because, Pete, Justin, and I talked… Hi, Pete.
Pete: Hi.
Justin: Pete!
Alex: Justin and I talked about the first episode. Gave our general impressions about the show. Curious. Now that we’re two episodes in, what are you thinking about it so far?
Justin: Truly, I’m sure you like listened to that episode and really they took in our opinions and took under consideration what your two co-hosts and life partners… let’s call it what it is… thought. So, please. Definitely just synthesize all that into your take.
Pete: Cool. Yeah, I thought it’s a fun show. You know what I mean? I like the pace of it. I don’t know if you guys talked about this, but some really great shots. Some beautiful shot structure stuff. Love the use of animation to kind of show the character and what she’s about. I also love the use of music and creative ways to use emojis. I don’t mean to sound like an old guy, but-
Justin: You’re just trying out emojis yourself, right? Oh, sorry. Emotions. You’re trying out emotions.
Pete: Emotions. Yeah. That’s different. That’s different.
Justin: It’s a gateway. Emojis are a gateway to emotions.
Pete: Let’s hope so. Let’s hope so. But yeah. I was really impressed with the first ep. I thought it was a lot of fun. I also was glad that… even if it was the end credits… that the artists who did that comic that got so much hype kind of got some shout-outs and stuff. I hope Marvel is sending checks to the people helped make this… who started with the comic book and now is a TV show.
Alex: I did want to mention… Can we take it back actually to the opening logo? Talk a little bit about the old Marvel flip for a second.
Justin: The Marvel flip.
Pete: Oh my God.
Justin: I can’t believe you didn’t mention it.
Alex: I legitimately wanted to talk to you about this last episode that you weren’t here, Pete, because… since you’ve been going on rants about this nonstop not just on our Marvel podcast, but every podcast that we do.
Justin: On the buses, subways. At the bank.
Pete: Trolleys.
Alex: They have the flip at the beginning. It starts with the comics and then it moves into the live action characters. So I don’t know what you’re getting upset about when you’re like, “They got to pay tribute to the comics.” They’re literally saying in the logo, this is where it all comes from.
Pete: Well, first off, back up the truck a second, okay. Yes, I do agree with you that the Marvel flip should be focused more on the comics-
Alex: That’s not what I’m saying.
Pete: … not so much the movies, so I’m glad you brought that up.
Justin: Not what he’s saying.
Pete: I’m glad that you brought that up. But I’m talking about the Ms. Marvel artists. The team that kind of… At the end credits, we get some animations and stuff pulled straight from the comic book. I want a little bit more of that because that way… Hopefully, people will see this on the show and be like, oh my God, that is so cool. I want to see if the comic book is like that. Holy shit, it is. Oh, man, great. I feel like I’m welcomed into this world. Not treated like they’re separate things that never cross-
Justin: So more people read the comics is what you’re hoping for.
Pete: Yeah.
Alex: Real quick. The artist is Adrian Alphona. The writer is G. Willow Wilson, who’s certainly been getting a nice shine up in all the press and everything, which is great. As well as Sana Amanat, who is the editor who worked on the book. But is that the art from Adrian Alphona? I’m just not sure, honestly.
Justin: I think it’s a mix of a bunch of just great Ms. Marvel pieces. I
Pete: But definitely some cover-
Justin: That was my impression. I haven’t done the research, but that was my takeaway.
Pete: Definitely grab some covers and stuff like that. That whole kind of like… Yeah. So you hope that Marvel sent some checks to some artists and some-
Justin: If they’re using their direct images, then yeah. They will. That’s why I’m hoping it’s a nice pastiche of a bunch of different artists, so it’s sort of a shout out to all the people that made this book popular and made this show possible.
Pete: Yeah, the comic was great and it was such a phenomenon and such a great thing for this character and a great spotlight. The artist is a huge part of that for this character coming to life, so it’s nice to see a little bit more shine on them.
