Muslim Teen Actress Iman Vellani Is Cast as Ms. Marvel

Marvel Studios, one of the — if not the — most impressive names in the superheroine genre of entertainment, made headlines in recent years for their plans to add Ms. Marvel — a Pakistani-American, Muslim female superhero who first appeared in her own comic in 2014 — to their impressive roster of characters on screen. In late September, the news broke that his historic feat is even closer to becoming a reality; according to Deadline, 18-year-old Canadian actress Iman Vellani has been cast as Kamala Khan (aka Ms. Marvel) in her first major Hollywood role in an upcoming Disney+ series and future Marvel movies.

Many actors who portray Marvel characters chimed in on the casting. Mark Ruffalo, who plays the Hulk, expressed excitement about the addition, while Kumail Nanjiani and Simu Liu, two actors of color who are also new to the Marvel roster and who will headline their own movies coming in 2021 (Eternals and Shang-Chi respectively), championed Marvel for their commitment to diversifying the stories they tell.

In much the same way Kamala Khan is a trailblazer, Vellani is a pioneer in her own right; at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, Vellani was part of the Next Wave Committee, a group of young people tasked with tagging films that would resonate with a young and diverse audience. “We want stories from different genders and different countries and different people,” Vellani told the CBC of the committee. “I think that’s really important because then people are going to understand each other. Even if they can’t relate to it, you learn from it,” she added. “Our big goal is to just help people understand other perspectives.”

In addition to the threats of mega-villains and mass destruction that often serve as conflicts in Marvel movies and comics, Kamala Khan’s story is about life as a teenager in middle-class, urban America. Her religion is never a burden, but celebrated as part of her identity. She is portrayed as a fully realized character — hero, teenager, and young woman — without being beholden to the usual pitfalls that Hollywood often uses to box in its Muslim characters — especially its female Muslim characters, which, as Sheraz Farooqi pointed out in The Hollywood Reporter in 2019, is an “even narrower” representation than that of Muslim men, who are “often pigeonholed into a villainous stereotype.” Muslim women are typically represented as either “a frightened woman in a burka or a belly-dancer,” Farooqi added.

This nuanced representation is why the Muslim community has championed the progression of Marvel’s committment to portraying Ms. Marvel since her comic debut. “When Ms. Marvel makes her debut on Disney+, it may be a game changer,” Farooqi continued. “For the first time, Muslims Americans may see a series that attempts to capture the daily trials, tribulations, joys and challenges that come with living in America.”

Especially in the midst of Hollywood’s ongoing reckoning about diversity in its industry, it’s meaningful that Marvel is investing its incredible resources in showcasing nonwhite superheroes. Given the near-impenetrable infrastructure that Marvel has created, it’s likely that the new characters they introduce to the public will be met with critical and commercial success.

In addition to the Ms. Marvel Disney+ series, the character will be debuting fighting alongside the Avengers in a video game adaptation of the popular film series. It’s another step in a long, similarly overdue line of decisions supporting diversity from the studio. Marvel will release Shang-Chi, the aforementioned film starring Simu Liu, in 2021, giving an Asian actor the chance to lead his own film. Mahershala Ali will be the first Muslim actor to lead a blockbuster superhero film in the upcoming movie Blade. And Brie Larson and the late Chadwick Boseman also broke barriers by portraying Captain Marvel and Black Panther respectively, proving diverse superheroes could garner critical and commercial success.