Ms. Marvel producer Sana Amanat speculates as to how the people of Earth know about the Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel Studios’ latest Disney+ series Ms. Marvel premiered on June 8. Ahead of The Marvels, the series introduces audiences to Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old Pakistani American who goes from being a superhero/Captain Marvel obsessive to getting superpowers of her own.
In Ms. Marvel’s pilot episode, “Generation Why,” Kamala disobeys her parents and attends the first-ever AvengerCon fan convention at former SHIELD facility Camp Lehigh alongside her best friend Bruno (Matt Lintz). Dressed in a makeshift Captain Marvel costume, Kamala arrives alongside droves of other cosplayers at an event dedicated to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s mightiest heroes. The AvengerCon scene is littered with an incredible amount of Easter eggs, including cardboard standees and tributes to fallen Avengers, Black Widow and Iron Man. That said, it also features various callbacks to characters in Avengers: Endgame like the Guardians of the Galaxy—which has led fans to wonder how the people on Earth know about and/or are familiar with Star-Lord and his extraterrestrial family.
In a recent interview with The Direct, Marvel producer Sana Amanat explained how the “Terrans” how about the Guardians of the Galaxy. Being that Ms. Marvel takes place at least two years after Endgame, found footage from the final battle against Thanos has likely informed much of what Earthlings know of the Avengers’ less-public figures. Read the full quote below:
"Right now there's just an assumption. A big event like this? There's gonna be some sort of recording elements of it. People have probably seen it, found a way to capture some of that footage.
“So I think the fun thing we played around with is what is their interpretation of the Guardians if they see them in the Battle of Earth and they have no idea who the Guardians look like? There's a lot of fun playing around with the fact that they don't even know their names and are making up names for them. I think they called Groot Mr. Tree. Rocket also had a terrible name, Raccoon-something. Star-Lord was Star-Boy. It was kind of funny spins of what people think the Guardians are called, and probably things that would make them very upset."
Ms. Marvel’s head writer has revealed that episode 1 also cut Korg and Valkyrie Easter eggs that would have appeared during AvengerCon. Bisha K. Ali went on to say that her first draft of AvengerCon featured nods to every character in the MCU. This only reinforces Amanat’s idea that fans of the Avengers in the MCU dissect footage the same way real-world ones do with leaked images, clips, and trailers. Of course, found footage isn’t the only way fans have learned more about the Guardians of the Galaxy. Early on in Ms. Marvel’s first episode, Kamala confirms that Ant-Man himself, Scott Lang, has been sharing stories with the public while making guest appearances on in-universe podcasts—which could explain how people know about adult "Mr. Tree" when he died long before the Guardians came to Earth.
In its own Scott Pilgrim vs. the World-inspired way, Ms. Marvel’s main character (down to her YouTube channel) is more a surrogate for its younger audience than perhaps any other MCU character. While the series is a coming-of-age story akin to Jon Watts’ Spider-Man trilogy, Kamala Khan doesn't have a billionaire benefactor or previous connections to the Avengers. It’ll be interesting to see how the series continues to frame the Guardians of the Galaxy and other characters from Kamala’s point of view. Furthermore, the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is rumored to take place (briefly) on Earth. So, maybe audiences will get to see Peter Quill object to the name Star-Boy in that or James Gunn's third movie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Ms. Marvel releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.
Source: The Direct