Alex: Well, I think they’ve definitely been doing a good job across the board in these first two episodes of making it feel very comic book-y. I think the thing that I called out with the first episode is an extension of Spider-Man: Homecoming, but that also was really calling on comics or calling on animation as well. So yes. It’s very fun. The big thing that I wanted to kick it off talking about here, though, is something that Justin and I touched on in the last episode is how awesomely clumsy Kamala is in the episode. I continue to love this. I know this is part of the trading montage. I know we’re going to get probably a moment where she’s going to do some cool superhero stuff by the end, but all of the things throughout this episode when she’s training with Bruno… Even when she gets the skills, she’s still a regular human being. I love the moment when she creates the big fist accidentally and it falls down and drags her down and Bruno’s like, “So, no super strength.” Which I thought was great. I think that’s a really nice detail to throw in there.
Pete: Agreed.
Alex: Great. Moving on.
Justin: Fully on board. Ratified. That’s new business. No, I agree with you. They’re true to the character. I mean, it extends into all portions of the show. We get a whole karaoke slash lip sync sequence when she like sees hot guy. Kamran. We get to feel her across the board. She gets to be goofy. She gets to be big. She gets to be embarrassed at points. She gets to mess up all the time. She truly is embodying the spirit of Jersey City by being likable but also fucks up a lot.
Pete: Also, a lot of people from New Jersey, they like to bring up Jersey a lot. So I’m glad that that is a character trait that’s coming through. Also, a lot of shout-outs to Bon Jovi. Love all the Bon Jovi love.
Alex: The weird thing to me, though… Just while we’re talking about the Jersey thing. She hasn’t talked about how accessible it is from New York City to me yet and that feels like… That doesn’t really track because that’s another thing they do all the time. They’re like, “It’s really not that far. It’s basically the city.”
Justin: You definitely need to talk about how you can drink a full 40 in the New Jersey transit terminal and then get on the train and scream as loud as you want. We got to definitely bring up. A huge part of the lifestyle there.
Alex: Culture. The culture.
Justin: Culture. That’s the word I’m looking for. And the fact that there’s a different St. Patty’s Day? Or maybe that’s Hackensack. That might be Hackensack. [inaudible 00:08:30]
Alex: Don’t get them wrong. They’re very different.
Justin: … Jersey nonsense. They are different. They are different.
Alex: They’re different cultures. I’m going to keep using that word. It’s new to me. I just looked it up today.
Justin: When it comes to exploring new cultures, definitely Jersey City is the one that this show wants to emphasize here.
Alex: Well, that… Yes. To that point, I also thought they did a great job here of continuing to show off a Middle… Sorry, Muslim American culture, which I thought was awesome. I loved not having… So, okay. This is kind of a two-part thing. Last episode, we talked a little bit. I was surprised that we got into school and everybody was pretty even. The bully wasn’t really a bully. Kamala wasn’t… She’s kind of a nerd, but she’s not an ostracized nerd. It’s not that high school tropes you expect, but you did get it when they go to the Eid party and they show off all the different groups like they’re showing off the different groups in the lunchroom.
Justin: I loved that. I thought that was so… It was like The Warriors except for… Just a big party in Jersey City. I thought that was so fun. It reminded me of-
Pete: Illumin-aunties and the mosque bros.
Justin: Illumin-aunties. I was more excited about… I thought that was a better use of the term than the Illuminati in Dr. Strange.
Alex: They should’ve had Dr. Strange pop in and be like, “The Illumin-whaties?”
Justin: The aunties. Just a nice correction there. But I agree. Let me just… While we’re talking about it. The way that they’re showing Kamala and her family and just the larger Muslim culture there without being like… walking us into it as if we have to explain everything, I think, is so nice, so refreshing, so smart. It’s a much… Like we get it. We don’t need to… You don’t need to over-explain it because that’s insulting to everyone. It’s insulting to fans of the book. It’s insulting to people who are fans of everything top to bottom on this show. I’m so happy the way they did it.
Alex: Over-explaining is what podcasts are for.
Justin: That’s what we’re doing.
Pete: Oh, boy. Oh, come on, man. Don’t take away our fun.
Alex: Never. I would never do that. I really love that sequence. Now, we didn’t get too much of Nakia in the last episode and we do get to see her show off her stuff here as she goes around. She campaigns. Really liked her interacting with Kamala’s dad in particular. I thought that was a really good relationship. What’d you think about that, Pete?
