Ms. Marvel Adds Farhan Akhtar to Cast

Ms. Marvel has added Bollywood star Farhan Akhtar to the cast in what is reportedly a “guest-starring role.” No details on what that guest-starring role will be. While perhaps not as well known to American audiences, Akhtar is a multi-hyphenate star overseas in the Hindi film industry (actor, director, singer, screenwriter, producer, and TV host). He is well-known for producing and starring in the Rock On film series, a musical drama in which Akhtar also sings a number of the songs from the soundtrack. Given everything we’ve seen in Ms. Marvel‘s trailers, he could be involved in everything from a big musical number to a fun cameo appearance. 

Ms. Marvel just hit the big milestone of getting a theatrical release date in Pakistan. Kamala Khan will be the first Muslim hero in the MCU, which is a big milestone for Middle-eastern fans everywhere. It’s good to see Pakistani culture embracing Ms. Marvel, as the region can be extremely stringent about censorship standards. It would be fair to infer that Marvel Studios hit all the right marks in terms of depicting Muslim culture:

“This decision was made to celebrate the introduction of the first Pakistani Marvel superhero, Kamala Khan (played by Iman Vellani), into the MCU,” director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy wrote. “The series also features a diverse cast both in front of and behind the camera. Disney and Marvel did not want Pakistani audiences to miss out on seeing Ms Marvel and her story as Disney+ has not yet launched in their country.”

Ms. Marvel “Introduces Kamala Khan—a 16-year-old Pakistani American from Jersey City. An aspiring artist, an avid gamer and a voracious fan-fiction scribe, she is a huge fan of the Avengers—and one in particular, Captain Marvel. But Kamala has always struggled to find her place in the world—that is, until she gets super powers like the heroes she’s always looked up to.”

The series is already causing something of a stir with Marvel fans, as it will change the nature of Kamala Khan’s powers. Instead of being able to change her physical form at will (embiggen), MCU Kamala will get a set of bangles with cosmic powers to manifest crystalline energy according to Kamala’s will. 

Newcomer Iman Vellani stars as Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel. Ms. Marvel also co-stars Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Nakli, Azhar Usman, Travina Springer and Nimra Bucha. The show’s episodes are directed by Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah, Meera Menon and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. 

Ms. Marvel will start streaming on Disney+ on June 8th. 

Source: Deadline