Ms. Marvel isn’t just a Marvel superhero. She’s also a Marvel superfan. …
Ms. Marvel isn’t just a Marvel superhero. She’s also a Marvel superfan. This is one reason why Kamala Khan connected with so many readers when she debuted back in 2014: if you were reading a Marvel comic, then you could at least relate to Kamala fan-to-fan. This uniquely Kamala character trait made the leap from the page to the screen in Disney+’s Ms. Marvel, giving Marvel Studios a teen hero with a totally new vibe. Yeah, Spider-Man also looked up to the Avengers, but was Peter Parker making superhero explainer videos before he got the radioactive spider bite? I think not. Anyway — this is one reason why newcomer Iman Vellani was perfect for the part: she’s as big of a Marvel fan as Ms. Marvel. Take it from Ms. Marvel executive producer Sana Amanat, the Marvel Comics editor who co-created Kamala Khan back in 2013. Amanat first met Vellani during her second audition call, which was held virtually due to 2020 being 2020. “When I met her, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I love her. I want it to be her because she’s such a nerd. She’s such a fan’,” said Amanat. Even if she’d wanted to, Vellani could not play down her fandom because it was plastered all over her bedroom walls.
