Marvel and Disney Plus have signed Pakistani and Indian directors, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Meera Menon to direct its first Muslim Superhero series ‘Ms Marvel’, which will debut on Disney Plus soon. The duo will direct the Ms Marvel series, along with the director pair of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, collectively known as Adil & Bilall.
The Disney Plus series will feature Marvel’s first Muslim Superhero, Ms Marvel, aka Kamala Khan. Kamala Khan is a sixteen year old Pakistani – American girl, living in New Jersey with her parents and older brother. She gains superhero powers accidentally, when she walks into a mysterious green mist while sneaking into a teen party one evening. The mist gives her the power to change sizes like Antman, become another person’s exact likeness a la Mystique and stretch like Mr Fantastic.
The Disney Plus series featuring Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel will be a live-action series. Roping in an Indian and a Pakistani director to direct the first Pakistani superhero is a good step as the South Asian directors will be better placed to harness their ethnic ethos to lend credibility and authenticity to Kamala Khan’s world.
Marvel has been batting for diversity in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for some time now. Chadwick Boseman became its first black Superhero to have a standalone feature – the very successful Black Panther. Captain Marvel too got her standalone feature in the eponymous movie – the first standalone Marvel film fronted by a female superhero. Soon, Marvel will introduce its first gay superhero Phastos in its upcoming ‘The Eternals’ movie. Having a Muslim Superhero is the logical next step in Marvel’s push for diversity.
Meera Menon is an Indian – American director, who has earlier directed the much-lauded movie Farah Goes Bang, besides episodes of popular shows such as You, The Magicians, Man In The High Castle, Outlander, The Walking Dead, among others.
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is a celebrated Pakistani – Canadian director, who has won two Oscars for her short films and seven Emmys.
Adil & Bilall have directed the super successful film, Bad Boys for Life, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
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