“Embiggen” your expectations for Ms. Marvel: actor Saagar Shaikh says to “expect magic” when Marvel’s first Muslim superhero joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Marvel Studios Original series, streaming June 8 on Disney+, introduces Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), a 16-year-old Pakistani-American growing up in Jersey City. A superhero super-fan (and Captain Marvel fangirl) with an oversized imagination, Kamala will wield cosmic superpowers as Ms. Marvel before teaming up with her hero — Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), returning alongside Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) — on the big screen in The Marvels.
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“Expect magic. It’s just so heartwarming,” Shaikh, who plays Kamala’s older brother Amir Khan, told On The Red Carpet. “I recently got to watch the first couple of episodes, and it had my heart fluttering. It was pulling at those heartstrings. It’s just such a cool show.”
After calling Ms. Marvel his “dream job” in a 2020 tweet, the Pakistani-American actor said he “just feel[s] so seen” in the series focused on Kamala and her observant Muslim family.
“It’s great. There’s so many references that my parents would get, and I don’t think my parents could watch any other show and just relate to it as much as we can relate to a show like this,” Shaikh said. “It’s incredible.”
The Ms. Marvel cast includes Aramis Knight, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Nakli, Azhar Usman, Travina Springer, and Nimra Bucha. From head writer Bisha K. Ali (Marvel’s Loki), episodes are directed by Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys For Life, the upcoming Batgirl), Meera Menon (You), and Oscar-winning documentarian Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Saving Face).
Per Marvel’s official description: 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 starts streaming June 8 on Disney+.
