At 19, Iman Vellani is proud to 'take up space' as Marvel's 1st Muslim superhero

Griffin Jaege

CBC

Actor Iman Vellani has always been an avid fan of the Avengers and comics — so making the move from Markham, Ont., to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to portray its first Muslim superhero is an achievement she finds almost indescribable.


© Courtesy of Marvel Studios

Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel. In taking the role, she's Marvel's first Muslin superhero.

Iman Vellani: From Canadian high schooler to Ms. Marvel

Iman Vellani went from being a high school student in Markham, Ont., to being Marvel’s first Muslim superhero after one video call. Vellani talks to CBC’s Ginella Massa about stepping into her dream role as Ms. Marvel. 

"It feels a lot … just a lot of feelings," she said, trying to put it into words at her Toronto red carpet debut. "To be in Toronto and celebrate this with all my friends and family is super weird. But yeah, I'm excited."

Vellani, 19, stars as Kamala Khan in the upcoming series Ms. Marvel, launching on June 8 on Disney+.

Vellani's role also marks the franchise's second South Asian hero — and the first female one. In 2021, Kumail Nanjiani played Marvel's first South Asian superhero in Eternals, taking on the part of Kingo, a Bollywood film star turned superhero.

Before this, despite the abundance of South Asian characters present in Marvel comics — think Thunderbird, Timeslip and Omega Sentinel — the films have limited South Asian roles to supporting characters like Dr. Ratha in The Amazing Spider-Man (Irffan Khan) and Dopinder in the Deadpool franchise (Karan Soni), parts critics suggest were largely built around stereotypes.

Criticism about the lack of diversity for lead actors in the superhero franchise had also been growing.

And Vellani said she sees this role as also being about representing her community and showcasing South Asian culture.

"Film and TV literally shape how we see people in this world. And so, you know, when you're only representing Muslims in a certain type of light, it gets very one-note," the Pakistani-born Canadian actor said.

"I'm so glad that Marvel's providing space for a character like Kamala to exist and to just take up space and tell a very specific story about a very specific girl."

The show focuses on Khan, a Muslim-American teen and superhero mega-fan growing up in Jersey City. She deals with the pressures familiar to many teens: struggling to fit in at school and finding support at home.

Then, she finds out she has superpowers of her own.

Brie Larson, known for her role as Captain Marvel, the franchise's first female superhero, reached out to Vellani shortly after she was cast.

"She was just holding my hand throughout all of it," Vellani said. "It was really nice to kind of have that guidance of someone who's gone through all of this and everything that I'm experiencing right now."

The storyline presents a unique parallel to Vellani's daily life. Being a fan herself, she describes stepping into the world of Marvel as "so much fun."

"I was on set and I was just, like, totally gushing over everything I'm seeing around me," said Vellani.

The show's team didn't let her see the set of the first episode's "Avenger Con" convention until the day they shot the scene — they knew her reaction would be just as exuberant as Kamala's.

"They were like, 'Whatever your reaction is going to be in real life is what we want ... so just be yourself,'" she said, describing the energy she brought to the character.

"That specificity is really what makes a character believable and what is going to represent people … not generalizing all of the brown people into one character."

In this fun clip from the upcoming Disney+ series Ms. Marvel, Kamala tests her powers. The series stars Iman Vellani, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Fawad Khan, Laurel Marsden, Arian Moayed, Adaku Ononogbo, Alysia Reiner, Azhar Usman, Laith Nakli, Nimra Bucha and Travina Springer, and Aramis Knight.

The future is in her hands. Ms. Marvel, an Original series from Marvel Studios, starts streaming June 8 on Disney+. ► Watch Marvel on Disney+: https://bit.ly/2XyBSIW

 

NOW THE CRITIQUE; ITS MADE FOR TWEEN'S

Ms Marvel - How NOT To Build A Hero

The Critical Drinker

The Critical Drinker1.23M subscribers

After watching the trailer for Ms Marvel, the upcoming MCU show on Disney+, I was blown away by how badly they seem to have introduced this character. Join me as I break down what the trailer got wrong, and how it could have been done better.

 

Disney+ releases four-minute documentary on upcoming series Ms. Marvel

PUBLISHED 02 JUN, 2022 
IMAGES STAFF
DAWN.COM
DESK REPORT


The show stars Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American superhero who adores Captain Marvel and wants to be like her.

Photo: Ms. Marvel /Instagram

Before viewers and fans get to see Iman Vellani in action as Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel, Disney+ has a little present to get everyone ready for the MCU's newest superhero. A documentary called A Fan's Guide to Ms. Marvel just released on the streaming site that guides viewers through the story of Kamala and who the superhero actually is.

