It was recently announced that Canadian actress Iman Vellani will be taking on the role of fan-favorite character Kamala Khan akaMs. Marvelin the character’s upcoming Disney+ show. Since then, fans have been scouring the internet for any information about the newcomer. While Vellani does not appear to be very active on social media, fans have managed to find her Letterboxd account, where they discovered she had reviewed 2019’sCaptain Marvel, and awarded the movie a mere two stars.
There are a few reasons why this particular review is gaining so much attention, with hundreds of comments pertaining to the review already posted on Vellani’s Letterboxd page. First of all, since Vellani is now officially a part of the Marvel family, it is not a good look to have the actress criticizing other movies in the franchise, even ifIman Vellaniposted the review before becoming Ms. Marvel.
Secondly,Captain Marvel’s main marketing strategy was to tout the film as a movie made “by women, for women”, with the words “empowering”, “feminist”, and “groundbreaking” thrown around the lot. The fact that a young girl saw the movie and decided it did not warrant more than two stars is not a good look for whatDisneywants to present the movie as.
Finally, and most ironically, in the comics,Kamala Khanis a huge fan ofCaptain Marvel, and that is the reason she takes on the superhero moniker Ms. Marvel to align herself with her heroine. Fans have not missed the irony of the live-action version of Captain Marvel failing to move the actress set to play Ms. Marvel in the same manner as their comics counterpart.
Still, when all is said and done, Vellani is allowed to have her own opinions about movies, and the fact that she did not likeCaptain Marvelvery much does not mean she is not going to do a good job as Kamala Khan. In fact, the actress added a footnote to her review where she made it clear that her problems were with the rest of the movie and not the lead star Brie Larson when she clarified that “These stars are not for Brie Larson, I will sacrifice my own life… for Brie Larson.”
It is impossible to tell how much of that comment is genuine, and how much of it is an attempt at damage control by Disney’s PR team. What we do know is that Larson will almost certainly feature in theMs. Marvelshow in some capacity and that might lead to some awkward interactions between Larson and Vellani. Still, Larson has made it clear in the past that she would love to share the screen with Ms. Marvel, as she remarked last year that “My dream would be that Ms. Marvel gets to come into play in the [Captain Marvel] sequel. That’s the goal.”
It remains to be seen how the relationship between Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel develops in the MCU going forward, and whether Vellani will likeCaptain Marvel 2any more if she features in it. This news originated atScreenrant. The topper art is fromJaxson Derr.
