The much-awaited desi extension of Marvel Comics, ‘Ms. Marvel’ got released on the web on June 8 and invited mixed responses from people who were desperately waiting for the series to release and watch for themselves how a Pakistani-Muslim family has been represented in it.
To the disappointment of many, the family system showed in the series looked more Indian and less Pakistani, and the audience was quick to point it out. A lot of commentators were found saying that there seems to be a serious lack of research on how Pakistani families work. One said that the father in the series is a bit too inspired from the kind of fatherly roles Bollywood’s Anupam Kher has been playing over the years, and that his “Chak De Phattay” is something no one says in a Pakistani family even if excited beyond bounds.
However, Malala Yousafzai has a different take on the series, which she expressed through a handwritten letter and shared on the internet. This is how her wording went:
“It is not every day that I turn on the TV and find a character who eats the same foods, listens to the same music or uses the same Urdu phrases as me.” Malala also thanked Marvel Studios and Disney + for portraying well the nuances of a desi immigrant family.
The series is slated for release in Pakistan on June 18, and it is yet to be seen how the real desis react to it and whether they find the Nimra Bucha, Samina Ahmed, Mehwish Hayat and Fawad Khan starrer relatable or not.
