Iman Vellani ’s last day at school was good training for her role as Marvel’s first Muslim superhero.
She hadn’t told her pals she’d auditioned for Disney Plus ’s six-part TV series, Ms. Marvel – so when they found out, there was plenty of drama.
Iman, 19, said: “I’ll never forget it. It was the last day of high school and my friends didn’t know I had auditioned.
“I was in my friend’s car and I get a text from our casting directors saying to follow this link.
“I got out the car, opened the link and it was Marvel president Kevin Feige saying I’d got the job.
“I was freaking out with my friends watching me in utter confusion because I hadn’t told them anything.
"They thought I’d won the lottery or something.
“I told them everything and then we got burritos. It was a good day.”
Pakistani-born Iman plays Kamala Khan in the show – part of the new superhero generation led by women and ethnically diverse characters.
Kamala is 16, from Jersey City, and is obsessed with The Avengers, particularly Captain Marvel. She loves how superheroes fight crime and look cool while they’re doing it.
Like her character, Iman, who moved to Canada when she was one, is also a massive comic book fan.
And she says reading the Ms. Marvel comics helped her get through some tough times.
“I relate to her a lot,” said Iman. “I think we can relate to that feeling of not fitting in. I also totally relate to the fact that she is a giant nerd.
“That fascination and excitement over The Avengers is so real… something all Marvel cinematic universe fans will get.
“Ms. Marvel is a story about identity and reconnecting with your past and your culture.
“Kamala is so many different things, but we really set out to subvert all of these labels and expectations that are being thrown at her.
“She’s not just Muslim, she’s not just Pakistani, she’s this amalgamation of a hundred different things that make her who she is.
“If we don’t have the same effect on people that the comics did on me, I will be really disappointed.”
The first episode of Ms. Marvel was released in the UK on Disney+ on Wednesday.
The show’s executive producer Sana Amanat, who co-created the comic, said: “It’s a coming-of-age story…she’s a young woman experiencing the world.
“I love that we are getting a lot more Muslim representation – but until now, there have been no women.”
