Are Mehwish Hayat and Samina Ahmed going to be in Ms. Marvel?
It looks like the cat is out of the bag — Mehwish Hayat and Samina Ahmed are in Ms Marvel! We spotted the actors on the red carpet on Thursday evening in Los Angeles, USA where the cast and crew of Ms.Marvel premiered their upcoming show. While the announced cast grabbed everyone's attention, ours was focused on Hayat whose participation and character in the series was kept mum by Marvel.
In a vibrant cobalt blue dress and black sequinned bodice, Hayat was one of many Pakistanis present at the event. Hers, however, was a surprise appearance since her role in the upcoming series has been kept a secret. Live from the event, president of marketing at Walt Disney Studios, Asad Ayaz shared a photo of "the cast" of Ms. Marvel that included the Load Wedding star.
In addition, Ahmed was also at the premiere in a black and antique gold silk sari, some traditional earrings and a classic black clutch. She wasn't seen in the trailer or in the official cast line-up but was photographed with the rest of the cast at the premiere.
Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy attended the premiere of her series alongside Ms Marvel co-creator Sana Amanat and Marvel powerhouse Victoria Alonso.
All three brought their desi fashion a-game to the red carpet, especially the filmmaker who went all in with an ivory cotton-silk kurta, churidar pants, kohlapuris, side parted hair with flowers and a bold lip colour. Amanat wore a black chiffon sari with sequinned blouse that she paired with a sleek hair-do. Alonso also matched with their vibe in plum tunic paired with olive green silk pants.
Prior to the premiere, director of the show Chinoy took to Instagram and penned words of wisdom for the people representing Pakistan. "If you had told a girl from Karachi growing up in the 1990s that she would one day be in Hollywood she would have never believed you. But twenty years ago in May 2002 someone opened a door for me in new York — then more doors were opened and mentors along the way encouraged me to tell the stories I wanted to tell."
She also wrote that she did exactly what people had encouraged her to do. "I told stories that mattered to me and those that should matter to everyone."
She added, "Today (Thursday) so many of us will walk the red carpet, Sana Amanat, Misha Ali, Iman vellani, Nimra Bucha, Mehwish Hayat, Samina Ahmed and Vardah Aziz - women of Pakistani descent who always followed their dreams and have continued to tell stories that matter to them."
For Chinoy, it's a historic day that she will be celebrating when the world meets Kamala, "a superhero we all believe in". She ended her note by thanking Marvel Studios for giving her and others a platform to tell a story that is close to her heart.
Earlier last year, Ahmed, Fawad Khan and Nimra Bucha were reported to join the cast of the superhero series. Bucha was seen in the official trailer for about a second asking Kamala Khan, the superhero, if she knows what she really is and all that we know is that she is the main antagonist. While it's out there that she is in the show, Khan, Hayat and Ahmed's characters haven't made it to any of the trailers or snippets shared by the show creators on Marvel Studio and Ms. Marvel's official Instagram account.
The show debuts on Disney+ on June 8, Pakistani audiences can see the show in theatres on June 16 (episodes 1 and 2), June 30 (episodes 3 and 4) and July 14 (episodes 5 and 6). Kamala is a teenager with an American-Pakistani heritage living in Jersey City. Kamala is an equivalent of Peter Parker — she’s a young girl from middle class/lower-middle class society (Parker was from Queens), who has yet to figure herself out, and who is thrust into the world of super-heroics.
The cast includes Aramis Knight, Lintz, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Mohan Kapoor, Farhan Akhtar, Bucha, Zenobia Shroff, Yasmeen Fletcher, Travina Springer, Laurel Marsden, Laith Nakli, Khan and Azhra Usman.