Ms Marvel, Season 1 (Disney+)

Sarah: Ms. Marvel is the latest MCU series to hit Disney+, and follows the story of teenager and Captain Marvel super fan Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani). Kamala struggles at school due to her overactive imagination and is also stifled at home by her overprotective Pakistani parents. After finding a mysterious bangle in a package sent by her grandmother, Kamala develops super powers and after inadvertently showcasing this in public, becomes an overnight superhero. Soon though she finds herself hunted by both the Department of Damage Control and a mysterious group known as Clandestines, all the while learning more about her own family history and how it ties into the magical bangle.

Stylistically Ms. Marvel is brilliant. It has a great visual aesthetic and the cartoon/animation styling throughout is really well fitting with Kamala as a character and the tone of the show overall. The way this focuses on and incorporates the Pakistani culture and Muslim beliefs is also incredibly well done and feels very authentic. The family dynamic side feels heartwarming and is overall rather sweet, and is helped by the fact that Iman Vellani is very engaging and charismatic as Kamala.

However, despite the overall aesthetic and generally great performances, the show still feels very underwhelming. The superhero aspects feel rather weak and the whole thing felt more like a Disney Channel effort rather than something that’s meant to be part of the MCU. While I can understand why it would be less serious and adult than what has come before it, for me it goes too far the other way and is too childish and lacks any real threat. The final episode manages to pull it back somewhat but for me, it was a little too late and I’d already lost interest in the main story. It says a lot when the thing I enjoyed the most about the entire series was the post-credits scene after the finale.

Lee: I pretty much agree with Sarah on this. After episode one, I was really excited about the style of the show and the possibilities it opened up. I loved the characters and the family aspect introduced, it was just vibrant and funny with real heart. But after the first episode, it seemed to lose its way and each episode just seemed a little worse than the one before. The final episode redeemed itself for me though, more so than it did for Sarah, and I’m definitely interested in seeing more of the character.

The Most Hated Man on the Internet (Netflix)

Erika: Netflix’s three-episode limited docuseries features the story of a woman’s crusade to take down the self-proclaimed “King of Revenge Porn”, Hunter Moore. After Charlotte Laws’ daughter’s topless photo shows up on a website following a hacking incident. After Charlotte successfully gets her daughter’s picture removed, she keeps working to help other victims and take down the website and the guy behind it.

This docuseries was really interesting and horrifying. I knew the website existed but never paid attention to it because it sounded horrible. Moore was fascinating, like a car crash, and clearly a sociopath. The mental gymnastics required to justify that it was ok to post private pictures on the interwebs was pretty impressive. I was glad that the guy wasn’t actually featured. I laughed so hard during the last episode when the series described how Anonymous destroyed him online. There was a good mix of people featured, from victims, willing participants, ex-friends, journalists, and the FBI; it felt more well-rounded than most series. Recently, I’ve found many Netflix documentary series to be lacklustre and not worth the time. This one was definitely better than most. It was the right length, well-paced, focused,  and worth watching just to witness the comeuppance. 5 stars

Baymax! (Disney+)

Sarah: Baymax! is the limited series now available on Disney+, featuring 6 shorts based on the eponymous healthcare assistant from 2014’s Big Hero 6. The show follows Baymax (Scott Adsit) as he wanders around the city of San Fransokyo, helping citizens in need of medical care. He helps Aunt Cass (Maya Rudolph) after she twists her ankle, a young girl who’s having her first period and even a cat who’s swallowed a wireless headphone. At the end of every day, he returns home to Hiro (Ryan Potter), until one day he doesn’t and Hiro and Cass must enlist the help of the citizens to find Baymax before he gets into trouble.

In a similar vein to Dug Days released last year, Baymax! is a series of rather adorable and heartwarming short films. Anyone expecting heroic shenanigans might be disappointed, as this is Baymax doing what he does best and that’s caring for people and being a generally adorable nuisance. It’s funny, sweet and full of heart, and I found myself laughing at this far more than I had expected. It’s nothing particular progressive or groundbreaking, just an all round heartwarming show. I fell in love with Baymax after seeing Big Hero 6 and he’s just as lovable here. I’d quite happily watch many more episodes of this as an hour just isn’t enough.