Ms. Marvel might be packed full of representation when it comes to Muslim and South Asian words and culture, but there is a lot more to this story than just that.
People everywhere know the importance of seeing themselves on screen, and thanks to Ms. Marvel, there are going to be a lot more who can claim that they do. While this show certainly shows a lot of Muslim and South Asian influence, culture, and language, it really is so much more than that. This show is a charming coming of age story, and also one for the Marvel fangirls and fanboys, as Kamala Khan is herself a megafan.
During the Ms. Marvel press conference, the cast was asked about bringing that Muslim and South Asian representation to the screen, and the importance of it. While they all had something touching to say, it was Mohan Kapur, who plays Kamala’s father Yusuf, that touched everyone’s hearts.
“I don’t think this series is shouting from the rooftops saying ‘watch me talking about representation.’ It’s a wonderful story of a community that’s so ethnically diverse and culturally rich. And for me coming from that region, I think it’s a fabulous up, because we suddenly say, this is the Marvel Universe, telling a story about our milieu. And it’s so beautifully and so subliminally translated over scenes.” Kapur explains.
He continues on, “A small scene, like, you go to the mosque, you put your shoes in over there, you come back and the shoes are gone. That’s a real thing. That’s a real thing. You know, the process of entering a mosque, the festivals, the wedding ceremonies, they’re just so beautiful. And I’m sure that, because I know this for a fact, from whatever little social media that I’m into, that side of the world, they just can’t wait to see this happen. This is, this is us.”
Mohan Kapur says this is a big thing for the rest of the world — the fact that Marvel could run this juggernaut. Other production studios can look at Ms. Marvel and realize that they can do it too. “It’s going to be a roller coaster, from here on, hopefully, for actors, for writers, directors, for the entire caboodle to sit up and say, Let’s do this. Let’s share their story and not shout from the rooftops. This is not a political statement. This is story of one family, one girl, but it’s so beautiful. It’s a story of a family in a land that’s not their own, but they’ve called it their home.”
After this wonderful speech, no one in the cast wanted to chime in, because Kapur said things so beautifully, and so perfectly. However, it was expressed by all that it is the little cultural and religious references sprinkled throughout the story that mean the most.
It’s those little cultural and religious references that are kind of sprinkled throughout. For example, things like praying before starting something, the name Kamala in Arabic calligraphy on a necklace, and Quranic calligraphy throughout the house. There are also things slipped in the Ms. Marvel series that are not necessarily translated, but context clues are really all you need.
The cast says it was weird only because it’s not what any of them are used to. They’re used to having to explain a lot of things or fighting to change a word or say something that’s a little deeper of a cut, just to get that that reference out there. But with this show, everybody was on the same page.
Saagar Shaikh, who plays Kamala’s brother Aamir, adds “It’s not our job to teach you what [our words] mean. That’s a quick Google. You just type it up, and the answers are there. It made it really easy for everybody to do their jobs. Because [almost] everybody working on this show is Muslim or South Asian. And we all got the references.”
Be sure to check out just how wonderfully Ms. Marvel came together when it premieres on Disney+ on June 8th.
NEXT: Ms. Marvel First Reactions Are In!
About Ms. Marvel
Marvel Studios’ “Ms. Marvel” is a new, original series that introduces Kamala Khan, a Muslim American teenager growing up in Jersey City. An avid gamer and a voracious fan-fiction scribe, Kamala is a Super Hero megafan with an oversized imagination—particularly when it comes to Captain Marvel. Yet Kamala feels like she doesn’t fit in at school and sometimes even at home—that is, until she gets superpowers like the heroes she’s always looked up to. Life gets better with superpowers, right?
MS. MARVEL will air weekly on Disney+ beginning June 8, 2022.