Pete: That was just hilarious because it was such a… kind of showed her range as far as the fact that she’s super nice, but also can be very persuading. The fact that the dad went from being, “No way. He’s my friend,” to, “Oh my God. I have to do this now,” was such a… Yeah, I thought it was a great way to show us, not tell us, with these characters and how they handle each other. I mean, the dad in general has been such a fun delight and used very well, so I’ve been really impressed with the casting.
Alex: Can we talk about Damage Control a little bit and how they’re used here? Justin, you brought up the last episode that you felt like there needed to be an antagonist. They’re clearly being set up that way here. How do you feel about that?
Justin: Yes. I feel like they are sort of on the cast, but I can’t… They’re not a big bad, I feel like. I think they’re that secondary thing that you have to shake off in the midst of your hero’s journey when facing your major threat. But I think we could talk in a larger sense. What is this show aiming at? We get a lot more information about or clues about the bracelet and the way it works. It messes up her rescue of the kid falling off the tower.
Pete: I wanted to quickly go back and talk real quick about the Damage Control. Did you guys talk about Arian and the fact that he’s old school pit dude?
Alex: No, we did not bring that up. I forgot.
Pete: Oh, yeah. That was… It’s fun to see him in this. He’s done a lot of great stuff.
Alex: Just to clarify for people who don’t actually know us. When Pete says “the pit,” he’s talking about… We all met in a fighting pit. We were trapped there for years and had to fight our way out.
Pete: And fight our way out.
Alex: Yeah, exactly. And he was there as well. No, I’m kidding. It’s a theater called The People’s Improv Theater that we all did. Comic Book Club, our live talk show. We did that there. We all performed individually there doing other things as well. And yeah. Now, he’s the guy.
Pete: Arian, and old school improviser and also worked at the theater as well. I used to talk with him a lot about pursuing dreams and trying to get stage time and stuff, so it’s nice to see him really blowing up and funny to see him in this as far as-
Alex: When he was talking about his dreams, did he say secondary antagonist on a Disney Plus show?
Pete: Exactly.
Alex: That’s crazy.
Justin: He coined the term. He coined the term.
Alex: He did the Babe Ruth pointing thing?
Pete: Yeah. He goes, “Next time you see me, man, it’s going to be on your television and I’m going to play one of your… Eh, I wouldn’t say least favorite characters, but I’m going to be there in the midst.”
Justin: Wow. Least favorite characters. Already calling it. Hardcore.
Alex: You’re just saying it because you don’t like what he’s doing to our hero. Not the quality of the character.
Justin: You don’t like damage to be controlled. You like damage to be loose. Free. Chaos. Going back to talking about the bracelet, it feels like… We get some reveals here. It seems to be, like we talked about last episode, going deep into the ancestral history of Kamala’s family. It made me wonder. Are we getting toward an Eternals connection here?
Alex: Interesting. Maybe. It doesn’t feel like it connects with Eternals to me yet. I’ll throw two things out at you that was struck by this episode. First, like we were talking about previously, I still think this is going to very specifically set up The Marvels. We’re going to find out if the bangle has a Kree connection or one of the alien races in the Marvel universe. That’s how she’s actually going to come into contact with Captain Marvel, who’s going to be like, “I-
Pete: That explains the color.
Alex: … need your help.” Yeah, exactly. Something like that. So that’s a possibility. The other thing that occurred to me about this, though, is it felt like… With the glowing and the signal that seems to be calling to another place. That reminded me of that dangling plot point from the end credit scene in Shang-Chi, where his rings also had a signal that was activated. I don’t think there’s a connection there because we haven’t heard anything about Shang-Chi in The Marvels or anything like that, but there’s a possibility. Maybe there’s some bigger story they’re setting up with these different artifacts. The bangle, the rings, et cetera, et cetera.
Justin: Well, in the comics, Kamala is an inhuman technically, correct? So that is orbiting in these different ideas. I guess it depends on what we’re going forward with. I thought Eternals because that’s a movie that came out very recently. It feels like they’re going to want to incorporate that somehow into the larger MCU. Right now, the movie feels weirdly orphaned. It was like, hey, this movie happened. Don’t ever talk about it.
