An 18-year-old Vellani, hailing from Canada will be seen in a Marvel movie as a first Muslim super-hero. Marvel had earlier named Pakistani Oscar-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy as one of the directors for the Disney+ show along with Meera Menon, Bilall Fallah, and Adil El Arbi.
Ms. Marvel is about a Pakistani-American 16-year-old based in New Jersey who looks up to Captain Marvel aka Carol Danvers. In the midst of her normal life as a teenager, Kamala discovers her superpowers which include, shapeshifting, invulnerability, and elasticity. By using her prior knowledge of superheroes, she goes on to become one of the fiercest crime fighters.
The character was created by G. Willow Wilson for a comic books series that debuted in 2014. Wilson posted her congratulations to Vellani on Twitter, adding that “she is the real deal”.
The comics have been hailed as been a sensitive exploration of being Muslim in America, while also dealing with the challenges of coming-of-age and having superpowers. Wilson is Muslim.
Vellani isn’t the first Canadian to be joining the MCU family with reports last month Orphan Black Emmy winner Tatiana Maslany had been cast as She-Hulk.
After the critical and commercial success of Black Panther, the studio has greenlit a number of projects with culturally diverse casts.