- “It's time to stop fantasizing. I wish that you would just focus on you. Your grades. Your family. Your story. I mean, who do you want to be in this world, huh? Do you want to be good, like we raised you to be, or do you want to be some, you know, this cosmic head-in-the-clouds person?”
- ―Muneeba Khan to Kamala Khan
"Generation Why" is the series premiere of the Disney+ streaming television miniseries Ms. Marvel and was released on June 8, 2022. It was written by showrunner, Bisha K. Ali and directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.
Kamala Khan attends AvengerCon only to discover that she herself might have superpowers.
Synopsis[]
Kamala Khan, a teenager growing up in Jersey City and mega fan of the Avengers, feels a little out of place at school and sometimes even at home. She is determined to attend Avengercon, even if her parents won’t allow it. But what starts off as a Captain Marvel cosplay competition takes an unexpected turn – is she becoming one of the super heroes she’s always looked up to?
Plot[]
Kamala Khan is a highly imaginative teenager, who has an obsession with the Avengers, particularly Captain Marvel, whom she highly admires. Her mother, Muneeba, while loving is very strict while her father, Yusuf, is much more lenient and jovial, though lacks initiative, and her brother, Aamir, is devoted to their culture, but sticks up for Kamala every now and then. At school, Kamala is friends with Bruno Carrelli, a technical genius, and Nakia Bahadir, an activist, and has an awkward "friendship" with Zoe Zimmer.
One day, a package arrives from Kamala's grandmother, which contains a red shawl and a strange bangle. Muneeba, apparently offended at the sight of it, asks Aamir to put it away in the attic. Kamala has plans to visit AvengerCon, the first of its kind, but is nervous about asking her parents to attend, especially since she failed her driving test and is concerned with her mother's conservative beliefs especially when a girl in their neighborhood broke off her engagement at the last second to travel the world. Bruno continues to help Kamala make her Captain Marvel costume for the convention before encouraging her to finally speak up.
True to Kamala's fears, her parents give her a hard no, but Aamir decides to speak to them. The next day, Muneeba agrees to let Kamala go to the convention on the condition that Yusuf go with her and that they both dress up as the Hulk, patterned after their traditional wear. Kamala angrily tells them that they humiliate her and they dejectedly tell her that she will not be going. Later that night when Yusuf is arguing with Zuzu, an Alexa-type device that Bruno invented for the Khans, Kamala gets the idea to sneak out of the house to AvengerCon. Bruno points out that her costume still is not done and Kamala goes into the attic to get the shawl and the mysterious bangle.
Despite some minor hiccups, the plan goes off well and Kamala and Bruno arrive at AvengerCon and have fun. Kamala is intimidated by the appearance of Zoe in her own Captain Marvel costume, despite her saying that she does not like the Avengers, and she rushes to get changed for the big Captain Marvel costume contest. Kamala hurriedly puts her costume on that she forgets to wear the light up gloves that Bruno made for her. As she reaches the stage, she decides to put on the bangle and suddenly has a brief out of body experience, though no one notices except her.
While up on stage, Kamala is affected by the flashing lights and expels a hard light that impresses the crowd. However, she accidentally knocks an Ant-Man head off that snowballs into a giant Mjolnir sending Zoe flying. Kamala projects a giant hand that safely catches her and she and Bruno flee the destruction. Back at home, Bruno helps Kamala back into her house (discovering she can also create hard light platforms) and swears to secrecy. Kamala is caught by Muneeba who angrily tells her that she needs to focus on herself and not get caught up in distractions. As Kamala rests on her bed she examines her newfound abilities.
