We chat with MsMarvel showrunner bishakali about going from Loki to Kamala Khan and preparing the young heroine for TheMarvels:
Ms. Marvel has officially made her way on Disney+, with the first episode introducing the world to the MCU's biggest Avengers fan: Kamala Khan. Played with aplomb by newcomer Iman Vellani, the Pakastani-American teen represents every daydreamer who'd rather think about superheroes than homework or that night's family dinner.
Bisha K. Ali: So much. I think that every single creator in Ms. Marvel brought a very specific, unique thing to the table, and one of my secret weapons is that I just worked in the first phase of television for a few years. The experience on Loki was incredible; I learned so much about how Marvel wanted to make television, which is different from how I think anybody on Earth makes television [laughs].
When I was on Loki, Winter Soldier was on the other side of the hall and next door was WandaVision. Jac Schaeffer has been such a generous, kind mentor and a person has become a great friend of mine. Being able to build those relationships first as I stepped into this role - and particularly Jac, as I believe I couldn't have gone through any of this without her guidance and knowledge - was a huge help to me in this creative process when I went into running Ms. Marvel. Bisha K.
Being able to pull that and use that as a Northstar [helped] in terms of the visual feel on the show, and the fact that it's led by character. Everything in our show is led by character, particularly Kamala. Her optimism and her joy had to spill out into the visual language. That had to be part of every element of the show.
Bisha K. Ali: If there was a conversation about it, I wasn't there for it. I was recruited as part of the TV gang.