The Marvel Cinematic Universe has found its Ms Marvel.
Canadian newcomer Iman Vellani has been cast as Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel, who will star in her own Disney+ series before interacting with the MCU.
Ms Marvel will be the MCU’s first Muslim superhero. Kamala Khan was first introduced in Captain Marvel #14 in 2013 as a teenage Pakistani American from New Jersey who is obsessed with superheroes, and discovers she has shapeshifting powers.
She then adopts the mantle of Ms Marvel, a name previously used by her idol Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel.
Kamala Khan then spun off into her own series in 2014, and quickly became a fan favourite. It was the first time a Muslim character had headlines a Marvel comic book.
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The character recently appeared in the Marvel’s Avengers video game, acting as a POV character to introduce the rest of the team to the player.
Ms Marvel has also appeared in several animated series, including Avengers Assemble and Marvel Future Avengers.
18-year-old Iman Vellani is a mostly unknown as an actress, but she was part of Next Wave Committee at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, which was involved with highlighting films that increased diversity at the festival.
Several directors have already been announced for the Ms Marvel show including Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, (who previously made Bad Boys For Life), Meera Menon and Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. It will be written by Bisha K. Ali.
It comes following the news that 2020 will be the first year since 2009 where there will not be a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie released.
Black Widow was originally meant to come out in May, but then was put back to November, and then moved again last week to May 2021.
Eternals had a November release planned at first, though it was believed that Black Widow was going to take its slot after the first delay. It is now scheduled for November 2021.
