The Middle East has its first Marvel superhero! Ms. Marvel, a groundbreaking American TV miniseries which premiered in the summer of 2022. The project is the brainchild of Bisha K. Ali, a British standup comic of Pakistani heritage who created the series for Disney+.
Ms. Marvel is centered around an Avengers fangirl Kamala Khan who develops her own set of superpowers while struggling to fit in with the crowd in high school. The miniseries ran for six episodes but has left a huge impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Not only has the show made a huge leap forward in terms of diversity and representation, but its main character – a 16-year-old Middle Eastern female superhero – has become a fan favorite. In fact, Iman Vellani who stars as Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel will reprise her role in the upcoming movie ‘The Marvels’, set to premiere in November 2023.
What’s Behind Ms. Marvel’s Popularity?
On Rotten Tomatoes, Ms. Marvel is 98% certified fresh with an average critics score of 8.2/10. It also has a high approval rating on other review sites including IMDB, Metacritic, and others. Among the things both the critics and fans like about the series are its visuals and high-paced storyline.
Plus, there are some who claim that the real engine pushing the story forward is the performance of Pakistani-Canadian actress Iman Vellani in the leading role. The 20-year-old actress is starring as Kamala Khan a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, a teen fangirl of superhero movies who ends up becoming a superhero on her own.
In addition to Khan, other cast members have also received praise from critics and fans alike. Some of those whose performances stand out include Lebanese-American actress Yasmeen Fletcher, Iranian-American actor Arian Moayed, Syrian-British actor Laith Nakli, and others.
A high percentage of actors playing the main roles in the series can trace their roots to the Middle East, which is one of the reasons why the series has a huge followership in this region. Still, the main reason for that lies in the Middle East’s obsession with the Marvel Cinematic universe.
MCU’s Rising Popularity in the Middle East
Although there isn’t a single definition of what the Middle East encompasses, most scholars refer to it as the region spanning from Pakistan in the East all the way to Egypt in the West.
The region is home to over half a billion people, with Arabic and Urdu being the most commonly spoken languages. In recent years, however, the percentage of English speakers in the Middle East has been growing. Some experts point to the influence of Western media on the younger population as the main driver of this trend.
One fact in favor of this hypothesis is that superhero movies/series are incredibly popular in this region. The highest-grossing Marvel movie, Avengers: Endgame, broke many box-office records in the Middle East. For instance, in the United Arab Emirates, the film currently holds the record for the biggest opening weekend in the country, generating a total of over 14 million AED in the first two days of screening.
The love the Middle East has for superheroes goes beyond movie theaters. Marvel fans from this part of the world are also crazy about MCU-themed video games, fan fiction, and even casino games. In fact, some of the most popular slot games in online casinos for Arabic speakers are those based around superheroes and villains.
Knowing all this, it’s almost certain that the next movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to record incredible success in the Middle East.
Ms. Marvel Coming Back to Screens in The Marvels (2023)
In the series finale of the Ms. Marvel miniseries, Kamala Khan is revealed to be a mutant, the same as many other characters from the MCU (e.g., Wolverine, Professor Xavier, Colossus, and so on). The reveal at the end of the sixth episode has set up the stage for Kamala’s next appearance – this superhero is set to return in the upcoming movie: The Marvels.
The movie is meant to be the sequel to the 2019 film Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larson as Carol Danvers a.k.a. Captain Marvel. In the sequel, she’s going to be joined by a few other members of the MCU family, most notably Monica Rambeau (played by Teyonah Parris) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).
The superhero team will get another member – Kamala Khan – in her first appearance on the movie screen. We’ll have to wait until November before we’ll get a chance to see Ms. Marvel in action.
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