As the next installment to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, all eyes are on the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel. Iman Vellani stars as Kamala Khan, whose admiration of Captain Marvel leads her to don the Ms. Marvel mantle after she discovers she has mysterious abilities. Khan is primed to be a major heroic force for the future of the MCU, so it will be interesting to watch the growth of a superhero who came of age admiring them herself.
Vellani herself is a well-known MCU superfan, and apparently, Iron Man is her go-to comfort film. Considering the 2008 film began the MCU, her love of it is fitting for both her and Kamala Khan. The actress explained:
The first thing I did when I got cast was watch Iron Man again. It’s like my comfort movie. Any big milestone we would hit in the show, whether it was filming the scene where Kamala gets her costume or her powers, I would watch Iron Man. “It was my reminder that this character exists in the same universe as Tony Stark, which was just the coolest thing in the world for me.
Iman Vellani
It turns out that that love made its way into Ms. Marvel in the form of references to the late Tony Stark and Iron Man easter eggs. In a world full of Stark fans and those grateful for his sacrifice to defeat Thanos, it makes perfect sense. Apparently, though, there got to be too many references for Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige to agree to. According to the actress, Feige stepped in to limit the number of references to Iron Man eventually:
I’m a huge, huge Iron Man fan. I know Kamala is more Captain Marvel, but I was very much asking for more Iron Man references in there. Like, ‘I think she needs an Iron Man action figure, more Iron Man.’ There was a point where we got to too much Iron Man, that was the note from Kevin!
Iman Vellani
Even though Tony Stark is dead and gone, fans still can’t get enough of him. But Feige had plenty of reasons to limit the easter eggs, including to possibly avoid the possibility that some viewers would accuse Marvel Studios of making a younger hero an Iron Man mini-me, like the “Iron Boy Jr.” nickname for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.
Ms. Marvel first premieres on Disney+ on June 8, 2022.
Source: SFX Magazine via The Direct