Pete: I mean, that’s the smart move. Let’s just not talk about.
Justin: It’s the smart move for us as viewers and fans, but I think the MCU planning office has to be like, everything we do is a meticulous chess move toward our final…. I don’t know if you’ve used this term… end game. It does feel like… Dr. Strange-
Alex: Kevin Feige is sitting in his office, planning his exit strategy. Being like, all right, how many movies until I’m out of here? My god.
Justin: One day, they’re going to open the door to his office and it’s just going to be window open, empty seat, bunch of sheets going out the window.
Alex: Just a baseball cap that has an X-Men logo on it sitting there on his desk and that’s it.
Justin: It’s going to… No, it’s going to be like Ferris Bueller. Just a bunch of mannequins moving in his place. Maybe that’s why Eternals [inaudible 00:17:12]
Alex: Certainly explains the quality of phase four, I would say.
Justin: Wow.
Pete: Oh, come on, man.
Justin: What a burn. Not necessarily, Alex.
Pete: What I want to talk about when it comes to the bracelet is the mom connection to it. [inaudible 00:17:25] talked about this story, this curse, and all these things that happened, but mom seems to know something about the bracelet in a way that doesn’t make sense to me because she’s not… She’s like, “You got to be this good person. You can’t do anything fun. Don’t be this person who’s cosmic and in the clouds,” which was a fun choice for her to make and a fun start to it all. But I think that it’s like… What I don’t understand is why… If she knows there are powers or something connected to it, why is trying to keep it from her and stuff like that?
Alex: Well, I think there’s a couple of reasons. Again, we talked about this a little bit. I know you listened to the last episode, but-
Justin: We already talked about how hard Pete listened to the last episode.
Alex: But there’s a possibility that she rejected this power. Like she knew about it and rejected it because it was too much for whatever reason. It’s also possible she might just know this story that we heard. That there was black sheep. This is a thing that’s passed down. We find out this episode that… By the way, it’s not a bracelet. It’s a bangle. That’s what it’s called.
Justin: I hear you using that term a lot. I got you.
Alex: It’s a bangle. Like The Bangles’ ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’. You know what I’m talking about.
Justin: It’s because a bangle is larger than a bracelet, you’re saying.
Alex: Oh, my age is showing. You said you were scared about talking about emojis, Pete.
Justin: Scared. That’s right. He gave us a scary emoji face.
Alex: In any case… That doesn’t work on an audio podcast.
Justin: Giant crying. Giant tear.
Alex: It doesn’t work on a visual podcast either. What I was going to say about that… I think the interesting wrinkle here is we find out it isn’t her nani who the bangle came from. It’s actually another relative. Was it her great-aunt? Is that who it is?
Justin: Aisha is her name.
Alex: So, here’s my question. Is that the same person she’s seeing in the vision who also shows up at the end?
Pete: No, that’s the mom of the hot guy. Hot guy’s mom.
Alex: But is that the same person?
Pete: No.
Justin: It doesn’t make sense age-wise, I think, so I didn’t think that. But I did think that was… That is the same woman from the vision though.
Alex: And so I think maybe there’s a possibility there. I don’t know. I mean, I think-
Justin: You’re saying if she was some sort of eternal.
Alex: Yes. Something like that. Or perhaps a vampire and that’s how they’re going to bring in Blade.
Justin: Oh, that’d be a surprise.
Pete: Don’t tease me like that.
Justin: Should I just say Mephisto right now? I think it’s time for us to say Mephisto.
Alex: I think she’s Mephisto. Yes.
Pete: If there was a magical bangle that was in the family, I just feel like people are being a little too casual about it. You know what I mean?
Alex: I guess.
Justin: That’s why I feel like they don’t know. It feels like something that… And we also learned that the power comes-
Pete: But the mom does know.
Justin: … from Kamala. She knows that it’s… She knows not to… That she doesn’t want a part of it, but I don’t know if she knows what it is and what it does and how it channels, I guess, the power that it exists within Kamala. It feels like… Especially the way that her phone call with her nani goes. It’s sort of like… The nani is not like, “Oh, this is serious.” She’s like, “Um, yeah, remember where I got that.” It’s like when you ask an older relative where they got a chair in their house and they’re like, I don’t know, an Amish yard sale that I traveled past or something. I feel like they don’t have knowledge of it.
