Who Is Iman Vellani? ‘Ms. Marvel’ Creator Calls Actress ‘The Real Deal’

Marvel’s newest superhero is Iman Vellani. The teenage actress has been cast as Kamala Khan, the titular hero in the Disney+ series “Ms. Marvel.”

G. Willow Wilson created Kamala for Marvel Comics, along with editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker, and it seems she may have had some behind-the-scenes involvement in the casting process. She assured followers that Vellani is “the real deal.”

Vellani is a newcomer, according to Deadline, so not much is known about her. However, she was part of The Next Wave Committee at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last year, tagging films that appeal to young people. Vellani told CBC she highlighted the film “Hala” because it follows “this Pakistani-American-Muslim teenager with immigrant parents, actually just like myself.” It seems she has that in common with Ms. Marvel too.

She was listed as a 17-year-old Grade 12 student in September 2019, so she’s presumably age 18 now. Kamala Khan is likely only a little younger than Vellani, with the series assumed to kick off when Kamala becomes Ms. Marvel at 16 years old.

A Vimeo account for someone called Iman Vellani could possibly belong to the actress, indicating that she’s talented behind the camera as well. There are two short films on the profile, including one that was dedicated to Kevin Feige six months ago.

Surely, audiences will get to know more about Vellani as “Ms. Marvel” gets closer. The Disney+ series doesn’t have a release date yet, but Marvel Studios recently set Bisha K. Ali as the writer. Meanwhile, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Meera Menon will all serve as directors on the Disney+ TV show.

Marvel Studios is set to launch their first Disney+ series before the end of the year with “WandaVision.”