"EMBIGGEN!" Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) Appreciation

[responsarbre]

Double blunder from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-44111442
One, it's not MISS Marvel, it's Ms. Marvel. And two, Priyanka Chopra a shoo-in for the role? She's fine in video games (Avengers Academy) but she's too old for the role in live action. They need to find a teenager, probably a complete unknown, who speaks both Urdu and English.

I've seen that Priyanka Chopra thing pop up a couple times in different places and it's very ???? confusing, lol. Definitely a knee-jerk reaction by people who are just assuming it's an adult Desi hero. I've also seen a lot of people say that the Captain Marvel movie is going to be about Kamala LOL.

I honestly don't know whether they'll get an Urdu speaker since I don't think the MCU has been so keen on having a lot of foreign-language exchanges, and even when they do, it's Polish actors and Scarlett Johansson trying to speak "Russian" at each other. She definitely wouldn't be speaking in Urdu if her role in the MCU is so small that we don't see her family. But I would love to see it! I also hope that they cast someone who's actually Muslim, because I think that would genuinely help make sure they don't mess anything up in terms of authenticity.

[Wiccan]

Double blunder from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-44111442
One, it's not MISS Marvel, it's Ms. Marvel. And two, Priyanka Chopra a shoo-in for the role? She's fine in video games (Avengers Academy) but she's too old for the role in live action. They need to find a teenager, probably a complete unknown, who speaks both Urdu and English.

I'm 100% sure Priyanka Chopra it's not even considered. They just added that in based on some tweets lol.

[Myetche]

The movie needs to be animated, like Big Hero 6 was. Shapeshifting powers never work out in live-action.

[Tiamatty]

Double blunder from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-44111442
One, it's not MISS Marvel, it's Ms. Marvel. And two, Priyanka Chopra a shoo-in for the role? She's fine in video games (Avengers Academy) but she's too old for the role in live action. They need to find a teenager, probably a complete unknown, who speaks both Urdu and English.

In addition to being too old for the role, Chopra is also the wrong race. She's Indian, not Pakistani. If Marvel's going to have a Pakistani-American superhero, they should cast a Pakistani-American actor in the role. None of this, "Eh, close enough" garbage. Get the race right.

[Ravin' Ray]

It wasn't always like this when the nationality of the actor has to match that of the character. Pat Morita voiced the Emperor in Mulan. Not all the Asian actresses in The Joy Luck Club were Chinese or ethnic Chinese.

[Tiamatty]

It wasn't always like this when the nationality of the actor has to match that of the character. Pat Morita voiced the Emperor in Mulan. Not all the Asian actresses in The Joy Luck Club were Chinese or ethnic Chinese.

What happened with previous movies is beside the point. Kamala Khan should be played by an actor of Pakistani descent. They should get her race right.

[Ravin' Ray]

I was just pointing out that expectations have changed since then and now. If this were done in the decades of the movies I mentioned it's a good chance the actress' ethnicity wouldn't have mattered as much.

[Tiamatty]

I was just pointing out that expectations have changed since then and now. If this were done in the decades of the movies I mentioned it's a good chance the actress' ethnicity wouldn't have mattered as much.

Oh, yeah. If it was made pre-2010, really, it probably wouldn't have gotten much attention. Pre-2000, no one would've been batting an eye. What's changed is that social media has amplified the voices of marginalized communities. Asian-Americans were always critical of how they were represented in fiction, but no one really heard about it. Now, they can get their voices out there, and other people can amplify them, and people have to be aware of the criticisms.

[Myetche]

What happened with previous movies is beside the point. Kamala Khan should be played by an actor of Pakistani descent. They should get her race right.

None of that would be an issue in an animated movie. Just get any girl who can do a decent Pakistani accent.

[responsarbre]

In addition to being too old for the role, Chopra is also the wrong race. She's Indian, not Pakistani. If Marvel's going to have a Pakistani-American superhero, they should cast a Pakistani-American actor in the role. None of this, "Eh, close enough" garbage. Get the race right.

I'm not South Asian myself, but I personally would be cool seeing any Muslim actress of South Asian descent (be they Indian, Pakistani, Bengali, or something else). The situation in the subcontinent is complicated because of partition, and there are people of Pakistani origin living in India and vice-versa. I don't really think people would be as upset about this as, say, a Korean actor playing a Chinese character, because the cultural differences across South Asia are distinct as opposed to the ones you see in East Asia. They don't always fall along lines of nationality, especially since those nationalities were pretty recently constructed.

I honestly think the most likely candidate will end up being a young non-Muslim Indian actress, because I don't really see a lot of young Muslim actresses or actresses of Pakistani descent. Which I would be okay with, as long as they treat her heritage with respect.

But maybe I'm not one to talk about this. My standards are so low that I just get happy when they actually cast any Arab (instead of a South Asian or Iranian actor) to play an Arab.

None of that would be an issue in an animated movie. Just get any girl who can do a decent Pakistani accent.

??? I don't really read Kamala as having a Pakistani accent in Ms. Marvel. She grew up in Jersey City. Unless you're talking about her accent in Urdu?

[Tiamatty]

I'm not South Asian myself, but I personally would be cool seeing any Muslim actress of South Asian descent (be they Indian, Pakistani, Bengali, or something else). The situation in the subcontinent is complicated because of partition, and there are people of Pakistani origin living in India and vice-versa. I don't really think people would be as upset about this as, say, a Korean actor playing a Chinese character, because the cultural differences across South Asia are distinct as opposed to the ones you see in East Asia. They don't always fall along lines of nationality, especially since those nationalities were pretty recently constructed.

I honestly think the most likely candidate will end up being a young non-Muslim Indian actress, because I don't really see a lot of young Muslim actresses or actresses of Pakistani descent. Which I would be okay with, as long as they treat her heritage with respect.

I mean, India and Pakistan have some pretty distinct differences. And a whole lot of tension. In terms of young Pakistani-American actors, well, yeah, probably not that many that anyone would know of, because they never get work. But I'm pretty confident they're out there, and that they're talented.

[Holt]

My issue with Chopra is that she's 35. She's a very talented actor (shame about Quantico) but there's no world where she can reasonably pass for a 15 year old. Especially next to Tom Holland, who actually does look like he's still in high school.

The movie needs to be animated, like Big Hero 6 was. Shapeshifting powers never work out in live-action.

I don't know. Mystique's transformations usually look fine. Stretching is a bit harder but I don't know if it's impossible.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I don't think Kamala would have an accent when she speaks English because she was born and raised in the states. In fact she might have learned english before learning urdu or arabic.

We live in a post "the problem with apu" world so at the bare minimum she would need to be an actress of South Asian descent. I don't think she needs to be actually from Pakistan but it wouldn't hurt to have an actress of pakistani descent play the role.

[Myetche]

I don't know. Mystique's transformations usually look fine. Stretching is a bit harder but I don't know if it's impossible.

Mystique doesn't do more than a simple change of appearance. Kamala is stretching, squishing, growing, shrinking, the whole nine yards. Animation is simply better in this case.

[Digifiend]

Shrinking and growing is just like Ant-Man, and stretching is like Mr Fantastic. Both have been done before in movies.