Behind-the-Scenes Photo of Iman Vellani Has ‘Ms. Marvel’ Fans Extra Hyped
The next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t confining itself to the cinema. It’s also looking to dominate on a streaming platform.
Disney+ is rolling out several big-name characters for their own series over the next few years. WandaVision, Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Loki, and She-Hulk are just a few of the many shows coming to the app.
Another series coming to Disney+ is Ms. Marvel. The role will be played by a young woman named Iman Vellani. Fans are excited about this development for many reasons, and a recent behind the scene photo has them extra hyped about it. So who is Vellani, who is the character she’s playing, and why are MCU fans so pumped?
Who is Iman Vellani?
Ms. Marvel will be a Disney+ series that will star Vellani in the lead role. According to Newsweek, Vellani is an 18-year-old Muslim woman from Ontario, Canada. It’s a bit of historic casting, as Vellani will portray the first-ever Muslim superhero in the MCU.
The casting represents a new era of representation for Marvel. With its post-Infinity Saga run of films, Marvel is clearly making an attempt to get more diverse both in front of and behind the camera. While there have been some progressive casting and creative decisions made already to be sure, this will be yet another barrier Marvel has knocked down. Entertainment Tonight Online reported that actor and fellow MCU alum Kumail Nanjiani, star of the upcoming film The Eternals, reached out to Vellani to congratulate her in a tweet:
“I just saw they cast Ms. Marvel and legit got teary eyed…Congratulations Iman Vellani! Your work is going to mean so much to so many people, myself included. I can’t wait.”
It’s Vellani’s first major role, and it will also be the first time Ms. Marvel is portrayed onscreen. So what’s the story behind the character Vellani will be playing?
Who is Kamala Khan?
According to the official Marvel website, Ms. Marvel (aka Kamala Khan) is a Pakistani-American woman from Jersey City. The website says she went through an “Inhuman transformation” that gives her the ability to change her size and shape. Along with being Pakistani-American, she’s also Muslim, which is fairly groundbreaking for a comic book character.
Khan looks to Captain Marvel as her mentor. She possesses “near-encyclopedic knowledge” about her fellow heroes, the Avengers. She’s also an Inhuman, the same superhero group that was the focus of a failed ABC show set in the MCU. It’s not clear whether the MCU will refer to her as an Inhuman or if she’ll get her powers from a different source.
The behind the scenes photo of Iman Vellani that has ‘Ms. Marvel’ fans extra hyped
The MCU is so popular that every new project tends to get dissected by fans online. Ms. Marvel is no different. One Reddit thread dedicated to discussing behind the scenes pictures of the show’s set demonstrated just how thrilled MCU fans are about this series. One poster said it best:
“Very excited for this! Always been a fan of Kamala even if I haven’t read a whole lot of her comics. And it looks like we can see a bit of her costume in that roof shot!”
Marvel fans tend to highly anticipate every new project, but this is a bit different. This isn’t just another sequel. This is a relatively new character getting an opportunity to shine on the big screen for the first time. It’s a chance to give the fans something a little different. It’s giving them a diverse, talented cast. It’s no wonder that the photos of Vellani on set left fans curious to see more.
