Pakistani-American teenager cast as Marvel’s first Muslim hero

Marvel has reportedly cast its first Muslim superhero for Disney+ series Ms Marvel.

Iman Vellani, 18, will star in the TV show as Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teenager based in New Jersey who moonlights as superhero Ms Marvel.

In 2014, Kamala became the first Muslim character to star in her own Marvel comic book.

With the story being adapted for streaming, she’ll be the first onscreen Muslim hero in a Marvel production.

Ms Marvel is being written by British writer and comedian Bisha K Ali, with Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, as well as Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Meera Menon working as directors on the show.

The news was celebrated by Kumail Nanjiani, who will star in Marvel’s forthcoming film The Eternals. He tweeted: “I just saw they cast Ms Marvel and legit got teary eyed.”