Another Asian Canadian is joining the Marvel Universe!
Iman Vellani has officially been cast as Ms. Marvel — Marvel Studios’ first onscreen Muslim superhero.
Deadline reports the 18-year-old Canadian newcomer from Markham, Ont. will play Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teenager in New Jersey, in a Disney+ series based on the comic-book character.
“Ms. Marvel” is the brainchild of writer Bisha K. Ali. The character first appeared in 2014 as Marvel’s first Muslim character to star in her own title.
Though this is Vellani’s first major role, she has already been working towards diversifying the film industry and was part of the Toronto International Film Festival’s 2019 Next Wave Committee — a group of 12 Toronto teens who gave stamps of approval to movies they considered important to youth today.
“We want stories from different genders and different countries and different people,” Vellani told CBC News at the time. ”I think that’s really important because then people are going to understand each other. Even if they can’t relate to it, you learn from it … Our big goal is to just help people understand other perspectives.”
Vellani took to Instagram to celebrate the big news, writing, “Speechless and excited! Wish me luck.
She received a congratulatory tweet from fellow Marvel stars, Kumail Nanjiani and Simu Liu, who are set to star in The Eternals and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, respectively.
Congratulations Iman Vellani! Your work is going to mean so much to so many people, myself included. I can’t wait.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) September 30, 2020
Congratulations to Iman!
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