Pete: It seems like she was trying to cover for the mom a little bit. She was like, “Oh, your mom would get upset if I told you this story, so I’m not going to.”
Alex: Yeah. I think there’s more there. The things that the show is doing right now to talk about the antagonist or overarching plot things… One is the mystery of this bangle and where it comes from and how it ties to Kamala’s history. Does it tie into her mom? I think that’s an open question. We’re definitely going to find out in some fashion. And then the other one, at least right now, seems to be Damage Control going after her. But like you said, Justin, that doesn’t seem like a long-term we’re building to a big battle with Damage Control in the sixth episode type thing.
Justin: Let me just throw out there that it feels like Kamran and his mom are perhaps going to enter the antagonist fray.
Pete: Well, in the comics, the hot boyfriend is evil. So I’m worried about that coming true in the TV show because it seems like-
Alex: And in real life. Just mentioning to all you ladies out there. If you have a hot boyfriend, he’s evil. Come on over here.
Justin: Can’t trust the-
Pete: What?
Justin: Can’t trust the hot.
Pete: You’re married.
Alex: I’m doing a bit. Calm down. It’s like what we used to do in the pit when we were fighting for our lives.
Justin: Our bit battles. The bit pit.
Alex: By the way, for those of you don’t understand the comedy term. When we say a bit, we’re talking about… They would release dogs in there and they would bite us and then the guards would laugh.
Justin: That’s called doing a bit. You’re going to get bit by a dog.
Pete: I’m glad you explained it because I thought you were talking about 8-bit so I was always a little confused.
Justin: Well, and speaking of that. Quick shout out to… It feels like the way they’re using a lot of graphics and stuff here is sort of the promise of Scott Pilgrim paid off in a more restrained, understanding way. It feels like a more earned comic book use of comic book style graphics, 8-bit, some social media, TikTok, Instagram, stuff here. I feel like they’re doing a good job of just dolling it out in a way that emphasizes the action without overtaking it.
Pete: That does bring up a good point. What do you think? Do you think you can Insta in a church setting or do you feel like that’s going too far?
Alex: Oh, look who’s comfortable talking about Insta and just dropping that now. You’ve grown up a lot over the course of this podcast, Pete.
Pete: Oh, thanks.
Justin: Pete’s a micro influencer. Oh, no, sorry. He’s a micro machines user. That’s what I meant.
Alex: Well, like Justin was saying earlier, I think presenting what’s going on at a mosque and just presenting it as another thing… Again, I know we’re over-explaining it here on our podcast, but on any other show, if a bunch of characters went into church or had a scene in a church exactly like that, you would not blink an eye. But because it’s in a mosque, I think people are like, whoa, what’s happening, what’s going on here, but again, they are just presenting this. This is part of what happens.
Pete: You’re dodging my question.
Alex: What is your question? Can you Insta?
Pete: Yeah. In a church setting. Do you think it’s okay?
Alex: Here’s my question. Is it going on stories or your feed? Is it going on the grid or is it going in stories? What’s going on?
Justin: Yeah. Because deities are on grid, but stories? Anything goes.
Pete: All right.
Alex: I think you can post to your Finsta. Would you agree, Pete?
Justin: Get out of here. Well, that’s what… Speaking personally, I think you can Insta anywhere. I think you can Insta anywhere. Live your life online.
Pete: That’s the real church.
Alex: Let me ask you this. This is just a hypothetical question. If you could go back in time, would you Insta baby Hitler?
Justin: Interesting. Wait. You mean like grab a pic and then come back and-
Alex: Get a little peace sign or something like that. Maybe that would influence him in some way.
Justin: Influence him. Retroactively.
Alex: That’s what influencer means, right?
Justin: Yeah. I mean, that’s the thing. A lot of people talk about how, if he was a more successful painter, he wouldn’t have become a butcher of… a genocidal human problem for all of us.
