Stream It Or Skip It: ‘MPower’ on Disney Plus, A Series Of Self-Important Back-Patting Sessions

Marvel Studios, deciding there wasn’t enough Marvel-centric content on Disney+, set out to make some more. Except they didn’t want to release another scripted show. They wanted to bring fans a documentary series. Enter MPower, an entire season that attempts to tell the stories of the iconic women of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: the heroines of Black Panther, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel, and more. Each episode focuses on a group of characters from a singular property and spends an inordinate amount of time talking about how important each one’s women are. It’s supposed to be inspirational, but instead it’s nearly an hour of schlock that feels more like terribly-written pandering. It’s more of the same, performative activism meant to lift women up that ends up othering us more than making us feel like we’re part of the team.

MPOWER: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: The female heroes of Wakanda appear in succession in a galaxy-like setting, interspersed with voiceover from actress Angela Bassett. It’s followed by animated versions of Bassett’s character and a young Black girl looking up to her.

The Gist: MPower is all about putting the spotlight on female characters throughout the MCU as well as their comic counterparts. Marvel celebrates the women of Black Panther in this episode with behind-the-scenes looks at the actresses that brought them to life. Angela Bassett discusses her role as Queen Ramonda, while Danai Gurira delves into her character Okoye. Lupita Nyong’o, who plays Nakia, delves into her character and discusses the connection she feels to the role. These chats all intertwine with shots from the Black Panther films with animated segments that illustrate some of the actress’s childhoods, discussing their heritage and what brought them to the world of acting. Letitia Wright also discusses the technology-forward Shuri, who always has the fate and future of her people in mind. These women all offer insight into the making of Black Panther and what they bring to each role, whether it’s part of themselves or the work that went into bringing Wakanda to the screen.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? If you’ve watched a documentary, you’ll know what to expect here, but I can assure you this one will be worse. There are, however, others that you should check out instead, like Marvel: 75 Years From Pulp to Pop!, which follows the brand’s evolution from 1939 to now, or Marvel’s Hero Project, which follows kids who have a positive impact on their local communities and end up having a special comic made about them from Marvel to celebrate their accomplishments.

Our Take: There are some genuinely interesting discussions throughout this episode of MPower, but it never truly feels like it’s actually doing anything important or necessary. Though we hear from major names like Bassett, Nyong’o, and Wright and get some insight into their thought processes when bringing their Black Panther characters to life, they never say anything that helps to move the conversations surrounding women in the MCU forward. Yes, of course they think their characters help to break stereotypes, empower women, and improve representation for Black women. Of course they do – but they don’t ask or discuss anything challenging. Instead, this episode is like watching a 45-minute press junket, where no one is allowed any criticism or actual thoughts on the work they’ve created.

We know Shuri is an innovator that young girls have looked up to. We know Queen Ramonda is a regal figure that commands respect. These sentiments aren’t new or interesting. It would have been engaging to hear more about what the most important Black women in Black Panther and the women of Marvel, for that matter, think about the major problems with the MCU’s women as it stands. Instead, we get regurgitated fluff about characters with information we already knew as well as platitudes about how “strong” women are and how they “own” their power. Yes, we know, that’s all anyone can talk about when it comes to women in ANY medium – where’s the new conversation?

And ironically, though the entirety of this series is meant to spotlight women, it still can’t help but involve several of Marvel’s men to make sure their views are heard. It’s as if among all the talk of women being able to do anything and feeling empowered to be our own heroes means nothing, because men still have to let everyone know that they cosign that notion, so it’s okay! In this way it almost undermines the message of powerful women doing things on their own, which is silly in a way that makes you not want to continue to the next episode.

Parting Shot: Actress Nyong’o, the last to speak in the episode, talks about how “everybody” deserves to exist in “imaginative spaces” as still images from Black Panther play, settling on a majestic image of the late Chadwick Boseman as the titular hero.

Sleeper Star: There aren’t really any stars to speak of in this episode, but the entirety of the docu-series is to shine a light on some of the seemingly underappreciated women of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So, I guess, in a sense, everyone? The general consensus is that Angela Bassett, while being one of the strongest parts of the Black Panther movies, doesn’t get enough recognition, but you can’t really say that about this documentary, so this doesn’t really apply here, I suppose.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Women who looked like me in their resplendent glory were few and far between and had never been quite seen or realized before,” Angela Bassett said of her role as Queen Ramonda in the Black Panther movies. It’s a wordy way to say that Bassett appreciated having women who looked like her in the MCU, especially since it wasn’t always a thing. It’s certainly an important sentiment, but MPower can’t be carried on the power of sentiment alone.

Our Call: SKIP IT. As women, we need action instead of flowery language about how important we are, on or off the screen. It’s great that women have seen representation across the MCU and beyond, but MPower feels like Marvel taking a victory lap and congratulating itself for “doing everything right.” As such, this docu-series adds little, if anything to the conversation. If Marvel wants to celebrate women’s representation across its properties, or if it wants to give Black women more a voice across the MCU, it should just cast more women, Black women, or women of color, period. A documentary won’t change anything, no matter how much it wants to.

Brittany Vincent has been covering video games and tech for over a decade for publications like G4, Popular Science, Playboy, Variety, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, GameSpot, and more. When she’s not writing or gaming, she’s collecting retro consoles and tech. Follow her on Twitter: @MolotovCupcake.