Marvel fans will finally meet Kamala Khan when Ms. Marvel premieres June 8 on Disney+, and they may have some real competition when it comes to Avengers trivia. The Pakistani-American teenager, played with joy and brilliance by newcomer Iman Vellani, is just about the biggest fan there ever was of the franchise she's entering.
When the show opens, Kamala and her best friend Bruno (Matt Lintz) are plotting how to get to AvengerCon undetected by her strict family, who would rather see her sending her time more wisely. Their other best friend Nakia (Yasmeen Fletcher) is an activist whose care for the community is super to inspire Kamala as she steps into her powers, while new friend Kamran (Rish Shah) is inspiring whole set of different feelings in the fledgling superhero. Together, it is Ms. Marvel's close-knit group of acquaintances that will prepare her to be a fully-formed hero in 2023's The Marvels.
Screen Rant spoke to Shah, Fletcher and Lintz, who shared where they were when they learned they had been cast in Ms. Marvel and revealed what aspects of their comic book counterparts they were most keen to see translated into the live-action adaptation.
Screen Rant: We saw this awesome video of Iman finding out that she was Ms. Marvel. I want to know what that moment was like for you guys. What was the moment you got the call or the meeting or whatever it was [where they] were like, "You're in this show?"
Matt Lintz: It was interesting, because it was a long and detailed casting process. I did my auditions with Iman and then Rish, and we had a great audition. I actually was taking a nap. I remember exactly where I was; I was taking a nap, and I heard my phone rang. I almost didn't pick it up, but I did. It was my team, and they just gave me the good news.
I wasn't tired after that. I kind of just got up and was pacing around my apartment, just contemplating life and everything about it. But, no, I mean, it was amazing. I didn't know what to do with myself.
Yasmeen Fletcher: When I got the call, I had been under the impression for a week at least - because I hadn't heard anything - that I didn't get the job. So, I mourned it, had its funeral, just wasn't thinking about it anymore.
I was staying at my best friend's house for two weeks, and we were living together. My parents came up with some lame excuse for me to come home and do laundry or something, which I didn't need to do, but they seemed pretty adamant about it. So, I came home. And soon as I came home, my dad had his phone tipped up like this already, recording me. I was already suspicious of what was going on, and I got a call from my managers and asked them if they were kidding. And they were like, "This is the worst joke that we could have ever pulled on you."
But, yeah, same as Matt. I started crying and then pacing, and couldn't sit still for at least the next two days.
Your parents knew before you did?
Yasmeen Fletcher: Yeah, because I wasn't sure if I was gonna get it, I think my managers had reached out to them first. They'd been like, "Listen, we don't know for sure yet. We don't wanna get her hopes up, but this might be coming through for her." So, they already knew that the call was coming. I think they texted to let them know like, "Get this on video!" or something like that.
Rish Shah: We're all a bunch of criers, it seems. I also cried, and I was also asleep. Time difference: [I was in] London, and my team were in LA. They woke me up, and I was screaming with joy; woke everybody in my family up. My mom cried down the phone to my team, thanking them for making this happen for me. Then I just celebrated with all my closest people; everyone close to me at.
I was gonna ask if AvengerCon was real, who would you cosplay as, but I heard a story that a few cast members might actually be in the background?
Matt Lintz: They might be!
Rish Shah: Saagar and I did attend AvengerCon in a little cameo situation. Because we were so obsessed with the set, we wanted to be a part of it. So, we were dressed up somewhere in there.
It's kind of like a Where's Wally situation at this point. We'll have to try and see if people can figure it out.
Matt Lintz: They are really close to Bruno and Kamala.
Rish Shah: We're very close to them. I'm almost whispering in his ear.
Is there a storyline from the comics you would really love to see come to fruition at some point in the MCU for your respective characters?
Matt Lintz: There's so many. I could go on, because the comics are so great. I don't know. I think... I don't want to [spoil anything].
We'll see, I don't know. They're all great, though.
Do you think your character survived the Snap? And have you asked this question?
Matt Lintz: I didn't think about this!
Yasmeen Fletcher: I have.
Matt Lintz: I can't say this, but I'm just gonna say I think he did survive the Snap. But some of his loved ones didn't.
Yasmeen Fletcher: I did, because they handed me my driver's license, and I got to see my date of birth. I compared it to the year that the show was set in, and I was like, "If I am 16 in the show now, and I was born at this time, she did survive the Snap."
We must have all survived the Snap; the three of us. Because we've been friends our whole lives.
Rish Shah: Thanos didn't get us! Or them.
Yasmeen Fletcher: I don't know about you.
Rish Shah: I don't know about me.
When diving into the comics, was there a detail about each of your characters that was really important for you to pull onto the screen?
Matt Lintz: Yeah, I think for me when I was reading them, the main thing was the dynamic between Bruno and Kamala. It's so important and vital; their friendship and that connection they have, and that chemistry.
Getting to know Iman, she is Kamala Khan. She is the perfect person, and just to be lucky enough to work with her and do scenes with her is great. We have fun, and we make sure that we stay true to the comics and that they come to life. I hope people enjoy that.
Yasmeen Fletcher: With Nakia, she was a huge role model in the comics. I think that in going into the show, and already having read a decent amount of the comics and having been a fan of them already, I wanted to make sure [of] the fact that she is a beacon of light and power for our community. I really wanted that to translate in the show as well.
And luckily, Sana and the whole team and all of the beautiful Muslim creatives behind the show were adamant about that as well. It made it very easy. But that was the biggest thing that I wanted to make sure was still in her.
Rish Shah: For me, I think Kamala and Kamran are able to connect on a deep level when it comes to their culture and all of those references. It was really important for us to be able to bring that into the show, and it seems like it was pretty fun and easy to be able to bring that into the live action series.
Ms. Marvel Synopsis
A great student, an avid gamer and a voracious fan-fiction scribe, she has a special affinity for superheroes, particularly Captain Marvel. But Kamala struggles to fit in at home and at school—that is, until she gets super powers like the heroes she's always looked up to. Life is easier with super powers, right?
Check out our interviews with Ms. Marvel star Iman Vellani, the members of the Khan family, as well as directors Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah.
Ms. Marvel premieres on Disney+ June 8.