On Wednesday, the official account of the upcoming series shared a poster for the special documentary based on the superhero. A Fan's Guide to Ms. Marvel isn't particularly long — according to Collider, the special is for only four minutes. It features new interviews with the cast and crew, never-before-seen footage of the show itself, Kamala and her best friend Bruno (Matt Lintz) living in their bubble and taking over AvengerCon and the odes paid to all Marvel heroes.

The documentary features Vellani giving fans yet another up close and personal look at the newest star of the Marvel Universe. The short documentary also features some behind-the-scenes action sequences, focusing mainly on Marvel's plans to make the show their next big hit.

Vellani plays 16-year-old Kamala, a Pakistani-American teen who lives in Jersey City. Kamala is an aspiring artist, an avid gamer, and a voracious fan-fiction scribe. She is also a huge fan of the Avengers — and one in particular, Captain Marvel. But Kamala has always struggled to find her place in the world — that is until she gets super powers like the heroes she’s always looked up to.

The cast includes Aramis Knight, Lintz, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Mohan Kapoor, Farhan Akhtar, Nimra Bucha, Zenobia Shroff, Yasmeen Fletcher, Travina Springer, Laurel Marsden, Laith Nakli and Azhra Usman. Fawad Khan was also rumoured to make an appearance in the show, however, his cameo hasn't been confirmed yet.

It was also confirmed on May 26 that Coke Studio's hit 'Peechay Hutt' by Hasan Raheem, Talal Qureshi and the Justin Bibis will also be featured in the show.

The series will be releasing exclusively in theatres in Pakistan in June and July since Disney+ is not available for viewers in Pakistan. Earlier this month, director Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy had announced that Disney and Marvel have created a special theatre format for Ms. Marvel. The six-episode show will be split into three parts, according to the filmmaker.

Episodes one and two will debut on June 16, three and four on June 30 and five and six on July 14.

'A dream come true': Mehwish Hayat praises Ms. Marvel's 'accurate' representation of desi culture

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DAWN.COM
DESK REPORT

The actor said Kamala Khan is the first brown superhero we all can relate to.


Photo: AFP


Disney+ and Marvel's upcoming show Ms. Marvel has been the talk of the town for desis all over social media, be it our very own Pakistani celebrities representing on the red carpet in Hollywood, or some snippets from the show that left many demanding correct representation. But for Mehwish Hayat, Ms. Marvel is an "accurate representation" of Pakistani culture.

On Sunday, the actor shared photos from the premiere event of the show held in Los Angeles. In her post, she wrote, "Working on Ms Marvel and being part of the MCU is a dream come true for me! You cannot believe what it means to finally have the first brown Muslim superhero that we can all relate to and who speaks for us. Words can't describe how happy my inner child is to see my culture being so accurately represented on screen, in a mainstream Hollywood production."

She also wrote that it means a lot that Marvel made an effort to cast Pakistani actors in key roles. "I hope that this will not only show actors in Pakistan that they need to look beyond their own borders but also give Hollywood the confidence to cast talent from Pakistan."

In her post, Hayat credited show creator Sana Amanat, executive producer Jenna Berger and director Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and the rest of the team's "attention to detail" that made Ms. Marvel something really special. For her, the proud moment was seeing the Oscar winning filmmaker directing the upcoming show. "Couldn’t think of anyone who would have been better," she wrote.

She also complimented the main lead, Iman Vellani, who plays Kamala Khan. For Hayat, Vellani is a "real firecracker" who is destined to be a big name in Hollywood.

Hayat bumping into Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, and Louis D'Esposito, film producer, was the "icing on the cake" of her trip. She also wrote that Marvel needs to be applauded because they have made every little girl, not just brown, believe that they are special and can achieve their dreams if they believe in them enough. "Look at me… a girl from Karachi walking the Red carpet in Hollywood shows anything is possible."

In the show, Vellani plays 16-year-old Kamala, a Pakistani-American teen who lives in Jersey City. Kamala is an aspiring artist, an avid gamer, and a voracious fan-fiction scribe. She is also a huge fan of the Avengers — and one in particular, Captain Marvel. But Kamala has always struggled to find her place in the world — that is until she gets super powers like the heroes she’s always looked up to.

Earlier last month, Chinoy had announced that Disney and Marvel have created a special theatre format for Ms. Marvel. The six-episode show will be split into three parts according to the filmmaker.

Episodes one and two will debut on June 16, three and four on June 30 and five and six on July 14.

Why She-Hulk Is Being Review Bombed Harder Than Ms. Marvel

Marcelo de Souza Silverio Leite - ScreenRant- Yesterday 


The newest Disney+ Marvel series She-Hulk: Attorney At Law is being review bombed on IMDB, and the percentage of 1-star reviews for She-Hulk is much higher than it was for previous review-bombed MCU projects like Ms. Marvel. Continuing Marvel Studios’ post-Avengers: Endgame strategy, the Disney+ platform is once again being used to introduce a new Marvel character into the MCU, She-Hulk. The same strategy had been previously used in Ms. Marvel and Moon Knight, but the Disney+ Marvel series are sparking a level of criticism that often involves not just complaints about the shows but about the MCU as a whole – in addition to a significant amount of bad faith reviews.



