‘Ms. Marvel’ is a huge hit with Desi audiences — in part because it gets all the details right. ‘This show has been surreal for Desi people!’
CHICAGO — Samira Ahmed was geeking out, speaking fast, excitedly, uncertain where to start, debating both internally and aloud what part of which episode of the Disney+ series “Ms. Marvel” to watch first. “I think we’re going to be here for six hours!” she said, joking.
Or not. I had asked if I could come to her house on the South Side to watch it with her. Because, though “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Black Panther” became well-known blockbuster watermarks of representation in pop culture, there just hasn’t been a lot of mainstream conversation about the milestone that is “Ms. Marvel.”
Unless you are South Asian and Muslim.
“Oh my god,” Ahmed said, fiddling with the TV remote, scrolling through episodes, “I can’t decide where to begin. They are all great! I mean, this show has been surreal for Desi people — to literally see their lives! On Disney! By Marvel! I doubt anyone could’ve imagined, for a second, to be depicted so well in the most mainstream of mainstream.”
Ms. Marvel — for those still attempting to avoid the Marvel machine — is a hugely beloved, relatively new character, introduced to