Pete: You really think it was painting or everybody else dies? That was it for him?
Alex: Well, if he had an Instagram, I don’t know what would’ve happened.
Justin: That’s what I’m saying. If he had been able to turn from painting to Instagram, maybe he would’ve just been a regular dork.
Pete: Yeah, but if he was on Twitter, he would’ve been worse.
Alex: Absolutely. Tik Tok? It’s a toss up. Anyway, I think people turn to this podcast here about Ms. Marvel. I’m not 100% sure, but-
Justin: It’s all useful information.
Alex: Just to get back to it, another character that I thought was very fun… not used a ton in this episode, but I liked the scenes that she was in… was Zoe. I liked the thing where she is using it as an influencer. She’s turning it to her favor. Names the character Nightlight, which is very cute and fun. A little bit of a shout out to Night Money maybe over in Spider-Man: Far From Home. And then the thing where she’s questioned by Damage Control, I thought was a very fun scene as well.
Justin: Yeah. I like her. To your point from last episode, it was like, oh, she’s the bad guy. She’s a bully. And it’s like, oh no, she’s not. Now, she’s just sort of a regular annoying person. She’s not even a bad person. She’s just regular annoying.
Pete: As far as shout-outs to great moments, I really loved the principal in this episode. Was really funny. Doing the whole Meryl Streep bit. I mean, that was just… That was fun times.
Justin: You’re talking about the guy talking to Bruno? Mr. Wilson.
Pete: Mr. Wilson, yeah.
Alex: He’s the guidance counselor.
Justin: Guidance counselor.
Pete: Oh, sorry.
Alex: No, that’s fine. Guidance counselors can be principals too. I don’t know how schools work. One other scene that I wanted to call out that I liked in isolation, but bothered me in a weird way based on a conversation we had on the first podcast was the scene where Kamala goes… Her nose starts glowing and she goes to the bathroom. Nakia hands her a tampon. Her hands start glowing. And then they kind of like move on. They talk a little bit about changes and move on from there. In the last podcast, we talked a little bit about how the original intention of the powers was to be a puberty metaphor. I think, again, in isolation, this scene really worked, but it bothered me a little bit that it was just that scene and doesn’t seem applicable to anything else that’s going on right now.
Justin: Well, I think it’s… It shows the lack of control that she has. And I also… I agree with you. I think it was specifically put there to push the metaphor and it wasn’t connected with everything else. But I think it still works because that metaphor works. Even though the powers aren’t connected to her body directly, I think the way that the powers are being shown and used is meant to be that way. It’s just different than what our expectation was. But I did want to talk about the powers a little bit. I feel like… I actually really like them. I know some people are wish the powers were more linked to the comic book use of her powers, but I like that it’s very video game-y in a smart way. It also reminds me a lot of Jessica Jones from the comics when she was in her initial-
Pete: Drinking phase. Where she was just drinking a lot?
Justin: No. Back before she became Jessica Jones, she was…
Pete: Jewel.
Justin: Jewel. She had a power set. And it was sort of like Kamala’s power set here. She could step up through the air and do all these different things. So I thought that was sort of… It struck me when most of her powers used in this episode were very much like I can step up through the air.
Alex: I liked it as well. I had forgotten about that Jessica Jones bit, but I think you’re absolutely right on the money there. The very simple thing of seeing a platformer that Bruno is playing and applying that… Very smart. I also really like the powers now. I think the way they executed it with the rescue scene and the fact, as I mentioned earlier, that she screws it up was great. Loved the superhero pose in the middle there. Her landing that. That was super funny. Just good stuff.
Pete: Well-
Alex: Yeah, go ahead.
Pete: Something we got to talk about. A serious question. Ice cream pizza. Where do you guys stand on that?
Alex: So-
Justin: No.
Alex: Just a hard no?
Justin: No.
Pete: What do you mean no?
Justin: You can’t have everything fun all at once. This is something I talk about all the time with my children. You can’t have everything all the time. Enjoy-
Pete: It’s a special treat. It’s just every once in a while.
Alex: Have you had it, Pete?
Pete: No, but I definitely would try it. It would be interesting.
