Actor Iman Vellani has been vocal about her love of the Marvel Universe ever since she was cast as Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel — and all her knowledge came in handy when she reprised the role in The Marvels and her older co-stars came to her with questions about their own characters’ lore.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Vellani was asked about the rapport that she developed with Brie Larson and Teyonah Parris, who respectively play Carol Danvers and Monica Rambeau in The Marvels. “Everyone was very protective over me being the youngest, but I also knew way more than them about their own characters,” Vellani laughed. “So the tables turned when they needed help with something. They’d be like, ‘I don’t understand this scene. What’s the lore behind it? What’s actually going on? Are we punching a moon back into orbit? What?'”
Challenging Kevin Feige’s Marvel knowledge
Vellani’s expertise on Marvel even challenges that of Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, whom she once confronted about the number 616 that Earth was designated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — contradicting how the same number had already been given to the comics’ core universe. When questioned about whether she was still confronting Feige about such details, Vellani said she had been playing it cool in hopes that he would greenlight a second season of Ms. Marvel. “…And then maybe I’ll email him another 72 questions,” she said. “Yeah, I’m taking it easy. If he says the MCU is [Earth-] 616, I’ll let him believe that.”
Ms. Marvel is a 2022 Disney+ series based on the Marvel comic of the same name. Season 1 of the show introduced Vellani as Kamala, a teenage girl who idolizes Captain Marvel and soon discovers that she has superpowers of her own. Larson debuted as Carol in 2019’s Captain Marvel, which also introduced the character of Monica as a child. Parris took up the mantle as an older Monica in the 2021 miniseries WandaVision.
The Marvels is directed by Nia DaCosta, from a script she co-wrote with Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik. In addition to the main trio, the film’s cast includes many new and returning MCU stars — such as Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Park Seo-joon, Lashana Lynch, Randall Park, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, and Saagar Shaikh.
The Marvels is in theaters now. Ms. Marvel Season 1 can be streamed on Disney+.
