Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, Movies, Opinion, Preview, TV, TV | Tagged: disney plus, Iman Vellani, kamala khan, Marvel Studios, ms marvel, the marvels

The Marvels Final Trailer Sees Ms. Marvel MIA: Where's Iman Vellani?

The Marvels final trailer seemed to have more Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans & Thanos in it than Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel.

Did you know that Robert Downey, Jr.'s Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Evans' Steve Rogers/Captain America, and Thanos were starring in Marvel Studios' Brie Larson, Iman Vellani & Teyonah Parris-starring The Marvels? That's because they're not – but you couldn't tell from the "final trailer" for the next MCU extravaganza set to hit screens. But that's not the part that has us arching our eyebrows and wondering aloud, "WTF?" What's bothering us is that Downey, Jr., Evans, and the dude who knocked off half the universe got more screen time in the two-minute trailer than Vellani's Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel did. Just so there's no confusion? Vellani is one of the three main leads – now go back and watch the trailer. Could you really tell by what you just watched? Nope – and that's a problem. With reports lately that "The Mouse" is getting nostalgically nervous about Marvel Studios & the MCU's future, putting out a trailer to focus on your OG stars at the expense of giving Vellani the screen time she's earned just feels shi**y on a whole number of levels. Yes, we know that she's been featured in past trailers, teasers, and promos – but this is the FINAL trailer. This is the last big push before the film's release – with the trailer even getting a national media rollout during ESPN's Monday Night Football. It was a disservice to Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, Vellani – and their fans.

Here's a look at Marvel Studios' official Avengers: Endgame recap, followed by what's being billed as the "final trailer" for Marvel Studios' The Marvels – set to hit screens on November 10th. As much as we would like to think we're over-reacting, we watch it again, and the reality of it all becomes annoyingly clearer:

When Iman Vellani & "Ms. Marvel" Opened MCU Door to Mutants, X-Men

As you know, Kamala's (Vellani) powers evolved over the course of the season as more intel about them was revealed. The bangle wasn't the source of her power, just a way of activating the power that was already inside of her. Deeper into the series, Kamala's told that she's a supernatural being known as a djinn. But in S01E06: "No Normal," her friend Bruno (Matt Lintz) has an even bigger reveal, telling her that there is something different in her genes… "like a mutation." At that point, you can hear the brief clip from the X-Men: The Animated Series theme song play after Bruno's comment and before Kamala responds. In honor of the comics getting in line with the MCU, we have a look at what Vellani and head writer Bisha K. Ali had to share about opening the door to mutants in the MCU (paving the way for the X-Men), what it was like holding onto the secret, and more.

Iman Vellani, Bisha K. Ali Discuss That MCU Game-Changing Moment

Describing it as the "best day of my life," head writer Bisha K. Ali revealed that bringing mutants into the conversation wasn't a plan that was in play from the start. "It wasn't from the beginning [of the show]. With Marvel, something's always a moving piece, and we're trying to solve this question of, 'If any of [Kamala's family] put the bangle on, would they have powers?' The answer was always no, from a character perspective, no." So having Kamala's genetics different from her family not only served the series' storyline but it also "fit into the logic of the wider MCU."

And what about Vellani? Well, let's just say that Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige's attention was clearly gotten with an all-caps email regarding the "X-Men" tease. "They sent me, and only me, the draft [of the final episode], and I immediately freaked out. I emailed Kevin Feige in all caps. I was like, are you doing this like for real? Are you sure? I'm so honored! I was like yelling at him through an email," Vellani revealed. "I was freaking out. This is the biggest deal in the world, and the fact that it's happening in our show is crazy." And if there's one person who understands the potential ramifications of the reveal, it's the Ms. Marvel star. "People are going to lose their minds. They're going to lose everything. I did. It's truly a really big deal."

In fact, her excitement didn't exactly make filming the season an easy undertaking. "It took a really long time to film that scene because any time Matt [Lintz] would say that word, I'd start giggling. I think we got the one take. The one you see in the episode is one of two that we got where I was mildly serious," Vellani explained. "It was really, really, really difficult. I think we have so many outtakes of me just breaking because I was so excited and giddy over this." As for Ali, the game-changer was the kind of thing her teenage self could've never imagined. "I feel so excited as a viewer of my show. The Bisha teen fan girl in me is like, 'I can't believe it.' And the fact that it's Kamala — it's her. It's like her wildest dream already came true over the show [gaining powers], but then we just gave her one more bit of the dream. It's incredible. I'm overjoyed," Ali added.

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