Alex: A scoop of ice cream? Are you one of those people… Don’t they serve this in upstate New York? Cold pizza or whatever it is. Cold cheese pizza, where it’s like a pile of cold shredded cheese on top of hot pizza.
Pete: I don’t know. That seems weird, but I’m just saying-
Alex: Oh, that’s weird, but… They’re both dairy, Pete. They’re both cold dairy. It’s the same thing.
Pete: I don’t know. I’m just saying I would-
Justin: They’re both dairy. They’re both dairy, Pete.
Pete: I don’t know how I would do it. I think maybe I would dip the ice cream… or dip the pizza in the ice cream a little bit and try it. I don’t know if a whole scoop on there… It seems a little crazy.
Justin: Let me just throw this out, Pete. If I walked into your apartment and you were casually dipping pizza in a bowl of melted ice cream, I’d be like, “Dude, what’s wrong? What’s going on here? You’re clearly at the end of some sort of rope if this is a normal feeding situation you’re going through here.”
Pete: If you have a tough week, maybe you dip some ice cream. You know what I mean?
Alex: Well, I’m already at rock bottom.
Justin: Exactly. That’s exactly what… That should be called the rock bottom. That is my take. That should be a dish that you could order at a restaurant and be like, “I’ll have one rock bottom.”
Alex: Yeah, it sounds pretty gross to me and I’ll try a lot of stuff. But I will say. Van Leeuwen, the ice cream company, made a pizza flavored ice cream, which I haven’t tried because it’s only available at Walmart and the only Walmart that is near to us is in Jersey City. There you go. Tie-in right there, I guess.
Justin: The official Ms. Marvel tour.
Alex: I love that discussion though. I thought that was so fun. Her trying to talk him down, immediately going into hero mode, and him coming up with something absolutely horrible and throwing her a little bit. That whole scene was a blast. I had a really good time watching that.
Justin: Agreed. Very fun.
Alex: Other moments from the episode. Oh, one big thing we should probably actually talk about is the love triangle that’s burgeoning here.
Pete: Wait, wait, wait.
Justin: We got to talk about Bruno.
Pete: Yeah. But also I just wanted to talk about… Do you think maybe that kid deserved to die? Because he was taking a selfie out a window? You know what I mean? What are you doing, kid?
Alex: Here’s the thing. The thing that they didn’t explain properly… and this is if you watched the deleted scenes, you can see. Baby Hitler is in an apartment across the street and he’s trying to take the selfie with Baby Hitler.
Justin: That’s a thing. Everyone talks about traveling back in time to kill Baby Hitler, but what if Baby Hitler’s the time traveler? No one talks about that. That’s the real thing we got to figure out. Because he’s traveling through time, then we’re going to have to chase. There’s a million dollar movie idea. Take it and run with it.
Pete: What’s crazy is… When you see Baby Hitler for the first time, it’s weird because the mustache isn’t so small. He grows into it, which people don’t realize.
Justin: It’s like a full ‘stache is what you’re saying. It’s a full ‘stache.
Pete: He was born with the full ‘stache and then, when he grows…
Justin: It shrinks. It just looks smaller.
Pete: Right, exactly.
Justin: That’s a take. A lot of surprising takes about this.
Alex: Wait, are you sure? Because I always heard that he had a baby mustache that fell off at around two or three and then he got his adult mustache.
Justin: Yeah, the adult mustache grows in.
Alex: I don’t know. I guess.
Justin: Wow. That should be our full-on transition constantly. I don’t know about that, but… Let me say. I had very Game of Thrones vibes, season one Game of Thrones, when that kid was in that tower. Anybody else?
Pete: Oh, when they threw that kid out a window?
Justin: Yeah. It makes me think. Maybe he’s the three-eyed crow.
Alex: He’s going to be king by the end of… They go through six episodes and, at the end, they’re like, well, you’re king, kid. Unrelated. Can we talk about this love triangle real quick here?
Pete: I’m really worried about it because I don’t want her to… It was fun to see her kind of in love and that whole song and musical number that broke out was super adorable, but this guy is bad news and Bruno is the real love of her life. I’m worried that she’s going to brush past it.
