Ms. Marvel star Iman Vellani discovered one of Spider-Man: No Way Home's biggest secrets from the usual Marvel culprit: Tom Holland.
In an Elite Daily profile on Vellani's breakout role, the actor recalled meeting Holland during makeup preparation while they were filming Marvel Cinematic Universe projects simultaneously in Atlanta. "I was half-dressed, literally a bra and biker shorts. I was like, 'Oh, my God. I am half naked right now.' But he was so nice," she said about Holland. Their conversation eventually led to questions about each other's characters, where Holland openly confirmed that Tobey Maguire would be in No Way Home's cast. As Vellani put it, "He was like, ‘What’s your show even about?' I was like, 'What's Spider-Man about?' He fully shows me a photo of him with Tobey Maguire!"
Vellani then admitted that she wanted to be surprised by No Way Home's legacy cameos, including Maguire and Andrew Garfield's official cinematic returns as Spider-Man. "I get we're both in Marvel, but I didn't need to know that before it happened," she continued, acknowledging Holland's reputation for dropping Marvel spoilers early.
Ms. Marvel will not only mark Kamala Khan's live-action debut but also Vellani's first credited TV role. Vellani has been very upfront about her love of Marvel, even playfully teasing Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige on whether the MCU universe should be designated Earth-199999 or Earth-616, the latter of which was revealed in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. She also revealed that another Marvel star, Chris Pratt, sent her a "juggernaut of an email with so much advice" on adjusting to the responsibilities of starting out in the MCU.
Prior to Ms. Marvel, Kamala's origin story had been retold in cartoons like Avengers Assemble and, most recently, 2020's Marvel's Avengers video game. Unlike those adaptations, the Disney+ show doesn't seem like it will address her Inhuman heritage, instead retconning Kamala's powers as "hard light" constructs she can manipulate using a set of family bangles. This will supposedly lead to conflict with Spider-Man: No Way Home's Department of Damage Control agents, who were briefly seen in Ms. Marvel's latest promo.
Despite this major change, the show currently holds a 94% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with early Ms. Marvel reactions praising Vellani's performance and even comparing it to Holland's work in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Director Adil El Arbi also drew comparisons between Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man, hoping that fans will see Kamala Khan "the same way you see Tom Holland as Peter Parker evolve... that's the bar, basically."
The first episode of Ms. Marvel is now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes dropping each Wednesday.
Source: Elite Daily