Ms. Marvel has been found. Disney and Marvel Studios have cast 18-year-old newcomer Iman Vellani to play the lead in the eponymous Disney+ Marvel series, which will air on Disney+ Hotstar in India. Vellani will make her Hollywood debut in playing Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teenager from New Jersey. That makes her the first Muslim superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After debuting in Ms. Marvel, Vellani is expected to appear in future MCU movies as well.
Deadline first brought word of Vellani’s casting as Ms. Marvel, which the 18-year-old Canadian confirmed on her newly-created Instagram account shortly after. Vellani wrote: “Speechless and excited! Wish me luck. ❤️ #msmarvel”. Neither Disney nor Marvel Studios have commented.
Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani, a Pakistani-American himself, tweeted: “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.”
There’s no word on plot details though Ms. Marvel will likely draw from the work of her creators: editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker, writer G. Willow Wilson, and artists Adrian Alphona and Jamie McKelvie. Kamala first appeared in a Captain Marvel comic book in 2013 before taking over the mantle of Ms. Marvel in early 2014.
Captain Marvel star Brie Larson has previously expressed her interest in starring alongside Kamala Khan in a potential film sequel. That could very well happen as Captain Marvel 2 is slated for a July 2022 release date.
The Disney+ series will be the first live-action appearance for Kamala Khan. She was most recently part of the Marvel’s Avengers game, where she was voiced by Sandra Saad.
Bisha K. Ali (Four Weddings and a Funeral TV show) is the creator and writer on Ms. Marvel. (She simply tweeted an emoji in response to Vellani’s casting.) Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys for Life), Oscar-winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Saving Face), and Meera Menon (Farah Goes Bang) are set as directors.
Ms. Marvel is expected to release in 2022 on Disney+ Hotstar. It is one of nine Disney+ Marvel series, alongside WandaVision (December), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), Loki (spring 2021), What If…? (summer 2021), Hawkeye, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk (2022), and an untitled Nick Fury series (TBA).