Ms. Marvel Stars Made Secret Cameo Appearance at AvengerCon

Warning: this story contains Ms. Marvel spoilers. Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) isn’t the only Avenger to cameo on Ms. Marvel. The series premiere, “Generation Why,” sends Carol Danvers fangirl and cosplayer Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) to AvengerCon: a convention where fans assemble to celebrate Earth’s mightiest heroes. Like the real-life San Diego Comic-Con, the fictional Avengers convention is an Easter-egg extravaganza with references to the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe — everything from the Ant-Man movies to Black Panther to Guardians of the Galaxy — and populated by attendees dressed like the Hulk, Scarlet Witch, and Thor. 

But there are two more Easter eggs hidden in the crowd: Rish Shah, who plays the Clandestine Kamran, and Saagar Shaikh, who plays Kamala’s older brother Aamir, secretly attended AvengerCon as uncredited Captain America and Iron Man cosplayers.

“I’m genuinely such a Marvel fan. Walking around that set was incredible, and it felt like a real convention,” Shah told The Hollywood Reporter. “There were people in the most incredible cosplay outfits, and the whole thing was on a scale beyond my imagination. So Saagar, who plays Kamala’s brother Aamir, and I were like, ‘Well, we don’t want to miss out.’” 

At one point in “Generation Why,” you can spot the disguised Shah and Shaikh standing near Kamala and best friend Bruno (Matt Lintz).

“It was just a fun little cameo for ourselves to look back on, but we were surprised we made it into the cut. It’s kind of a [Where’s Waldo?] situation,” Shah said. “But that was a really funny day on set, because we were just waddling around and causing havoc.” 

For Vellani, a real-life Marvel super-fan, Kamala’s reaction to the first-ever AvengerCon was genuine: it was the Ms. Marvel actor’s first convention, too. 

“All the reactions you see on screen are very much me reacting in real life…this was just me living, my childhood dream of being at a convention and being around so much Marvel merch,” she told Marvel.com. “I stole so much from that set. I had everything shipped out in boxes. That’s how much I stole. It’s great. My entire closet looks like a mini AvengerCon now.” 

Starring Iman Vellani, Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Naki, Azher Usman, Travina Springer and Nimra Bucha, all six episodes of Marvel Studios’ Ms. Marvel are now streaming on Disney+.