Considering how a lot of the Disney+ Marvel shows have been criticized for being too similar in terms of structure – as in the number of episodes, the secret villain reveals, and the CG-filled third acts – it would seem that She-Hulk would be well received for its originality. While She-Hulk is not exactly Deadpool, the idea of placing Jennifer Walters in a fourth-wall-breaking 30-minute comedy sounded like the perfect way to introduce She-Hulk into the MCU – not to mention it would offer something unique to the franchise. She-Hulk episode 1 delivered exactly what had been promised – Marvel Studios’ first comedy series that combines law drama with some old superhero tropes. However, that did not avoid She-Hulk from being review bombed on IMDB.

Related: She-Hulk Fixes 1 MCU Superhero Problem

As of writing, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law has a 31.5% percentage of 1-star reviews on IMDB. In other words, almost a third of the 30,846 IMDB users who reviewed She-Hulk gave the Marvel show 1 out of 10 stars. An important point to understand She-Hulk’s review bombing is IMDB’s flawed rating system, which allows for a show like She-Hulk to be reviewed by those who have not even watched it yet, thus making all movies and shows susceptible to these sorts of review bombings. When navigating through She-Hulk’s 1-star reviews on IMDB, it’s possible to find recurrent topics like the She-Hulk CGI, Hulk’s role in the story being so far limited to comedy relief, and comedy bits that not always land. Those particular elements have been used as a criticism against She-Hulk ever since the marketing campaign for the show rolled out, and it’s not really a surprise to find them in the She-Hulk reviews. However, She-Hulk’s 1-star reviews feature, for the most part, low-effort complaints about “toxic feminism,” “Mary Sue-like main character,” “woke story,” “forced empowerment,” and similar remarks. While not surprising, those types of comments have been common in female-centered pop culture projects, including Marvel’s previous Disney+ show Ms. Marvel.

Related video: Early reviews for She-Hulk are in...

Duration 1:06 View on Watch

Is Marvel Review Bombing Getting Worse?

While review bombing is nothing new for major pop culture releases, that practice has recently become much more present as seen with Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk. Before Ms. Marvel, the Marvel Studios Disney + series with the highest 1-star reviews ratio was Moon Knight, with a percentage of 4.8% of reviewers who gave the Oscar Isaac show 1 out of 10 stars. In a jarring contrast, Ms. Marvel has a 22.2% of 1-star reviews, which is now followed by an even bigger number with She-Hulk. Ms. Marvel suffered from the same batch of early 1-star reviews when the show had barely even started, with complaints about the CGI, the costumes, and the action pieces – although terms like “woke” and “childish” could also be found.

Given how most of the Marvel Disney+ series have suffered from the same issues of pacing and CGI, it’s hard not to notice such a discrepancy between the reception of previous shows and the review-bombing of She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel. Online movie and TV discourse, especially involving big franchises like the MCU, often leads to highly-divisive releases. However, it’s clear that there is a significant level of toxicity and unfairness involved in events like the She-Hulk: Attorney At Law review bombing, which calls for platforms like IMDB to revise their rating systems.

The MCU’s Biggest ‘Ms. Marvel’ Tweak Undoes a Powerful Story on Race

Joshua N. Miller  

Wed, July 6, 2022 

Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Disney

When Marvel Studios made its proper entrance into the film business with 2008’s Iron Man, it seemed committed to staying true to Marvel characters’ origins—at least initially. After he’s wounded by shrapnel from his own missile, Tony Stark sets to work as Iron Man to keep his weapons from falling into the wrong hands. Thor Odinson learned humility when he was stripped of his powers and exiled to Earth. Steve Rogers then swung onto the scene as Captain America to take down Nazis in a similar fashion to his 1941 comic book debut.

It wasn’t until 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) deviated radically from the comic books. Despite appearing in a few major comic events, the Guardians didn’t hold much cachet with general audiences—making them the perfect test case for Marvel Studios (and its new owner, Disney) to gauge just how much their audiences cared about sticking to the source material. Rather than a competent group of heroes that united to proactively deal with major threats, the MCU’s Guardians are a ragtag group of outlaws, whose initial incentive to collaborate was a common genocidal enemy.

