Ms. Marvel — aka Kamala Khan — may seem as different as a character can get from the MCU’s late technical genius, Tony Stark. After all, how much in common do a nano-armored genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and a cosmically-powered high school kid have in common? But Marvel actor Iman Vellani says their differences are only skin (or armor) deep.
While Ms. Marvel will tell the story of how Khan receives her powers, and her struggles to live the life of a superhero and a member of her devout Muslim family, the trailers indicate that one of the series’ themes will be what it means to be good, and what exactly a hero is. “Do you want to be good?” she is asked in the latest trailer. To Vellani, that theme immediately evoked the struggles of OG Marvel hero Iron Man. Vellani said as much in her recent Elite Daily profile:
“Obviously, Tony Stark, a middle-aged white dude and me, a 16 year-old brown kid — they’re not the same thing. But I related to a lot of his inner conflict of what does it mean to do the right thing and be a good person? And how can you be a good person when you’ve done so much wrong, and how do you eradicate those errors?”
– Iman Vellani
It comes as no surprise that Vellani the actor would find inspiration in the character of Tony Stark; the Canadian native has already outed herself as one of the biggest actual Marvel superfans on the current talent roster, proclaiming her love for both the movies and their comic book sources. Tony Stark/Iron Man also happens to be Vellani’s favorite character. So much so that she can’t bring herself to watch Avengers: Endgame and actually witness the character’s onscreen death. “I think part of me has died forever, honestly,” she told Elite Daily regarding Stark’s apparent departure from the franchise.
Fans only have a few hours to wait to see how Kamala Khan handles the problems of superhero-ing. Ms. Marvel premieres on Disney Plus on Wednesday at midnight.