Alex: I do really like how… and this is classic rom com fashion… but how they’re playing it with having this new guy come in. We have a little touch of, oh, maybe Bruno and Kamala have feelings for each other in the first episode.
Pete: There was an almost kiss.
Alex: There was an almost kiss. But otherwise, you don’t nearly get a sense that Bruno feels proprietary about her or anything until this dude comes in. I think that immediately amps up as feelings too. Like, no, wait, I love her. I can’t leave town because of her. That really amps up the stakes nicely.
Justin: Let me throw this. Is he perhaps an antagonist?
Alex: Bruno?
Pete: Bruno? Get out of here with that talk.
Justin: I’m spit-balling. He’s feeling jilted. He’s got some tach-savvy.
Pete: How dare you. He’s been the best friend since day one, bro.
Alex: He could be. I mean, we could see a scenario where he goes a little nuts about something and does the wrong thing and maybe this new dude, the new hot dude, seems like he’s bad but he’s actually not.
Justin: Bad boys sometimes make me feel so good. You know?
Alex: That’s true.
Pete: Nope.
Alex: So I guess we’ll have to see what happens. Obviously, there’s a big twist here at the end of the episode.
Pete: Team Bruno.
Alex: Yeah. Team Bruno, I think. But we’ll see what happens with that. That’s very nice. Any other moments from the episode you guys want to call out? Anything else?
Justin: I wanted to shout out… I really love the family dinner scene with Kamala and her family. They’re such a sweet family. They really love each other and they show it on screen, which I think is cool. I love the Hot Topic phase they talk about with her bro. That was super funny. That scene was great.
Alex: I continue to love the brother too. His scene when he comes in on the date with his fiance and his fiance knows exactly what’s going on and he’s completely oblivious about it. Very nice. Very fun as well.
Pete: Great.
Alex: All right. Before we wrap up here, let’s go to the vision board and talk about what we want coming up in episode three of Ms. Marvel. Pete, what’s on your vision board?
Pete: Well, first off, we got to get to the whole unfolding of this curse and the story behind this not bracelet. Also, I don’t know what Bruno’s going to do. It’s a heck of an opportunity to go to California like that, but I don’t want him to leave the love of his life. But I want him to have a bright future, so I don’t know what’s going to happen.
Justin: You’re really buying into the Bruno subplot here.
Pete: Hard.
Justin: Wow. We got ourselves a Bruno on our own.
Alex: Justin, what about you? What’s on your vision board?
Justin: Looking forward to some follow-up on the New Jersey prince and whether if Livin’ on a Prayer really will stand as their-
Pete: Do you think Bon Jovi’s going to have a cameo and play during the wedding and stuff?
Justin: I mean-
Pete: How could you not?
Justin: Bon Jovi wanders around New Jersey playing at random people’s weddings.
Alex: I saw him at the Walmart when I was picking up the pizza ice cream.
Justin: Yeah. That Walmart that you go to.
Alex: Yep. That one in Jersey City. I want a villain. That’s the main thing here. Or just clarity in terms of the villain. If the only thing we’re going to do in this show is Damage Control going after her and mystery of the bangle, that’s totally fine. But it does feel like we have been trained with Marvel shows to expect a villain to come in, so I don’t want to go until episode five or six, like we’ve been doing with some of these other Marvel series, before the big bad is revealed. If there is one, bring it on. Let’s get to it. Let’s kick this thing into high gear. Because she’s gone through the training sequences. She’s got her powers. We need to get to the next step.
Justin: Wow. She’s not good at her powers yet and so I feel like… This series or this season feels like it’s going to be aiming at her becoming a hero by the end of it. I’m fine with that, but I agree with you. She still needs to overcome some sort of villain or antagonist in some capacity here.
Alex: Yeah. If you’d like to support our podcast, patreon.com/comicbookclub. Also, we do a live show every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM to Crowdcast and YouTube. Come hang out. We would love to chat with you about Ms. Marvel. Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, or the app of your choice to subscribe, listen, and follow the show. @marvelvisionpod on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Comicbookclublive.com for this podcast and more. Until next time, stay marvelous.
Justin: I’m entering my Hot Topic phase right now.