‘Ms. Marvel’ Proves That Marvel’s TV Shows Are Now Way Better Than Its Movies

When the movie came out, my fellow middle schoolers—who’d never heard of the team—questioned what kind of superheroes would recruit a talking raccoon and a walking tree. But sure enough, Guardians won over viewers by successfully uniting the team in their first outing without spending three years fleshing them out individually. Since then, Marvel has taken more liberties with its storytelling, to varying degrees of success—such as with 2017’s acclaimed Thor: Ragnarok and 2021’s panned Eternals. Based on this more liberal approach to their adaptations, it appears that Marvel’s learned that people don’t really care if their content sticks to the source material–until they do.

The latest entry in the MCU to differ from the comics is Disney+’s Ms. Marvel, which gives its Pakistani American protagonist Kamala Khan a new set of superpowers. Instead of gaining shape-shifting abilities through exposure to a DNA-altering vapor called the Terrigen Mists, MCU Kamala can manipulate light to create objects, like weapons and platforms by wearing a bangle that’s been passed down in her family.

In the comics, Kamala has faced a multitude of threats with her polymorphic abilities, ranging from killer robots in her hometown of Jersey City, New Jersey, to the time-traveler Kang the Conqueror. And she’s become hugely popular with real-life fans while doing it: numerous volumes of her solo series landed on the New York Times bestseller list within their first year on the market, and Kamala quickly achieved one of Marvel’s highest honors: becoming an Avenger. That level of recognition begets another big one, this time off the page and on the screen. In May 2018, Disney announced that Ms. Marvel would become a Disney+ show, which finally premiered earlier this month.

With Kamala’s level of popularity and publicity, it only makes sense that fans were watching closely to see how her story would translate onto TV. Which is why it’s no surprise that their eyebrows rose when Kamala’s MCU entrance came with a new backstory, in which her powers derive from a bangle that was passed down in her family.

Fans on social media have speculated as to what inspired the power change. One theory that’s become particularly popular is that the MCU didn’t want Kamala and the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards to have similar powers ahead of the upcoming Fantastic Four movie. (This idea was recently dispelled by Kamala’s co-creator Sana Amanat in an interview with The Direct.)

But Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige maintains that the MCU isn’t “an exact translation of the comics,” as he said in a recent interview. He also explained in the same interview that the true nature of Kamala’s powers would be developed further in 2023’s Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels. How her powers will develop until then remains to be seen. But no matter what happens, this initial change is a major one: it erases a major element of her origin story in a way that demonstrates their reluctance to confront real issues.

In both the Ms. Marvel show and comics, Kamala is experiencing an identity crisis. Torn between the cultures of her traditional Pakistani family and her more free-wheeling American peers, she takes comfort in her idolization of superheroes to detach from her day-to-day life. Her favorite hero is Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel), who once saved Kamala from the comic’s version of Yon-Ragg and helped save the world in Avengers: Endgame. Kamala looks up to Carol as a role model; she’s a strong, independent woman who charts her own path, just as Kamala wishes to become. But while the show frames Kamala’s idolization for Carol as fannish—the same way young girls might’ve idolized Wonder Woman or Captain Marvel after watching their respective films—the comic emphasizes that a substantial part of Kamala’s idolization of Carol extends from the fact that Carol is white.

Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) in the comic books.

Marvel Comics

In a scene from the comics, Kamala sees Carol in a vision as she is transforming into her super-powered self. She uses the opportunity to talk to her favorite hero, voicing her frustration with who she is and who she wants to be. Kamala wishes she were “beautiful, awesome, butt-kicking, and less complicated,” all traits that she directly equates with being Carol. Kamala immediately receives her wish, emerging from her transformation as the spitting image of Carol from her own Ms. Marvel days, sporting the Warbird costume with white skin and blonde hair.

Yet even as she gets exactly what she asks for, Kamala still doesn't feel as confident or beautiful as she imagined she would. Part of this is shown through the character of Zoe, a popular, blonde, white girl who bullies Kamala in bigoted ways throughout the second issue. Her insults are blatantly Islamophobic, ranging from implying that Kamala’s friend Nakia might’ve been forced to wear her hijab to running away from Kamala at a party, complaining that she smells like curry.

It’s after that party that Kamala acknowledges that her idolization of whiteness is only internalized racism. Although Kamala initially defends Zoe’s actions—in part because she also represents Carol’s carefree lifestyle— she can’t ignore how badly her bully actually makes her feel. Struggling to control her new powers as she tries to make it back home afterward, she runs into Zoe. Her powers react accordingly: as soon as she sees Zoe, Kamala assumes her Carol-like form, as she feels like she has to be a different person—a cooler person—around her bully. But she ultimately reverts to her true appearance and then shrinks down, admitting to herself that Zoe makes her “feel small.”

