These Marvel Disney+ Series Creators Became Friends in the MCU
The Marvel Cinematic Universe makes superhero friends when they unite as The Avengers, or enemies if they fight in the Civil War. The people who make Marvel television form their own sort of TV Avengers. Ms. Marvel Head Writer Bisha K. Ali said she became friends with many of the other Marvel Disney+ head writers.
Ali was a guest on The Hollywood Reporter’s TV’s Top Five podcast on July 15 to discuss the season finale of Ms. Marvel. In discussing the show’s development, Ali named some of the other Marvel head writers with whom she became close.
Marvel Disney+ writers worked closely together, literally
Each Marvel Disney+ show had its own team of writers. Inasmuch as they all connected, each team was privy to what came before. But literally, they were in the same building while multiple shows were in development, so they all became friends. Ali was a writer on Loki before heading Ms. Marvel.
“What was happening in that building was the Loki writers room was in one conference room,” Ali said on TV’s Top Five. “Across the hall was The Falcon and the Winter Soldier writers room. I think there was a few weeks delay between all of us. Then there was another room over here which was WandaVision was next door to us. Oh my goodness, I was always trying to listen in on their room. As a result of that, we were all the first round of writers rooms taking place that Marvel Studios had done for television. So there was a little bit of spicy energy going around.”
‘Ms. Marvel,’ ‘WandaVision,’ ‘She-Hulk’ and ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ heads became friends
Ali said her friendships with fellow Marvel writers would continue after their series were completed.
“As a result, I kind of got to build a relationship with Jac Schaeffer who was on WandaVision and some of the other writers too,” Ali said. “Since then building a relationship with Jessica Gao who’s the head writer on She-Hulk. [Falcon and the Winter Soldier Head Writer] Malcolm Spellman reached out to me when I got the job on Ms. Marvel.”
Mentorship made ‘Ms. Marvel’ what it was
Ali credits those writers with helping her lead the Ms. Marvel writers room. She discussed some of the personal, Pakistani touches she brought to the show and some of the MCU crossovers, but Ali credits her mentors with shepherding her through.
“That kind of cross-pollination of advice and also my experience level certainly in the U.S. compared to them is much different, that mentorship for me was so helpful,” Ali said. “Part of me being around in that first phase of television also got me familiar with everything, got me familiar with the process and also meant that I could connect with these people who would really help me through creating this show.”
