Marvel has cast newcomer Iman Vellani to play the lead role in the Disney+ series Ms Marvel, reports Deadline. Marvel announced the series in 2019 during D23 Expo and after recently naming Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Meera Menon as directors on the project, the makers have made the big announcement of the lead actor. Marvel chief Kevin Feige had earlier hinted that the character might become a part of Marvel movies as well. This is the first big Hollywood project for Iman Vellani. Eternals actor Kumail Nanjiani took to Twitter to welcome Iman to the Marvel family and shared, "I just saw they cast Ms. Marvel and legit got teary eyed. Congratulations Iman Vellani! Your work is going to mean so much to so many people, myself included. I can’t wait." Writer-actor Mindy Kaling expressed her joy and tweeted, "What a joy in these trying times to see that #MsMarvel (a Pakistani American teen superhero!) has cast its lead role, a young actress named Iman Vellani! Congrats to you! I can’t wait to see the show! #RepresentationMatters" Ms Marvel aka Kamala Khan first appeared in 2014 and became the first Muslim character to have her own title. She is a Pakistani-American teenager based in New Jersey.