The scene makes it clear that Kamala’s idolization of whiteness (and the privilege it grants) is what motivates her at first. But that desire is also what frustrates her, even as she tries to mask the true nature of her frustration by blaming it on her family’s Muslim traditions. She doesn't really hold her culture in contempt; what she hates is that her peers are too ignorant to learn about it and too insensitive to respect it. That’s what leaves her ostracized from them, and that’s what leaves her wanting to be more like them—not less like herself.

So far, however, the show omits these crucial nuances. Zoe is still a bully but without the racism, throwing dodgeballs at Kamala’s face when she's distracted in gym class. And while Kamala still idolizes Carol, her participation in the Captain Marvel cosplay competition at AvengerCon doesn't compare to her assuming the form of a white woman because she can’t see herself as a superhero otherwise.

Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) tests out her powers (alongside her friend Bruno, played by Matt Lintz) in the Ms. Marvel TV show.

Marvel Entertainment/Disney+

The problem isn’t that the MCU’s version of Kamala doesn’t appear to face racism or Islamophobia in the same explicit ways that she does in the comic books. For example, her family discusses their experience living under Partition—when the British Empire cut India into two different nations—and how colonialism deeply impacted the Khans for generations. But the trauma of Partition is the most prominent example the show gives of how white supremacy affects them and, in turn, Kamala. The family doesn't talk about, say, 9/11 and the increase of Islamophobia it engendered, which continues to exist in the country. Kamala isn't given many modern touchpoints to refer to in terms of the actual material impact of the white majority's oppression. It's something that affected her parents when they were her age; that is in the past, and her present is concerned with other issues.

By downplaying this backstory’s modern reverberations in Kamala’s life, the show becomes just the latest MCU entry to shy away from the social issues that otherwise affect her. Like Tom Holland’s Peter Parker before her—the one who rose out of his canonical poverty thanks to Tony Stark—the MCU’s Kamala has other enemies to face.

‘Ms. Marvel’ Creator on the Right-Wing Backlash to Her Muslim Superhero and Remixing Wonder Woman

It’s hard not to feel cynical about the decision not to replicate these parts of Kamala’s story on-screen. Considering that Ms. Marvel is the only Marvel TV show to feature a female lead of color thus far (and the only one to be review-bombed after its release), this creative decision feels as though Disney avoided depicting this conflict in the show, as to not make white audiences uncomfortable.

Perhaps Ms. Marvel’s viewers—and its makers—would benefit from watching Amanat recount her experiences growing up in New Jersey as a Pakistani-American. They’d easily see just how strongly the comic book version of Kamala’s struggles are lifted directly from her own: from the temptations of BLTs to the ostracization she faced after 9/11, Kamala is her reflection. Not only was the comic books’ Kamala meant to offer readers a hero who shared their struggles to find themselves, but she also was to do it with a sense of pride in her heritage. If Kamala’s origin offers any lesson to readers, it’s that sometimes it takes confronting your issues directly to change for the better. The MCU ultimately facilitates the existence of white supremacy and the other social issues it refuses to address by pretending that they’re no longer as relevant to the character as they were in the comics.

Ms Marvel review – a glorious debut for the MCU’s first Muslim superhero

*****

Superpowered … Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, AKA Ms Marvel. 

Photograph: AP

Instant stardom awaits the new girl in the Marvel universe. She’s funny, charming and effortlessly bats off preconceptions in this joyful coming-of-age tale. Let the geek girls inherit the Earth!


Lucy Mangan
THE GUARDIAN

Wed 8 Jun 2022 

A superhero – and a star – is born in Ms Marvel (Disney+) , the latest small-screen foray into the MCU. The superhero is Pakistani-American teenager Kamala Khan, Marvel’s first Muslim headliner, whose solo comic book series made its debut in 2014. The miniseries tells her origin story, deviating somewhat from the source material and somehow humanising it further.

The star is Iman Vellani, in – incredibly, given her charisma, comic timing and dramatic chops in every scene – her first acting role. Her second will be in the next Marvel film outing, The Marvels (I hope you’re clear about us being in a Marvel universe for the duration of this piece), a sequel to Captain Marvel and focusing on the adventures of Carole Danvers/Captain Marvel and our Ms. Normally, you would fear for a young actor, but Vellani seems so born to the purple that you almost have to shrug and say, as an elder might to a nascent superhero in – oh, I don’t know, the MCU perhaps – that it is her destiny.

The series itself? Only two episodes have been released for review, but they are glorious. The plot so far is slight. At the moment it is as much a real-life coming of age as a superhero origin story. Sixteen-year-old Kamala is an artist, vlogger and diehard devotee of the Avengers generally, and Captain Marvel specifically. We meet her enthusiastically narrating her latest animated story about them.

