Ms. Marvel Star Shares Reaction To Show's Most Praised Scene

Aisha actress Mehwish Hayat discusses her emotional response to Ms. Marvel’s Partition scene. The Disney+ show has been praised for its colorful look, joyful tone, and Pakistani representation. The series had its share of roadblocks to deal with upon release, including complaints and review bombing due to its Muslim protagonist, "childish" feel, and changes to Kamala Khan’s powers and comic origins. But despite the backlash and low viewing numbers, Ms. Marvel has earned a spot as the highest-rated MCU show on Rotten Tomatoes.

Due to the show’s focus on Kamala’s day-to-day life, family and identity take a central role in the plot. For example, in the pilot episode, Kamala is stressed about a costume competition at AvengerCon because cosplayers are expected to bring something of themselves into their looks. She finally settles on a bangle sent to New Jersey by her grandmother. The bangle is also what unlocks Ms. Marvel's powers, marking a change from the comics. Also significant in her MCU origins is the lost history of her great grandmother Aisha, portrayed by Pakistani actress Hayat. In the show’s penultimate episode, Aisha’s story is finally revealed to Kamala as she witnesses firsthand the effects of the Partition of India on her ancestors.

In a recent interview with Inverse, Hayat spoke about the pivotal scene. She shared her personal history and discussed why it meant so much to her to see the event portrayed in Ms. Marvel. Read what she had to say below:

We’ve all grown up hearing stories about the Partition from our grandparents who lived through it. My own ancestors migrated from India to Pakistan. I realized that is a very turbulent period of our history, the effects of which are still being felt today almost 75 years later. The enormity of what happened never really hit me till I stood on that railway station set for the first time.

I was in floods of tears. When the camera cut, I would be able to retreat to my comfortable hotel room— millions who went through Partition were not afforded that luxury, and this was their life. It was very surprising to me that Marvel decided to show this part of our history, but I am so thrilled they did. It has given young people and Western audiences a real understanding of what happened all those years ago and what people went through.

In Ms. Marvel, Kamala has a similarly emotional reaction to bearing witness to her family’s history and learning where she truly comes from, as well as her role in the legacy of her ancestors. After discovering the cause of her great-grandmother Aisha’s disappearance, Kamala is able to return to her family and ultimately initiate a healing moment between herself and her mother and grandmother. Though Ms. Marvel is fundamentally about a budding superhero discovering her identity and responsibilities as a powered individual, this storyline proves that the show is working to be more than the sum of its parts. Looking towards the future, it will be interesting to see whether The Marvels continues the show’s balance of teenage antics and generational weight in Kamala's portion of the movie.

Ms. Marvel’s cultural history forward, legacy-driven method of storytelling is part of a rising drive from Marvel to tell fresh, creative, and impactful tales. Coming on the heels of Black Panther’s success, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings continued the push to create films that infuse origin stories with characters’ larger backgrounds and communities. The exploration of confronting and healing generational trauma is also present in Phase 4 titles Black Widow and Moon Knight and is expected to feature in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Marvel’s push to feature diverse voices both on-screen and behind the camera follows an in-universe trend of acknowledging the larger histories and contexts of MCU stories. And with Ms. Marvel’s future in the MCU set up in the season 1 finale, it’s only a matter of time before viewers learn where Kamala’s newfound understanding of herself will take her next.