We had white people on 'Ms Marvel' sets saying Bismillah, Insha Allah: Iman Vellani

“I picked up Ironheart and through her, I found Kamala,” Iman Vellani told comedian Trevor Noah on the Daily Show as they discussed her journey from being a fan girl to an MCU superhero. A big part of Ms Marvel is that it is an homage to Pakistani culture and the way in which brown, Pakistani and Muslim children the world over will be able to resonate with her.

In an interview with the Juggernaut, Iman weighed in on how the script represents parts of her childhood. “The main thing for me was saying Bismillah before starting a car. That was the thing that I was taught growing up and I was so annoyed. Anytime I’d start anything my mom would be like did you say Bismillah. I’m like no. She’s like before you eat, before you start a car, anything, say Bismillah. It was always Bismillah. And the fact that that was written in the script, I showed it to my mom and she was just laughing. She was like see I told you so”.

Iman continued, “And then we just have like white people on set saying InshaAllah and MashaAllah and all these words that I grew up hearing. It was such a warm environment and I felt so comfortable. Before we would send episodes one and two to Kevin for final approval, our producers were like InshaAllah everything goes well. It's so cute and it really is important and it means something to us. So it was really nice hearing all that.” The budding actor lauded the inclusive environment that she worked in and how producers embraced parts of her culture.

Iman, as Ms Marvel, gave life to a superhero that transcends the borders within which she lives, giving so many children the chance to dream and look up to heroes with whom they feel connected. The 19-year-old Pakistani-Canadian actor plays Marvel Comics' Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old high school student and superhero fan girl, who discovers she has powers of her own. Iman claims her fictional character, a New Jersey nerd and child of Pakistani immigrant parents has helped her embrace her Pakistani roots.

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