Most of the first episode features her trying to persuade her parents to let her go to the Avengers comic convention a bus ride away, refine her Ms Marvel costume and placate the school principal when she is hauled into his office for her constant “doodling” and daydreaming. Although it will probably get swallowed up in the deeper joy and wider significance of seeing a Muslim character come to life, I just want to note how absolutely wonderful it is to see an accurate, loving and untrammelled depiction of passionate female fandom, so often derided or ignored while boy geeks get to inherit the world.

Eventually, and with the help of her best friend, Bruno, (Matt Lintz) – who is also, handily, a tech genius – Cinderella gets to the cosplay ball. When she adds an old family bangle to her costume at the last minute, she becomes invested with the ability to shoot energy beams that take on sort-of-solid form and allow her to step on to platforms she can make ahead of herself in the air, as an alternative to flight or superspeed.

The bangle allows her powers to be tied to Kamala’s Pakistani heritage and the trauma of Partition in particular. It belonged to her great-grandmother, one of the many who went missing during that time and who appears to be backchannelling towards Kamala through her powers.

There’s a nice twist by the end of the second episode that promises a satisfying development of this element, but it is the domestic scenes and familial relationships that are the greatest strength of the opening instalments. Kamala’s culture and religion are depicted unapologetically and unfussily, in big ways (we see her and her friend Nakia, played by Yasmeen Fletcher, at prayer in the mosque – and complaining about the state of the women’s side compared with the men’s) and small (Kamala was scared of the Djinn in the dark when young, not ghosts).

Some might see Kamala’s efforts to escape her family’s strictures as another unwanted/unwarranted portrayal of Islam’s repressive attitudes towards women, but I suspect that to most it will come across as Bisha K Ali, the series’ creator and head writer, surely intended – a simple acknowledgment that parents of all creeds and colours gonna parent and provide grist to any teen angst mill.

The Khans are an ordinary family – although mother Muneeba (Zenobia Shroff) has a gift for deadpan sarcasm many might long to have in their own parental arsenal – that exist in the bickering, teasing, loving, forgiving round, not as a bolt-on in the service of some mad notion of 2022 “wokeness”, whatever some are doubtless already limbering up to claim.

The whole thing is full of charm (love the graffiti that animates as Kamala and her ever-active imagination walk past), wit, warmth, brio and truth. It’s just – yes, I’m afraid I’m going to – it’s just Marvel-ous.

Ms Marvel, review: Marvel's first Muslim superhero breaks barriers, if not the mould

Marianka Swain 

TELEGRAPH
Wed 8 Jun 2022

“It’s not really the brown girls from Jersey City who save the world.” So laments Kamala Khan, the Pakistani-American teenage lead of Marvel’s latest Disney+ series – until, of course, she too becomes a superhero. It’s one of many achingly self-referential lines in this likeable but overly meta paean to diverse fandom.

© Disney+ Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel - Disney+

Khan, aka Ms Marvel, was the first Muslim character to headline a Marvel comic book, though she’s made in a familiar mould. She’s an overlooked outsider who grapples with adolescent problems alongside battling evil – and figuring out who she really is. Think John Hughes with superpowers.

Where those comics, and this TV adaptation by British comedian Bisha K Ali, differ is that they are steeped in the Muslim immigrant experience. High school student Khan debates Bollywood movies, attends mosque and Eid celebrations (where she labels the different cliques, Mean Girls-style), and struggles to reconcile her parents’ expectations with her passion for caped crusaders.

Yet those latter two handily combine: when she adds her grandmother’s traditional bangles to her Captain Marvel costume, Khan is suddenly able to manipulate cosmic energy. It’s all connected to a trauma from her family’s past, during the Partition of India – a clever way of anchoring the MacGuffin to their specific, and affecting, heritage.

That’s a significant change from the source material, in which Khan could shape-shift and “embiggen” her body. Instead, she shoots out blueish-purple light that hardens into solid blocks, allowing her to create mini-platforms in mid-air to jump upon. Occasionally different body parts light up: she has to make a fast exit from class when her nose starts to glow.

The SFX is decent in these opening two episodes, and this version of her abilities offers promising versatility action-wise, plus it connects Khan to her similarly energy-harnessing idol. In fact, Captain Marvel (played on the big screen by Brie Larson) began life as Ms Marvel, and the pair will join forces in the 2023 blockbuster sequel The Marvels.

© Provided by The Telegraph (L-R): Mohan Kapur as Yusuf, Vellani as Kamala, Saagar Shaikh as Aamir, and Nimra Bucha as Najma - Disney+

I apologise – it’s impossible to avoid using the “M” word. And that’s the downside here. Since Khan is a superfan of the super-crew (just like Kate Bishop in Hawkeye), the entertainment juggernaut can use this as a six-episode commercial for other Marvel properties, while enticing a new generation of ticket-buyers via its young-audience-skewing hi-jinks.

