Interview with Marvel’s One and Only Muslim Superhero Set To Star in Historic Disney Show
Ms. Marvel herself, Pakistani Canadian Iman Vellani, tells AMT about her exciting debut acting role, as the show is due to premiere on June 8.
Marvel Studios is introducing their first Pakistani Muslim superhero to the screen in a Disney Plus series.
Ms. Marvel is Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old girl from New Jersey, who happens to be the ultimate Captain Marvel and Avengers fan. Adapted from the comic books created by G. Willow Wilson and Sana Amanat, the brown girl from Jersey will overcome the challenges of high school, strict parents and newly acquired superpowers.
Iman Vellani, who was born in Pakistan, is making her career debut as Kamala Khan. Much like Kamala, Vellani is also a huge fan of all things Marvel. This energy and excitement translates as Vellani tells AMT about how life imitates art and then some.
Q: You're playing the first Muslim superhero, how does it feel? Does it feel as momentous and historic to you, as it does for so many people, especially Muslims?
Iman Vellani: I know how important and monumental this is, but I don't feel it. I honestly, I truly think that the work is going to speak for itself. I just I want to enjoy everything day by day and everything as it comes in, and relish in just the fact that this is my job, and I get to work with so many incredibly talented creatives. And yeah, I you know, there's a lot of weight that comes with being the first of anything. And so I just don't want to get my head too buried deep into all that and every thing that comes with it, but honestly, the responses from so many Muslim and South Asian people have just been incredible. The response within my own family has been incredible. So just knowing that they're happy, makes me super happy.
Q: While you were filming, did you feel you were drawing from your own cultural and life experiences in playing this role? Or were you able to compartmentalize this as an acting role?
Vellani: Let me tell you, there was very little acting in this role. Like, it was really just me being excited about things and channeling a lot of, you know, my stories from growing up before we started even filming the show. Our directors, Adil and Bilall, and our producers would just hop on calls with me and ask me questions about growing up in my life, and it was just so wonderful that they took the time to really get to hear from a kid who did grow up in this generation, you know. I was 17 when I got cast; the character is 16, and so they realized that they are, you know, a little older and they did definitely use me as a resource and just getting Kamala as a character to be as specific as possible. So, yeah, a lot of it all the way from like, the school scenes, to some of the Nakia interactions and mosque scenes was very much inspired by the way I react to things and how in touch with my culture I am. So, yeah, it was really important that we kind of made her as realistic and authentic as possible.
Q: I heard you're a big Avengers fan, big Marvel fan. So what was it like going from being a fan of Marvel to being part of the Marvel Universe? And what do you feel your character brings to this whole world of superheroes?
Vellani: Yeah, I kind of feel like, I still am a fan, but with priority access to the Marvel Universe. I am like, just, you know, going to work and playing around. It's like I'm at a Marvel Museum. AvengerCon especially, it just blew my mind and I was so excited. And all of that was channeled into the scenes and, you know, we just wanted to make Kamala’s real life excitement and fascination about the Avengers so infectious and relatable to real life MCU fans, because this is what the show ultimately is. It's a love letter to fan culture and fandoms. And so, yeah, we're so happy that we could kind of showcase all of this and I think Kamala is introducing an entirely new perspective into the MCU. You know, what does a 16 year old kid from Jersey City know about the Avengers? What do they know about the Guardians? Like do they know who they are? It's just a lot of fun questions we get to answer and, realizing the impact that these real life heroes within the MCU canon, the Avengers, have on young kids and just them wanting to be superheroes because it's a real life thing in their world. You know, it's not just for us where they’re characters in the comics, in the MCU, they’re actual figures, and so, yeah. Kamala definitely goes on an entire self discovery journey of kind of coming out of being a watered down version of Captain Marvel, to becoming her own version of a superhero.
