Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the directors of the upcoming MCU TV series Ms Marvel, think Kamala Khan has a glorious and long future ahead of her. Kamala – played in the show by Iman Vellani – is a relative newcomer in the comics. Still, she’s already had an enormous impact, and El Arbi and Fallah want her to have similar success on the small and silver screen.
“It’s just the beginning. There’s a lot more you can do,” Fallah told Total Film. “In the same way you see Tom Holland as Peter Parker evolve, that’s the bar, basically,” added El Arbi. “For us, personally, it’s a masterpiece of a movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home. The bar is now so high. It just inspires us and also the other people involved in Ms Marvel to be like, ‘What can we do to try to reach that goal one day?'”
That may sound like a lofty goal, but it’s actually closer to happening than you might realise. Vellani is set to appear in the Captain Marvel sequel next year.
The Marvels will see Kamala team up with Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and her idol Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), to stop a new threat. In the comics, at least the three share a close bond, having all operated as Marvel-themed characters at some point.
Nia DaCosta is directing using a script from Megan McDonnell, who helped write WandaVision. The action movie’s plot details are unknown at the moment, but DaCosta has said The Marvels will deal with “specific, personal, [and] sometimes sad things.”
As for the Ms Marvel series? Well, that’s going to be more of a coming of age tale. “It is John Hughes-esque mixed with Lady Bird and Scott Pilgrim,” Vellani told Zavvi. “It’s a lot more lighthearted than the other shows. We showcase that being a teenager is awkward, corny, and weird.”
If you love Kamala and Marvel’s various rogues and heroes, check out our guide to the best MCU characters.