Khan longs to attend AvengerCon, a fictional fan convention which, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently suggested, might actually become a reality. Spider-Man star Tom Holland even popped over to the AvengerCon set to worship at the altar of Marvel. Surely that’s the ultimate ouroboros? It also muddles the identity of a show which is, ironically, about believing in yourself.

Thankfully, luminous newcomer Vellani transcends this brand synergy. She makes Khan a warm, funny, awkward, brilliantly relatable heroine who faces bullies, slurps slushies and frets about college applications – and the future generally. It’s an endearing coming-of-age portrait, where change is both scary and thrilling.

This dreamer is inspired by legendary heroes and expresses herself through art, and the show follows suit with delightfully jaunty visual flourishes. Like Netflix’s Heartstopper, the live action is peppered with colourful animation – so sketches pop up on the sides of buildings, Khan’s crush, Kamran, is surrounded by little flames, and text messages appear in the stars on her bedroom ceiling. Imagination fuels her new powers too: she describes them as feeling like “an idea come to life.”

An eclectic soundtrack reflects this cultural fusion, bouncing from The Weeknd’s Blinding Light to Pakistani pop song Ko Ko Korina. However, there’s also some blunt commentary, particularly from Khan’s friend, Nakia, who monologues on her hijab-wearing and, fed up with their school syllabus, complains that history is “written by the oppressors.” It’s also frustrating that Islam is, on the whole, portrayed as repressive and in conflict with contemporary Western values – an oft-told and narrow story.

Still, after Ewan McGregor was forced to defend his Obi-Wan Kenobi castmate Moses Ingram from racist attacks last week – sadly an ongoing problem in Star Wars and many other fandoms – it’s heartening to see Marvel put its might behind this much-needed representation. Even if it’s a cynical move to keep expanding the MCU fandom, at least this charming series welcomes everyone in.

Ms Marvel is on Disney+ now

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Meet Ms Marvel from Pakistan

Director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy believes the show is a moment of celebration for Pakistan.

Mohammad Kamran Jawaid   

This writer is envious of Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. No, not because she has two Oscars, four Emmys and a Marvel series to her credit; that’s something to be proud about. I’m envious of something else: Sharmeen’s stamina.

Flying in and out of cities and countries, Sharmeen is either on a plane, in a car, at an event, on the sets, producing, and now directing. Although prompt when replying to messages, Sharmeen’s management often shifts our phone calls and interviews anywhere between minutes to hours later. That she’s busy is an understatement.

Sharmeen laughs when I mention her schedule. It will get rougher still, one assumes, with the release of her live-action directorial debut on Marvel’s next high-profile series, Ms. Marvel — a six-episode Disney+ series that makes its Pakistan-exclusive cinema release via Pakistani distributor HKC as three, two-hour-long movies.

While the show debuts on June 8, Pakistani audiences can see the movies on June 16 (episodes 1 and 2), June 30 (episodes 3 and 4) and July 14 (episodes 5 and 6), Hammad Chaudhry, the chief of HKC, tells Icon. The move, as anyone can guess, stems from the fact that Disney+ has still to make its Pakistan debut (the service is in India as Disney-Hotstar).

Ms Marvel is not just about cheering for a brown-skinned super-heroine; it’s about representing a culture and country to the world

Ms. Marvel is a relatively new superhero in Marvel comics’ catalogue of superpowered humans. The brainchild of Marvel editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker, writer G. Willow Wilson and artists Adrian Alphona and Jamie McKelvie, Kamala is Marvel’s first Muslim character to headline her own comic book.

Originally, the moniker of Ms. Marvel belonged to Carol Danvers. However, she is not the same character, or has the same power-set as Carol, who is played in the cinematic universe by Brie Larson. Making her debut in Captain Marvel, issue 14 in 2013, and six months later, starring in her solo comic, Ms. Marvel, Kamala is a polymorph — she can elongate her body, change her size and even morph into people. Think of her as a blend of Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four and Ant-Man from Avengers.

What makes Kamala truly distinct is that she is a teenager with an American-Pakistani heritage. Living in Jersey City, Kamala is an equivalent of Peter Parker — she’s a young girl from middle class/lower-middle class society (Parker was from Queens), who has yet to figure herself out, and who is thrust into the world of super-heroics.

Also, for once, the character’s religion and ethnicity are not used as a crux or impediment.

Amanat, herself an American-Pakistani, was born in Jersey City and, given the character’s comic-book history, the relevance of having a Muslim and Pakistani creative pool was not lost on Marvel Studios.

The show pushes the envelope when it comes to racial diversity; it’s not just about “brown skins”. Ms. Marvel has a strong representation of Pakistani talent.

Other than Sharmeen, who is helming two episodes (the other four episodes are directed by other directors), the series is ‘created’ (ie. developed) for Disney+ by Bisha K. Ali, a British-Pakistani comedian and screenwriter (she wrote Loki’s episode Lamentis), and headlines Iman Vellani, a Canadian-Pakistani, as Kamala.

