Ms. Marvel star Saagar Shaikh explains protagonist Kamala Khan's relationship with her brother. The upcoming Disney+ MCU series will star Iman Vellani as Kamala, introducing her character before she unites with Brie Larson's Captain Marvel and Teyonah Parris' Monica Rambeau in the 2023 feature film The Marvels. Following Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel will become this year's second MCU TV show when it hits the streaming service on June 8, 2022.
A live-action adaptation of Marvel Comics' first headlining Muslim superhero, Ms. Marvel follows Vellani's 16-year-old Pakistani-American high schooler and Avengers super-fan, who idolizes Captain Marvel in particular. After spending her time daydreaming about gaining powers of her own, the discovery of cosmic energy-wielding bracelets allows her to finally realize her full, heroic potential. Alongside Vellani are Aramis Knight as the vigilante Red Dagger, Matt Lintz as Kamala's best friend Bruno, and Shaikh as her older brother Amir, among others.
Now, in an exclusive interview with SR at the Moon Knight red carpet premiere, Shaikh explains what fans can expect from the two siblings. Admitting he's reluctant to wade into spoiler territory, he says that, as the older brother, Amir wants to be a guiding, supportive presence for Kamala. But, even as Amir strives to be someone that his sister can look up to, Shaikh admits that he ends up looking up to Kamala as well. Check out his full quote below:
I'm her older brother Amir. I don't know how much I can or can't say, but Amir is the older brother, he wants to be her guide, he wants to be the shoulder she can lean on, he wants to be the one that she looks up to while also looking up to her.
Even with the first Ms. Marvel trailer released, very little is known about the show's story besides it being firmly rooted in Kamala's imaginative perspective. With the studio's recent commitment to exploring diverse perspectives in projects by diverse creatives, however, it can be assumed that a Ms. Marvel origin series will put just as much emphasis on her home life as her feats of superpowered heroism. Based on Shaikh's description of his character's relationship with Kamala, it seems reasonable to expect their exchanges will be mostly positive, as opposed to following the archetypical sibling-to-archnemesis pipeline.
That said, given Amir's desire to be a guiding older sibling, it's entirely possible that Kamala gaining cosmic superpowers could create some friction between them. Indeed, whether her family at large is supportive of her newfound abilities will be a determining factor in her character's arc across the series, setting up the tenor of how she will interact with the people she could come to view as a found-family in The Marvels. Audiences are eager to learn more about Ms. Marvel, but with both Moon Knight and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ahead of it on the release calendar, it might be some time still before Marvel Studios ups the show's marketing push.
