Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah open up about Kamala Khan’s origin story.
Warning: This story contains spoilers for theMs.
The result is a delightful origin story with a distinct visual style.
Matt Lintz as Bruno and Iman Vellani as Kamala in ‘Ms. Marvel’.Daniel McFadden/Marvel Studios
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: We finally get to see the full extent of Kamala’s powers in the finale.
How did you want to approach depicting that?
It’s an adaptation.
In the comic, she can’t control her power at first.
It’s making her body bigger and smaller, which is a good metaphor for being a teenager.
But towards the end of the comic book, she really controls it.
So, we created that same thing.
I love the entire sequence set in the school, with all of Kamala’s friends setting traps.
What went into designing that?
EL ARBI:Well, that was our bigHome Alonesequence.
[Laughs] We had a lot of fun with that.
We also wanted to bring back the animation and the style that we had in the pilot.
We obviously watchedHome Alone,so that was a big inspiration for us.
That was a big challenge.
As directors, how did you want to balance those intimate moments with all the crazy spectacle?
EL ARBI:We grew up not only with the Marvel stories, but alsoSteven Spielberg.
That’s such an iconic moment from the comics.
FALLAH:Yeah, that was the iconic moment.
That was something we were all looking forward to.
When we were doing that shot, everybody felt goosebumps, like, “This is it.”
Iman Vellani is so extraordinary as Kamala.
When you think back to filming, what was your most memorable day on set with her?
EL ARBI:She is the biggest fan of the MCU.Iron Manis her favorite movie.
There are really a lot of parallels between her story and the story ofMs.
I think that by the time we did the finale, she had really grown into a professional actress.
By the last day, she really became a mature and very professional artist.
What went into that scene?
EL ARBI:Well, it’s like national security kind of secret stuff.
Not even any questions!
You’re reading it, and you’re like, “Oh, for reals?”
We were like, “So, does this mean what we think?”
and you don’t get any answer from Kevin.
He just said, “You shoot this, put the music there,” and that’s that.
It was a big honor to have it in our episode.
But we’re like everybody.
We have no idea what’s going to happen in the future.
We only hope we can be part of it.
There’s also that great post-credits scene with Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, a.k.a.
How did that come together?
We didn’t know about the tag either until we saw the final color grading of the last episode.
That’s the genius way that Marvel keeps everything separate.
They have a plan, but they don’t tell you what it is.
They’re like, “Don’t worry about it.
You’ll see.”
So Kevin tells you a little bit, but not too much.
Has there been any talk of a potentialMs.
FALLAH:That’d be great.
EL ARBI:Awesome.
Marvelmovie would also be awesome.
If they ask us, we’ll be there.
We’ll see what happens withThe Marvels,where Iman is there, too.
We can go even further.
What has been your biggest challenge on this show overall?
FALLAH:I would say trying to get the visual style of the show right.
I mean, there are a lot of challenges, of course, working with VFX.
All those elements were not in the script.
So first, we needed to convince them to allow us to do that.
And we were trying to get that consistency throughout the show.
FALLAH:Yeah, it’s really like the personality ofMs.
You’re really inside her mind as much as possible.
It was sort of experimental, but apparently, [fans] really love that stuff.
There’s so much more you could do with that idea.
What’s it been like for you guys to watch the reaction to the show?
You worked on this for so long, and now it’s finally out in the world.
EL ARBI:Yeah, it was two years.
It was blood, sweet, and tears, and of course a lot of fun.
To show this to the world, it’s unbelievable.
You see a lot of things that Muslims are picking up on.
There are a lot of people really recognizing themselves in that.
FALLAH:I hope it keeps growing and that a lot of people will see it.
Marvelhas such a big future ahead of her.
I think that as the audience, you could see her grow throughout her story.
That, I think, is the beauty ofMs.
