Ms. Marvel, the next in the assembly line of Marvel TV shows to hit the Disney+ shelf, released its first episode, titled “Generation Why,” today, and it’s… okay. It isn’t awful, and it’s certainly better than some of the train wrecks that preceded it (so far), but it’s trying way too hard on several levels, and it doesn’t have a whole lot of characters you’ll want to see for six weeks straight. The filmmaking, however, is quite interesting and works better than the trailer would lead you to believe.
Kamal Khan (Iman Vellani), a Pakistani – and they don’t let you forget that for a second – teenager in Jersey City, is caught between her family’s Muslim culture, her classmates’ social ostracism, and her guidance counselor’s folksy career pushing. None of them can...