Once Moon Knight wraps up next month, Marvel fans will soon get to meet another new MCU hero in the form of Kamala Khan. Upcoming Disney Plus series Ms. Marvel will introduce the New Jersey native, the very first Muslim superhero in the franchise, who’s has been a major hit with fans since her comic book debut back in 2014. In the series, Iman Vellani will be the one to bring her to life.
The studio must’ve conducted an exhaustive search to find the MCU’s latest lead, but it sounds like there was only ever one choice thanks to the uncanny way that Vellani mirrored her character. While speaking to Empire, Kamala’s co-creator Sana Amanat, who was heavily involved the show, revealed that the 19-year-old actress was a shoe-in for the role from her Zoom audition alone… because she revealed just how much of an MCU expert she was.
“She showed me every corner of her room, and it was covered with Avengers,” Amanat recalled. “Then she said, ‘Oh wait, I’m not done’, opened up her closet, and there was more Marvel everywhere.”
This unbridled enthusiasm is something that’s at the core of Kamala’s personality, as Amanat went on to stress that Ms. Marvel isn’t as polished as the rest of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
“She’s not as slick and suave as some superheroes,” she explained. “It’s not like when Captain America throws his shield and it comes back. She’s all over the place. I’m excited for people to get to know her.”
As fans will know, Kamala idolizes Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, but in real life, Vellani’s actually obsessed with the filmmaking side of the Marvel universe. Amanat revealed that her IRL hero is Marvel president Kevin Feige — which is something that probably didn’t hurt her chances of getting cast!
“She gave me a list of feedback on every single Marvel movie,” Amanat concluded. “Kevin Feige is like her Carol Danvers.”
Just like Tom Holland before her, Vellani is someone who’s young enough to have grown up with the MCU, so it’s unsurprising that the actress has opened up before about just how much it means to her to be joining the saga herself as part of the next generation of heroes. She’s even set to team up with Larson’s Carol, not to mention Teyonah Parris’ Photon, in 2023’s The Marvels. Expect Vellani to be sticking around the MCU for a long while to come.
Ms. Marvel blasts onto Disney Plus this June 8.
