What many Muslims and South Asians have longed for, is a true representation of their culture and identity within the fictional Marvel Cinematic Universe ‘MCU’.
May marked the fourteenth anniversary of the release of Iron Man and the start of the MCU, South Asian Marvel fans will finally have the opportunity to see themselves represented in the on-screen characters of an MCU series, for more than a decade later.
Muslim representation in mainstream films and shows has always been either controversial or not an accurate representation of the culture.
With the release of the new original series to debut on Disney Plus, on 8 June comes the tale of a Muslim Pakistani superhero in ‘Ms Marvel’, which celebrates South Asian identity through cultural references, code-switching and diving deep into the character’s roots.
A series that many young South Asians, struggling with figuring out their identity and staying true to their culture will relate to, it tells the story of Pakistani American, Kamala Khan, the first Muslim superhero to be depicted in a Marvel production.
The show is set to explore the character of Kamala, who has idolised Superheroes like Captain Marvel never dreaming that one day she too would have the opportunity to join her role models in safeguarding society from the forces of evil.
The character of Kamala is depicted as an avid superhero fan with the inhuman ability to alter shape and size and employs an idealistic attitude to make the world a better place, through the perspective of a South Asian as the lead.
Asian Sunday spoke to the lead cast members of Ms Marvel to find out how one of the latest Marvel Productions has taken a diverse turn in becoming more inclusive and how their characters stay true to the culture it intends to represent, without stereotyping.
Playing the character of Kamala Khan is a 19-year-old Pakistani Canadian actress, Iman Vellani.
Vellani says “No one had imagined this; I came from a small little town in Ontario and I’m doing an interview about a TV show I’m a part of it is really crazy.”
The lead actress says she became obsessed with Marvel in High School, with it being opposite a comic book shop, it was all she talked about and based her English essays on.
“I would read a lot of invisible iron man, because iron man is my favourite character, and I needed a lot more of him in my life. I fell in love with Ms Marvel, after finding her on the cover of an Ironheart comic”.
The Canadian actress says that she resonates with the character through the role of Kamala, as her Pakistani-Muslim lineage and background, were used for character development and in her discovering her powers.
“I think I personally went on a very similar journey to Kamala, self-discovery and reconnecting with your roots, is something I felt very disconnected from growing up and just being a part of the show and working with so many incredibly talented South Asians and Muslims, I could not be prouder to be Muslim and Pakistani”.
She says the show dives deep into her roots as “It is so important to showcase children of immigrant parents who are proud of their culture and have that tight-net relationship with their family, which I came from, and my family have been so supportive of me throughout this entire thing”.
This element of cultural diaspora and family orientation within desi culture is an accurate representation of what many children of immigrant parents go through, as Vellani adds “It’s such a warm feeling that we use Kamala’s family as her rock and support system throughout this entire journey that she goes on”.
Also, part of changing the narrative in the MCU is a British Indian actor from Enfield, 23-year-old Rish Shah, who is cast as Kamala’s love interest ‘Kamran’.
“I grew up in a family where my parents talk in Gujrati or Hindi half of the time, so the fact that, that in itself is represented through Kamala’s family is so special to see.”
Shah and Vellani both shared how the show sets standards and the realism through the specificity of the modern American culture mixed with how immigrant children see Bollywood and Pakistan, which is what makes the show “unique”.
As Vellani says “Every time you see brown people in Hollywood, they are usually so generalised”, thus the representation in this series aims to set itself apart, with the code-switching of Hindi and Urdu, and references to Bollywood, unlike other mainstream Hollywood TV shows.
The Pakistan born actress tells Asian Sunday that despite not being able to represent Muslims as a whole, “We told one specific story, about one specific girl and one specific Muslim family, and hopefully this just opens doors for more people to tell their specific story”.
Ms Marvel is produced by Marvel Studios, created by Bisha K. Ali and stars Iman Vellani, Fawad Khan and Rish Shah. The series will release on 8 June on Disney Plus.
