Why Ms. Marvel's Season 1 Finale Gave Marvel Fans Spider-Man Flashbacks
Contains spoilers for "Ms. Marvel" Season 1, Episode 6
Episode 6, which is the final episode of "Ms. Marvel" Season 1, premiered on streaming service Disney+ on July 13. As has become standard for any new entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the season finale features a few moments that lay the groundwork for future Marvel projects. For example, "Ms. Marvel" Episode 6 includes the word "mutation," underscored by a rendition of the theme song for the 1990s "X-Men" cartoon. Previously, that same musical cue played during the "X-Men" tease in the latest "Doctor Strange" film, during which Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) meets a multiverse version of Professor X (Patrick Stewart).
Beyond foreshadowing the official introduction of the "X-Men" into the MCU, "Ms. Marvel" also subtly links itself to the "Spider-Man" franchise. In fact, Episode 1 of "Ms. Marvel" includes a few Easter eggs gesturing toward "Spider-Man," including an appearance by Department of Damage Control Agent Cleary (Arian Moayed), who last showed up in "Spider-Man: No Way Home."
In addition to this and other explicit references throughout the series, the "Ms. Marvel" Season 1 finale prompted viewers to compare the show to "Spider-Man" for an entirely new reason.
Kamala Khan's New Jersey vs. Peter Parker's New York
In a discussion thread about the "Ms. Marvel" Season 1 finale on Reddit, user TheSweatband wrote, "the way the neighborhood has her back reminds me of the Miles Morales Spider-man game," referring to how everyday members of Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) and Kamran (Rish Shah)'s community help fend off Department of Damage Control agents leading up to the episode's climax.
User timeexterminator likewise compared that element of the season finale to a scene from Sam Raimi's original "Spider-Man" film, in which a New Yorker (Joe Virzi) taunts Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) by yelling, "you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us." Meanwhile, user ers247 recounted feeling that, given Jersey City's proximity to Queens, New York, such similarities to "Spider-Man" might lead to a cameo from Tom Holland's Peter Parker.
As it turns out, producer Adil El Arbi told Polygon that "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" was a big influence on the visual style of "Ms. Marvel," perhaps further inspiring such comparisons between the two works.
Currently, as of the conclusion of "Ms. Marvel" Season 1, Kamala Khan and Peter Parker have yet to run into one another, rendering any parallels between the two characters' stories largely incidental for the time being. Of course, Ms. Marvel's MCU tenure has only just begun, leaving plenty of room for the East Coast's friendliest neighborhood superheroes to team up at some point down the line.