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Ms. Marvel: Biggest Questions About New MCU Show, Answered

TThe debut of Kamala Khan (a.k.a. Kamala the New Hero) is the highlight of the latest TV show in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ms. Marvel. Six episodes of the series will be shown on Disney+ June 8, and tell the story Kamala, a 16-year old superhero and Captain Marvel fan.. But it’s also about her Muslim Pakistani American immigrant family in Jersey City and how they navigate questions about identity and belonging.

Ms. MarvelIman Vellani, a Pakistani actor from Canada plays Kamala. Also featured are appearances by Fawad Khan and Nimra Bucha (both Pakistani actresses) and Farhan Akhtar (Bollywood actor). “It was very important to us to have authentic voices from Pakistan play the characters,” says Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, an Oscar-winning Pakistani documentarian who directed two episodes.

Kamala sets up the show’s premise in the first episode, telling her best friend Bruno Carrelli, “Let’s be honest. It’s not really the brown girls from Jersey City who save the world.” But as the show unfolds, it turns out, it is.

Here are some answers to the most pressing questions. Ms. Marvel.

What is the best place to find it? Ms. MarvelAre you a member of the MCU?

Ms. Marvel It takes place approximately one year to two years after the events of Avengers: Endgame.Vellani will make her MCU screen debut on the big-screen in MarvelsA film called “Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel and Monica Rambeau” is being released for 2023. WandaVision.

Where can you find it? Ms. Marvel And Captain Marvel connected?

2014. Ms. Marvel comics that followed the character’s debut appearance the previous year, Kamala grows up admiring Captain Marvel, says co-creator Sama Amanat, who also executive-produced the show. “She ends up taking on her moniker because she wants to be so much like her and she’s morphing to look like her and we have hints of that in the show too,” Amanat says. “When Kamala gets her powers, what does she do? She tries to act like Captain Marvel.”

In the comics, Kamala first appears in a storyline with Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel’s civilian identity, but is seen as a voiceless character in the background. Before she becomes Captain Marvel, Danvers’ initial superhero moniker is Ms. Marvel, and not long after Kamala’s first appearance, she becomes the new Ms. Marvel.

Kamala loves Captain Marvel and is an avid fan of the Avengers in this show. The show’s pilot hinges on Kamala trying to cosplay as her favorite superhero at Avenger Con. Although her parents rejected the idea at first, she later accepted it under some conditions.

Captain Marvel, one of only a few female Avengers in the MCU is Captain Marvel. Amanat explains that Kamala’s fascination with Captain Marvel is especially rooted in the elder superhero’s having blasted through an alien ship and almost taking out Thanos, as depicted in Finale. “That’s why she looks up to her so much and is like—oh I want to be just like that. There are superheroes all over the globe. Why can’t I be a part of it?” Amanat says.

Which TV shows and comics are different?

The origin and nature of Kamala’s superpowers in the comics and in the show are noticeably distinct.

Kamala, in the comics, receives her abilities after she is exposed to Terrigen Mist. This gives Kamala the ability to stretch out and compress her body. The TV series shows that the powers are attributed to a mysterious Pakistani bangle. There’s a scene in which her arms stretch out—a clear nod to the comics—but she can also use her fists to shoot out platforms, which she can climb, effectively walking on air.

Amanat explained that the bangle allows Kamala to unlock her powers. “A cool thing the writers did was they linked the powers to something related to her past we thought would be very meaningful, and that was a smart way of talking about the metaphor of empowerment and linking that to heritage.”

Some comics fans have been a bit irritated by this deviation from the comics. Vellani gave his opinion during an interview. SFX magazine, saying she was less concerned with the technicalities of Ms. Marvel’s powers and more interested in her growth as a person. “I think we stay true to what the comics brought. The themes have always been about identity and about marrying the 50 million things that make Kamala,” Vellani said. “For all I care, she could shoot sausages out of her fingers, as long as she still goes on that self-discovery journey.”

Kevin Feige is the President of Marvel Studios. Empire MagazineFind out why her abilities were changed. “We adapt the comics; it’s not an exact translation,” he said. “[Kamala]She was born at a specific moment in the comic-book continuity. This is her moment in MCU continuity. And those two things didn’t match.”

What does it take? Ms. MarvelHow can you approach Pakistani or Muslim culture?

Pakistani audiences will particularly be familiar with music, films, fabrics, food, and other elements of the show. You will find references to Baazigar, one of Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan’s movies, as well as popular songs from Pakistani artists, such as “Peechay Hutt,” from musicians Hasan Raheem, the Justin Bibis, and Talal Qureshi. “We’re finally letting the world into the secret that it’s quite cool to be South Asian, that our music, our food, our culture, our textiles are very, vibrant, rich, and special,” says Obaid-Chinoy.

Amanat notes that being cool is important. She herself is a Pakistani American Muslim Muslim and grew up in New Jersey. “You often see South Asians as the nerdy math person,” she says.

Ms. Marvel was inspired in part by Amanat’s life experiences. She asked herself the meaning of being a Muslim girl when she was creating her character along with artist Adrian Alphona and writer Willow Wilson. “Maybe you cover, maybe you wear clothes a certain way, you have to be very conscious of how you are with men and all these rules that come with it—I struggled with that a lot,” she says. “I look out at the world, and there’s all these images that either don’t look like me, or they look like bad versions of me.”

With Ms. Marvel,Her hope was that young Muslim females could be seen regardless of what faith they follow.

Ms. Marvel isn’t the first Muslim superhero in the Marvel Universe. SoorayaQadir appeared on the animated television show. Wolverine & the X-Men as well as a video game cameo,—is a member of the X-Men. This character, who was born in Afghanistan and sold to slavery before becoming a member of the X-Men, has come under fire for its orientalist portrayals.

Disney has confirmed that the film will screen at its theaters. Ms. MarvelIn theaters all over Pakistan. “It’s an acknowledgement that this series is about you and a celebration of you and your culture,” Obaid-Chinoy says. “When you actually have people who are from the region tell the stories, It’s a very different way of storytelling.”

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Send an email to Sanya Mansoor at sanya.mansoor@time.com.

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