Ms. Marvel Star Iman Vellani Is as Big a Fan of Superheroes as Kamala Khan

In her role as Kamala Khan, Iman Vellani will become a superhero in her own right, but it turns out the Ms. Marvel star is a big fan of them off screen as well as on. Sana Amanat, who created Kamala Khan and is involved with the Disney+ series' adaptation, told Empire magazine that she knew right away that Vellani was the perfect choice to play the character — who is a big fan of superheroes — during Vellani's Zoom audition because of the actresses' own fangirling.

"She showed me every corner of her room and it was covered with Avengers," Amanat said. "Then she said, 'Oh wait, I'm not done,' opened up her closet, and there was more Marvel everywhere."

Vellani's own enthusiasm for superheroes was something that was an ideal fit for Kamala, who isn't herself a big fangirl and not your ordinary Avenger. Amanat described Kamala as being perhaps a bit less sophisticated as other heroes.

"She's not as slick and suave as some superheroes," she said. It's not like when Captain America throws his shield and it comes back. She's all over the place. I'm excited for people to get to know her."

Set to premiere June 8th on Disney+, "Marvel Studios' "Ms. Marvel" is a new, original series that introduces Kamala Khan, a Muslim American teenager growing up in Jersey City. An avid gamer and a voracious fan-fiction scribe, Kamala is a Super Hero mega fan with an oversized imagination—particularly when it comes to Captain Marvel. Yet Kamala feels like she doesn't fit in at school and sometimes even at home—that is, until she gets super powers like the heroes she's always looked up to. Life gets better with super powers, right?"

Ms. Marvel is being directed by executive producers Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah, Meera Menon, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, with executive producer Bisha K. Ali serving as head writer. The series stars Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel, Matt Lintz as Bruno Carrelli, Yasmeen Fletcher as Nakia Bahadir, Rish Shah as Kansan, Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan, Mohamed Kapur as Yusuf Khan, Laurel Marsden as Zoe Zimmer and Aramis Knight as Kareem aka Red Dagger.

Ms. Marvel debuts June 8th on Disney+.

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