The sequel to Captain Marvel was already one of the most hotly anticipated films in Marvel's impending release schedule, but now that blaze has grown just a bit more. Iman Vellani, star of the upcoming Disney+ series Ms. Marvel, has now joined Brie Larson in the cast of the Nia DaCosta-directed follow-up.
Vellani, who recently earned the honor of portraying the titular hero Kamala Khan in the Ms. Marvel series, will now join her character's personal idol in Captain Marvel 2. The two superheroes will be joined by Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, who initially showed up as a child in the first Captain Marvel film and will feature prominently in the upcoming WandaVision Disney+ series.
The mantle of Ms. Marvel has been shared by many heroes, including Carol Danvers herself (now the titular Captain Marvel, played by Larson). But the most popular is arguably the Kamala Khan version, who premiered in the comics in 2013. As a Pakistani-American teenager, she is Marvel's first Muslim character to star as the lead of her own comic book, and the first volume of her story won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in 2015.
The character may be relatively young, both in terms of age and how recently she debuted in the comics, but her popularity quickly grew due to several factors, including her diverse background and the endearing writing in the comic itself. Her shapeshifting abilities and heavy use of the Simpsons-created word "embiggen" made her a quirky favorite among fans, so much so that she earned a lead spot in the 2020 game Marvel's Avengers.
Khan is famously a huge fan of Carol Danvers and was originally given the Ms. Marvel name when Danvers (who started out as Ms. Marvel) became the new Captain Marvel. Since Danvers is already Captain Marvel in the films, it's unclear how Khan will receive the title in the sequel and series, but that's a minor issue. The prospect of seeing her completely geek out around her idol on the big screen is surely enough for many audience members, which may or may not include the person writing this news story.
Both the series and film are still a little way's off, with Ms. Marvel expected to premiere in late 2021 and Captain Marvel 2 shooting for November 11, 2022, so there's plenty of time to speculate and get excited. After the recent tsunami of announcements from Disney and the video game world, there's bound to be plenty of other shiny new things to keep everyone occupied in the meantime.
Source: Deadline