Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors

Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors is a 2018 American made-for-television animated superhero film produced by Marvel Animation, featuring Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl, Patriot, and others. It is the first of the Marvel Rising franchise and was released on September 30, 2018 simultaneously on Disney Channel and Disney XD. The inauguration of a team of new characters gave Marvel a project that would introduce to the public some of the lesser known characters within the universe.

Plot
Kamala Khan is a teenager who lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, and is also an Inhuman with shapeshifting abilities and lives a secret life as the superheroine Ms. Marvel. She idolizes Captain Marvel, but clashes with her mother, who believes her interest in superheroes is time-wasting, and she has yet to overcome all of the unfortunate difficulties of being a rookie superhero. Kamala and her best friend Doreen Green, a fellow superhero known as Squirrel Girl, stop a thief in the park who steals from a food vendor. The thief is Dante Pertuz, who can control and manipulate fire. The girls also meet Victor Kohl, who is tracking Dante and tells them about how he is working to protect Inhumans from their own destructive powers. Victor and Dante both flee the scene before Kamala and Doreen are approached by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Quake and Patriot, who have also been tracking violent incidents involving Inhumans. The agents leave, and the two friends decide to find Victor and Dante and solve the Inhuman incidents themselves and prove that Inhumans should be seen as heroes and not threats.

America Chavez has her motorcycle stolen by Dante, who is still unwilling to work with Victor, as he hates his powers for how they ruined his life. An accidental gas explosion in the street forces America, Kamala, Doreen and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to work together. Shortly after, Quake is arrested by the agency for unsanctioned action in investigating the Inhumans. Kamala flashes back to when her powers were activated by the Terrigen bomb, and fears that Dante might be struggling with his own powers. She and Doreen argue about if they should trust Dante or Victor. Victor propositions Kamala to join his organisation, and fights her when she declines, as he transforms into his superhuman persona, Exile. He reveals that he is working for Hala the Accuser, who is scouting Inhumans to join the Kree, a militaristic alien race. Exile kidnaps Kamala, and she disappears into a portal. Doreen joins together with America and Patriot to rescue Kamala. They help Quake to break out of custody, who joins them and reveals that she is also an Inhuman. They are also joined by Captain Marvel, who uses her resources to assist the search.

Kamala wakes up to find that she is a captive in a spaceship cell along with Dante. They are forced by Hala the Accuser to fight each other in order to protect their families; however, they work together to outsmart Hala and escape. The pair also rescue the innocent Inhumans from their imprisonment, and join with Lockjaw, a giant bulldog who can teleport. Captain Marvel and the team arrive and help to fight Exile and Hala. Hala is expelled into space and Exile is defeated, but the spaceship is damaged in the fight. Working together and overcoming their doubts, the team safely lands the spaceship on Earth, and Exile flees. Kamala is overjoyed to meet her idol, but Captain Marvel encourages Kamala to forge her own path and not to follow in her footsteps. The next day, Kamala and Squirrel Girl make amends, before they stumble upon a secret headquarters. Kamala, Doreen, Dante, America, Quake, Patriot and Lockjaw come together to form an "unofficial" superhero team under Captain Marvel's guidance. Quake is appointed as the leader, and the team are told to train in secret, as they name their team the "Secret Warriors". Kamala looks forward to finding out more about Inhumans and their purpose.

Back at the headquarters, Captain Marvel meets with Captain America, who is pleased to see his student Patriot step out of his shadow. He states his interest in working with an underground team of superheroes.

Cast

 * Dee Bradley Baker as Lockjaw, Tippy-Toe
 * Chloe Bennet as Quake / Daisy Johnson
 * Kathreen Khavari as Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan
 * Meera Rohit Kumbhani as Ammi
 * Kamil McFadden as Patriot / Rayshaun Lucas
 * Tyler Posey as Inferno / Dante Pertuz
 * Cierra Ramirez as America Chavez
 * Kim Raver as Captain Marvel / Carol Danvers
 * Roger Craig Smith as Captain America
 * Booboo Stewart as Exile / Victor Kohl
 * Milana Vayntrub as Squirrel Girl / Doreen Green
 * Ming-Na Wen as Hala the Accuser

Production
The movie was first announced on December 7, 2017. Joe Quesada, Dan Buckley, Cort Lane, and Eric Radomski are set to executive produce the film. Those credited as co-executive producers are Stan Lee, Sana Amanat, and Marsha Griffin. Writer for the film is Mairghread Scott with Alfred Gimeno as supervising director.

Reception
The film holds a 100%, based on 7 reviews, on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 7.5/10. ScreenRant critic Kevin Yeoman states, "The movie makes a good go of telling a larger story within the confines of a feature-length runtime. There are concessions to be made, however, and they mostly have to do with Kamala’s home life and the development of America Chavez, whose introduction and origin story feel too hasty for what the character deserves. With any luck this won’t be the last fans see of these Secret Warriors, and Disney XD will have another chance to make these characters shine."

Music
On August 23, 2018, the film's theme song, "Born Ready", was released on Walt Disney Records VEVO YouTube channel. The song is sung by Dove Cameron, who plays Ghost-Spider in other Marvel Rising media.