Pakistan’s own homegrown talent also has quite a bit of visibility in the marquee, Icon has learned through official and unofficial sources.

Receiving official press statements by HKC, Icon has proof that the roster includes Vellani, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Fawad Khan, Laurel Marsden, Arian Moayed, Adaku Ononogbo, Alysia Reiner, Azhar Usman, Laith Nakli, Nimra Bucha, Travina Springer and Aramis Knight.

The list almost kills speculations by officially acknowledging Nimra Buccha and Fawad Khan’s involvement in the series. Mehwish Hayat’s involvement, however, has not been acknowledged nor denied by either Sharmeen or Hammad, and no actor, be it Mehwish Hayat, Fawad Khan or Nimra Buccha, have gotten back to Icon with any confirmation, presumably because of the studio’s iron-clad contracts.

A little legwork (well, phone work) via this writer’s own sources have verified that Mehwish has a prominent role in the series — so, count this as an unofficial confirmation, until the actress finally shows up in an episode. Nimra Buccha apparently has an even more juicy role, we hear, as the main villain.

What characters these actors — officially announced, or otherwise — are playing, remain ambiguous, and again, neither Sharmeen nor Hammad have given an iota of information to this publication (because of the iron-clad contracts, one assumes).

Sharmeen and Hammad, however, believe that this is a moment of celebration for Pakistan. With Ms. Marvel, Pakistan is finally represented in a fair, unpolitical, uncontroversial light. Like this writer wrote above, the project is not just about the celebration of a racial inclusivity — it is about the inclusivity of a country. The opportunity to be a part of such a project was just too good to pass, Sharmeen tells Icon.

Primarily a documentary filmmaker, Sharmeen has been dabbling a little bit with narrative-work since the 3 Bahadur films and Sitara, she explains, but for the most part the producer-director wanted to “stay true to my ethos” by telling stories that matter, that make people think, and change the way we see issues.

Then sometime in 2020, she found out that Ms. Marvel was looking for directors.

“For the first time I thought to myself: this is a project I would love to be a part of because it is a story that matters. [Kamala] is brown, she is South Asian, she has Pakistani roots and she’s a Muslim,” Sharmeen said, adding that Marvel’s decision to add a superhero like Kamala gives “brown girls, minorities, and so many people around that world a chance to see a reflection of themselves in the character.”

“More importantly,” Sharmeen adds, “as a Pakistani woman I know the importance of having representation of language, food, clothes, music [in a big project like Ms. Marvel], and how that can help shape the world’s perspective of a culture and country.”

In a big studio enterprise, where everything is planned to a T, how does one find their voice, I enquire.

As far as creative inputs go, Marvel Studios gave her carte blanche, she tells me. The director scouted her locations, worked with VFX, stunt crews and second unit directors when it came to the look and feel of her scenes, and how she saw a particular power play out.

“The most important thing that Marvel did was put me with a team of extremely talented people who had worked in the business, who knew Marvel really well,” Sharmeen explains (her second unit director was Gary Powell, whose filmography includes Morbius, Ready Player One, Spectre and Skyfall).

Her “orientation” with Marvel came in the three-month long pre-production stage, where she spent a lot of time with each production department, informing them about what she thought they should do in terms of representing Pakistani culture and, in turn, being informed on what was possible, and how her ideas could be incorporated.

From the get-go, production designer Christopher Glass was very attuned to the differences between Pakistani and Indian cultures, even though the cultures overlap in South Asian homes in places such as Jersey City.

“The colours in the wall-hangings, the decor that exist on sets, that is what you find in the Pakistani middle class living in New Jersey,” Sharmeen explains. The costumes, by Arjun Bhasin, are also extremely authentic to Pakistani, and Pakistani immigrants’, culture.

“Arjun has done a wonderful job in creating that sort of dichotomy. Once you are an immigrant and living in Jersey, you are also influenced by cultures from India and Bangladesh. You pick up your sweets from Bengali sweet makers, you buy something from an Indian shop, and I think that authentic depiction of cultures is beautiful, because this is a story about being a Muslim, Pakistani immigrant in Jersey, but it’s also about being South Asian.”

Talking about Iman Vellani, Sharmeen says that “she is Kamala Khan — she lights up the screen when you see her. She brings an authentic voice as a first-generation Pakistani immigrant to North America, and her experiences are very similar to Kamala’s experiences.”

Readers of the comic-book can understand that aspect, but viewers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe can appreciate the details when the series comes to Pakistani cinemas. For once, the story is not just about cheering for the heroes; it’s about representing a culture and country to the world.

Originally published in Dawn, ICON, May 22nd, 2022