Geekery: Disney+ Has Found Their Ms. Marvel
Newcomer Iman Vallani has been chosen to play Kamala Khan in the upcoming series.
Ms. Marvel – aka Kamala Khan – is a Pakistani-American teenager with shapeshifting ability thanks to her Inhuman genes. Kamala took up the mantle from Carol Danvers when she became Captain Marvel in 2013. She’s the creation of Sana Amanat, Adrian Alphona, Jamie McKelvie, and G. Willow Wilson; the first volume of the comic won a Hugo award for Best Graphic Story in 2015.
According to Deadline, Iman Villani has been chosen for the role. She’s a newcomer without a resume, but that doesn’t mean much. We’ve seen plenty of unknown, young actors do phenomenal things.
Bisha K. Ali (Four Wedding and a Funeral – Hulu series) is showrunner; Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and Meera Menon are listed as directors on the project. No release date is set, but this is another positive sign of moving forward.
Kamala is Marvel’s first Muslim character to star in her own title. Adding to the good the comic has done, this series – and the team selected to bring it to the screen – is a big step forward in the inclusion, visibility, and positive representation of Muslim and South Asian people in entertainment. Kumail Nanjiani (who is playing Kingo Sunen in The Eternals) welcomed her to the MCU family.
I just saw they cast Ms. Marvel and legit got teary eyed.
Congratulations Iman Vellani! Your work is going to mean so much to so many people, myself included. I can’t wait.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) September 30, 2020
Advertisement
Ms. Marvel was announced alongside WandaVision (drops later this year), The Falcon and Winter Soldier (resumed filming early this month), Loki (filming in Atlanta), She-Hulk (just cast Tatiana Maslany), Hawkeye, Moon Knight. With the addition of a Nick Fury series, it’s an ambitious slate even in normal circumstances (especially when combined with Star Wars). It’s a bit bonkers in current times.
Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige has said that she will be included in featured films on the studio’s slate (he talked about in the intertwining of series and movies at D23 last year). There have been rumors about Kalama appearing in the next Captain Marvel movie. We shall see.
MCU fans definitely have a lot to look forward to.
