The first season of Disney Channel’s new Marvel cartoon, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, wrapped up earlier this month with a two-part finale, “OMG Issue #1” and “Issue #2.” In them, Lunella Lafayette, Devil, and Casey Goldberg-Calderon discovered what happened to the original Moon Girl, and her true identity, after they came under attack from the mad scientist coven the Enclave, led by Maris Morlak (Wesley Snipes), who correctly assumed they were connected to her.
1. OMG = Original Moon Girl
It turns out the original Moon Girl is none other than Lunella’s grandma Mimi, who betrayed the Enclave a long time ago, and has known her grandchild is a superhero for a while. It makes sense, it gives Alfre Woodard much more to do than just voice a supportive granny, even if it’s become a cliche lately to give another person in a superhero’s family powers, or some connection to the wider universe eg. Jessica Jones and Carol Danvers’s mothers, and Kamala Khan’s great-grandma. It was also weird how the lyrics in the version of the theme created for these episodes mentioned Lunella’s blood and DNA, implying her brilliance was innate and not something she’s made the effort to have – oh well, at least we have Lunella’s father to prove genius is not genetic.
2. Distracted by Racism
What proved great about revealing Mimi’s history with the Enclave was how it rooted her backstory in the racism of the ’60s and ’70s, with the reveal that Maris staged his coup d’etat after the group’s then leader tried to pass off his and Mimi’s work as his own. There’s a strong undertone that in another life, Maris would’ve been Lunella’s grandfather, but he was so consumed with trying to prove himself to his white superiors, and then getting his revenge, that he became a bitter shell of his former self. He mocks Mimi for leaving science (and, essentially, him) to become a nobody, but it’s clear starting a family brought her more joy than his fruitless pursuit of wealth and power ever could.
The moral for the target audience is that becoming famous is not the most important thing in the world, but as an adult fan, I couldn’t help but think about Toni Morrison’s famous 1975 lecture, where she described racism as a “distraction, [that] keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and so you spend 20 years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says that you have no art so you dredge that up. Somebody says that you have no kingdoms and so you dredge that up. None of this is necessary.” Suffice to say, Maris was distracted by proving himself to the wider, white world.
3. Maria Hill was Here, for a Minute
Cobie Smulders reprises her role as Maria Hill in the first part, showing up with S.H.I.E.L.D. to incarcerate the Enclave goons who attack Lunella, while passing along their contact details to her and Casey. Unfortunately, she doesn’t do much afterwards, as the Enclave escapes, forcing her to file a lot of paperwork over the credits, before Casey abuses her privileges to the point she stops answering her calls. Seeing as how the first season was shortened from 20 episodes to 16 (or 17, depending on how you view the first episode), I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Hill was going to have her own episode. Still, at least we got that exchange about the Enclave being “wanna-bees” based on the hexagons on their uniforms; always felt the Enclave were a wannabe AIM (who coincidentally dress like beekeepers) in the comics, so it was especially funny.
4. Are We Sure the Beyonder’s Not Interfering?
Part one ends on a strong cliffhanger, where Lunella fails to reach an injured Devil before their underground hideout explodes. After a recap from the Beyonder, Devil emerges safe and sound, with Casey in tow, behind Lunella. Now, call me a cynic, but how? He looked terrible. Me thinks our narrator wasn’t just recapping events, but also rearranging the staging behind the curtain. You might respond, “Well duh, the Beyonder cares about Lunella in his own, offputting way,” and I would reply, “Fair enough.” Hopefully the show’s staff have established some ground rules for the extent the Beyonder will help Lu in future, so we maintain some jeopardy.
Continued below5. A Heel Turn?
After Lunella disappears closing the portal from the other side, Mimi takes the ring Mavis used to control the Enclave, before vowing to get her back. Assuming some goon doesn’t snatch it off her in the opening moments of season two, she’s now the leader of the Enclave for the foreseeable future, which opens up all kinds of intriguing possibilities, from the impact it might have on her family and the Lower East Side, to the corruptive nature of power. Alfre Woodard may not want to play another Marvel villain after portraying Mariah Dillard in Luke Cage, but the infrastructure and resources she’s gained are still a potential complication for Lunella, Devil, and Casey – provided Lu returns from wherever she’s been transported to first.
Bonus Thoughts:
– It’s funny how, of all the things on this show, the part I find least believable is Moon Girl’s Sequin Stealth Suit rendering her face invisible, even though the headgear is only a hood.
– Remember folks, if you hadn’t, you heard here first: fashion is STEM. And on that note, I’d never heard of North Brother Island until seeing this; what a creepy locale.
– Gotta love how all the jellyfish in the Hudson still love sticking to Devil’s tail.
– “Oh toe jam” is my new favorite minced oath.
Well, that’s all for all now from the best cable Marvel series in years – hopefully we won’t have to wait long until season two. In the meantime, please enjoy this playlist I made of the musical highlights from the first season; I’ll be watching every dub on Disney+ to hear the soundtrack in every language available myself.