In a mid-credits scene, Agent Cleary and Deever watch footage of Kamala's incident at AvengersCon and decide to look into it.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan
- Matt Lintz as Bruno
- Yasmeen Fletcher as Nakia
- Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba
- Mohan Kapur as Yusuf
- Saagar Shaikh as Aamir/Iron Man Cosplayer[1]
- Laurel Marsden as Zoe
- Azhar Usman as Najaf
Guest stars[]
- Arian Moayed as Agent Cleary
- Alysia Reiner as Agent Deever
- Jordan Firstman as Mr. Wilson
- Anjali Bhimani as Auntie Ruby
- Sophia Mahmud as Auntie Zara
- Randy Havens as Driving Instructor
- Ned Yousef as Other Captain Marvel
- Jack Ha as Audience Member #1
- Mason Mecartea as Audience Member #2
- Rebecca Ray as Audience Member #3
- Olaniyan Thurmon as Audience Member #4
- Ryan Penagos as AvengerCon Announcer
- Connor Jones as Shawn
- Paul Kim as Paul
- Joshua Starr as Korg Kid
- Rakesh Gosain as Tailor
- Philip Covin as Gym Teacher
- Cheslee Duke as Student #1
- Jada Keche Howard as Student #2
Uncredited[]
- Matthew Vasquez as Miguel
- Rish Shah as Captain America Cosplayer[1]
Music[]
| Title | Artist |
|---|---|
| "Blinding Lights" | The Weeknd |
| "Disco Gully" | Kully Bhamra, Angus Campbell, and Ishq Bector |
| "Deal With It" | Riz Ahmed |
| "I Don't Want to Talk" | Wallows |
| "Oh Nanba" | S.P. Balasubramaniam and Aaryan Dinesh Kanagaratnam |
| "Reflection" | Mr. Wilson (Jordan Firstman) |
| "OH!" | The Linda Lindas |
| "Ko Ko Koreena" | Ahmed Rushdie |
| "Star Spangled Man" | The Star Spangled Singers |
| "Sohniye I Love You" | Nahid Akhtar |
| "Carmen Suite 1: Habanera" | Georges Bizet |
| "Sinkies" | Hot Sugar |
| "My Type" | Saint Motel |
| "Proudly Presents" | Samuel Pegg |
| "Rozi" | Eva B. |
Release[]
"Generation Why" was released on the streaming service Disney+ on June 8, 2022. Critics had been given a two week, early access for the first two episodes.
The first two episodes were released theatrically, and exclusively in Pakistan, between June 17 to June 23, 2022, due to Disney+ not being available in the region.
On July 14, 2023, ABC reported that the the series, would broadcast on their channel, ahead of Ms. Marvel's theatrical debut in The Marvels on November 10, with the first three episodes airing on ABC on Saturday, August 5, 2023.[2]
Reception[]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 97% approval rating with an average score of 8.00/10 based on 89 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Taking a page from its plucky protagonist's own splashy imagination, Ms. Marvel instantly establishes an identity of its own with this energetic opener."[3]
Awards and nominations[]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Picture Editing For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie | Nona Khodai and Sabrina Plisco | Nominated | [4] |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The title is an obvious reference to the concepts of Generation Y, with the pun most likely referencing Kamala's complicated life.
- Ryan Penagos cameos as the AvengerCon Announcer. Penagos is the VP and Creative Executive at Marvel New Media and runs the official Marvel Entertainment YouTube channel.
- The opening credits are similar to the comic book design of Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse.
- Costars: Saagar Shaikh (Aamir Khan) and Rish Shah (Kamran), were supposedly were hidden among the crowd of extras during the AvengerCon sequence.[1]
- This was later confirmed in The Making of Ms. Marvel.
- AvengerCon is a spoof of ComicCon.
- The episode explains that people are aware of the final fight in Avengers: Endgame, among the reasons being that Scott Lang spoke about it on a podcast. Originally, Bisha K. Ali pitched that it was due to Twitch streamers sending drones out during the fight, but Kevin Feige nixed the idea.[5]
- Kamala says her episodes release every Wednesday, referencing the Ms. Marvel episodes releasing every Wednesday.
- "Star Spangled Man" from the first Captain America film and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is heard when Kamala and Bruno enter AvengerCon at Camp Leigh High.
- At AvengerCon there is a poster with a cartoon Captain America sticking his butt out with the words "You're welcome, America", referencing Avengers: Endgame, where Scott Lang said "That's America's ass" about Captain America.
- One of the T-Shirts at AvengerCon says "Asgard Pride", referencing June which is known as Pride month and when this episode was released.
- This is the first time Black Widow is honoured for her sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame, followed by the Hawkeye series.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Graham-Lowery, Nathan (June 4, 2022). "Ms. Marvel Stars Cameo in AvengersCon Scene as Iron Man & Captain America" (English). Screen Rant.
- ↑ ""Ms. Marvel" to Make Broadcast Television Debut as Part of "The Wonderful World of Disney" on ABC". The Futon Critic (July 14, 2023).
- ↑ "Ms. Marvel: Season 1, Episode 1". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ↑ "75th Emmy Awards Complete Nominations List". Television Academy (July 12, 2023).
- ↑ Hargrave, Sam (June 12, 2022). "Kevin Feige Rejected a Wild Avengers: Endgame Retcon From MCU Writer" (English). The Direct.
External links[]
Generation Why on Marvel.com- Generation Why on IMDb
- Generation Why on Wikipedia
Generation Why on Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki
