The trailer has been released for Kamala Khan, the heroine of Marvel’s upcoming “Ms. Marvel” series—the MCU’s first-ever Muslim superhero.
In the trailer, Marvel fans meet Kamala (played by Iman Vellani), a Muslim, Pakistani-American high schooler from New Jersey. The teen has fantasies about becoming one of the superheroes she idolizes. It soon becomes a reality when she begins to take down the city’s villains.
Kamala was introduced in comics in 2013. She then received her own series.
“The fact that the show is being made and they’re including this character in the MCU is [what’s important]. I don’t really have to go out of my way and talk about being a Muslim and being Pakistani — it all comes out in the show. People seeing a person like me involved in a project as big as this is, I think, inspiring enough,” Vellani told Variety.
Series creator Bisha K. Ali serves as the series’ executive producer and head writer.
The first few phases of Marvel have been criticized for not being diverse enough. Characters are color were largely used as support staff to white protagonists.
The record-breaking success of “Black Panther,” and calls for better representation led to more meaningful change.
Phase 4 saw a shift in the direction of the MCU rollouts.
The series “WandaVision” was released. Several other projects led by people of color followed shortly, including “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “Black Panther 2,” “The Eternals,” and “Ironheart.”
Marvel Studios President and Marvel Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige praised the company’s progression.
“When you’re doing a story about a female lawyer who is giant and green [She-Hulk], or a Muslim teenager with superpowers in Jersey City [Ms. Marvel], or working with filmmakers and writers of color as we are — it’s so prevalent and so much a part of who we are and what we do now, that it doesn’t seem abnormal,” he told the publication. “It’s no longer a headline. A woman is directing something! Wow! I hope this will become the norm to the extent that this is no longer a rarity.”
