EXCLUSIVEJERSEY GIRLMS. MARVEL Comic co-creator Sana Amanat dishes on the MCU’s new high-school hero.The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand on the small screen, and the latest series is set to offer a fresh perspective in more than one way. “It’s a story about identity,” says Sana Amanat, writer and executive producer on the Ms. Marvel Disney+ show, and co-creator of the Marvel Comics character.

 “We’re talking about a young, Brown girl growing up in Jersey, and looking across the river [at New York City], Our hero is Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel. A teenage Pakistani American, this superhero fangirl - with a particular obsession with Captain Marvel - is navigating school and family life. Of course, this being Marvel, she develops “some fun superpowers” along the way. and seeing these really beautiful, badass individuals with power save the world every day. And you’re just this young, Brown kid who isn’t allowed to go to parties. What does that make you feel like?” Amanat, who fed some of her own experiences of growing up in Jersey into the character, says there’s something “very simple and aspirational and very Marvel” about that idea.

Our hero is Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel. A teenage Pakistani American, this superhero fangirl - with a particular obsession with Captain Marvel - is navigating school and family life. Of course, this being Marvel, she develops “some fun superpowers” along the way.

Playing Kamala is newcomer Iman Vellani, in her first screen role (she’ll also appear in upcoming Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels). “She just had this energy, and this innocence, and this quirkiness to her,” Amanat says of casting Vellani. “In one of her auditions, she really went from being very nerdy and quirky, to emotional and almost like she had this understanding of a world that someone beyond her years should have.”

For anyone unfamiliar with the comics, Amanat likens Kamala to Peter Parker or Miles Morales. “She’s this young character who is very much a fan of the bigwigs of the Marvel Universe like the Avengers, and she doesn’t feel necessarily like she can stand toe to toe with them. But I think, ultimately, she can, and she does.”

While the series will serve as a classic origin story, the playful highschool vibe of the trailer - with its self-deprecating humour, flights of fantasy and comic-like notebookdoodle scrawlings - promises a distinct tonal shift for the MCU. “The thing about Kamala is that she is sort of timeless,” says Amanat. “And so we referenced a lot of ’80s and ’90s movies, and then updated spins on that, like Booksmart and Lady Bird…

We want it to feel like a classic teen comedy, except it’s told through the lens of a young, Brown person.

And so we want it to feel young and vibrant, and to feel like a teen comedy that you’ve sort of experienced before, but you haven’t experienced it quite like this.”
MATT MAYTUM

MS. MARVEL LAUNCHES ON DISNEY+ ON 8 JUNE.