Ms. Marvel’s Iman Vellani, Kevin Feige and co. talk about introducing the ground-breaking superhero
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has an all-new superhero – Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel. The latest series featuring Iman Vellani, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah and more is out and it’s perhaps the most vibrant MCU series in Phase 4. It introduces us to 16-year-old Kamala (played by Iman Vellani), an Avengers fan who discovers powers of her own. Is she ready to save the world?
On bringing the first Muslim and South Asian superhero to the MCU
Opening up about how the comic book’s pages to live-action Sana Amanat said, “This is all very, very trippy. When Willow and I were crafting this comic about eight years ago, we joked about how ‘This is not gonna get past issue nine. No one’s gonna care.’ And, lo and behold Kevin Feige cared which is amazing and of course, the rest of the world.”
Kevin Feige revealed that the show was inevitable. He said, “Almost from the first few issues people started asking us in environments like this when we were promoting other things, when is Kamala Khan coming? When is Ms. Marvel coming? So, it always seemed inevitable in a grey way that we would be able to do it..”
Shah Rukh Khan is officially a part of the MCU
As a Marvel fan herself, Iman Vellani is perfectly cast as Kamala Khan – a fan fiction-writing super geek. The actress revealed why she resonated with the character. “Ms. Marvel always understood fan culture on such a cellular level, and it just really elevated the storytelling in a really unique way. She’s a 16-year-old kid with superpowers, fine, we’ve seen that before. But she’s also a fan of every other hero within the MCU canon. And hat fascination and excitement is so shared with real-life Marvel fans, so that’s why we relate to her. She reacts how we would when she gets powers. I love that part of her, and that’s why I fell in love with her,” she said.
Talking about representation and how it’s authentically interweaved in the superhero story, she said, “Culture and religion were never the main thing of her personality, it was just some part of her life. It’s like, this is the time I wake up. This is the time I go to school. This is the time I pray. This is the time I eat. Like, it’s just a set, a normal thing. And we didn’t wanna make the show about a Pakistani Muslim, it was about, this Avengers loving, fanfic writing dork, which just so happens to be a Pakistani Muslim. And yeah, I think we balanced it quite well.”
Fans of the comic books will instantly notice that the show makes some changes to the character’s superpowers, especially since her “embiggening” ability has been swapped for a crystalline projection. Talking about these changes, Bisha K. Ali said, “Every single person involved in this project loves those comics deeply, personally, from their full hearts. And I think we’re all committed to that love. So, I didn’t wake up and say, ‘Hey Kevin, let’s throw out the powers.’ That was not my first pitch by any means. It was really a group decision about how she’s gonna exist in the MCU. How’s she’s gonna fit into this web of storytelling that Marvel Studios has done in live-action for the last decade? And putting all those pieces together while staying true to this beautiful incredible character that Sana and her team crafted over in their publishing side.”
Ms. Marvel is a stark contrast to the MCU’s last show – Moon Knight
Ms. Marvel premiered on June 8 with new episodes dropping every Wednesday.
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