Disney has chosen the lead for their live-action Ms. Marvel series coming to the Disney+ streaming service. According to Deadline, Disney picked newcomer Iman Vellani to play the title character after an exhaustive casting process.
This will be the first acting role on either TV or film for Vellani, age 18. She has no credits on IMDb except for Ms. Marvel. Not that much is known about Vellani except she served on the Next Wave Committee at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival. The purpose of the committee was to engage a diverse group of teenagers to add tags to films that would resonate with other young people.
Of the announcement, Vellani posted on her Instagram account: “Speechless and excited! Wish me luck.” That account has since been deleted and a new official Instagram account was launched for the young actor.
A SERIES OF FIRSTS
Ms. Marvel will be the first Muslim superhero to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In addition to the Disney+ series, Marvel plans to include the character in upcoming MCU films. Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige didn’t provide more details on what form those movie roles would take. It could be as a guest appearance or a major character in a future MCU movie.
The first Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers, appeared in a March 1968 comic book Marvel Super-Heroes #13. Danvers takes on the role of Captain Marvel in 2012 after the passing of Mar-Vell.
ENTER KAMALA KAHN
Kamala Khan is the fourth character to take on the mantle. The Pakistani American teenager from New Jersey with shapeshifting superpowers made her first appearance in February 2014.
Continuing the line of firsts, Khan was Marvel’s first Muslim character to get her own comic book. The character was an instant hit with her relatability as a teenager with both superpowers and dealing with all the normal pressures that come with being a teenager.
No date has been set for when we can expect Ms. Marvel to come to Disney+ as the series is in very early stages of production. Marvel has lined up Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (two time Oscar winning documentarian) and Meera Menon as showrunners and directors, and screenwriter and stand-up comedian Bisha K. Ali as head writer.
It was recently announced that Samuel L. Jackson will reprise the role of Nick Fury in another Marvel series on Disney Plus.
