Ms. Marvel Faces Wave Of Backlash With New Cast Members
Ms. Marvel is coming under fire for some casting decisions.
This article is more than 2 years old
Ms. Marvel promises to bring a big boost of diversity to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The lead character, Kamala Khan, is a young Muslim woman and it is likely that the new Disney+ streaming series will feature her religion in some notable way. Fans are excited to see this brought to life on their television screens, but some new casting decisions have sparked some outrage towards the upcoming show.
The first one has to do with actor Andrew Brodeur (Tall Girl) looks to be involved with Ms. Marvel according to some of his social media posts. However, Twitter account Ms. Marvel News says that Brodeur has had “multiple Title IX allegations filed against him.” This means he is being accused of sexual abuse and gender discrimination. Marvel and Brodeur have both remained silent on these issues as of now.
That alone would be enough to raise some eyebrows, but there are other casting decisions that have Ms. Marvel fans unhappy. Yasmeen Fletcher (Andi Mack) and Zenobia Shroff (Soul) are reported to be playing Kamala Khan’s best friend and her mother, respectively. The two characters are supposed to be Muslim according to their comic book versions, but neither actress is actually a Muslim. The Ms. Marvel News account points out that this is not as “egregious” as the issues surrounding Andrew Brodeur, but that they are still taking issue with the casting.
And we still aren’t done with the Ms. Marvel casting controversies! Actor Matt Lintz is rumored to be playing Kamala’s friend Bruno Carelli, and he has received some flak for liking certain tweets that seem to paint him as a supporter of Donald Trump. Lintz took to Twitter to deny these claims and it seems like he is not facing as much heat after his detailed statement.
There is no doubt that Disney/Marvel has to be aware of all these issues surrounding Ms. Marvel and it is going to be interesting to see if there is any kind of response to this backlash. The series is currently filming and is set to release on the streaming platform Disney+ at some point in late 2021. If these controversies end up gaining some traction, will the series be forced to do recasting or reshoots? At this point, it seems like they are nailed down with these cast members. If not, it sounds like they would need to change out these actors as soon as possible.
Ms. Marvel is one of the most anticipated upcoming projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There is no doubt that fans want to see the best version of the character considering she is making her live-action debut. If all of these issues surrounding these cast members end up casting a shadow over the entire production, will it dampen the impact of this momentous series? We will have to wait and see if anything substantial comes out of this backlash, or if they end up falling by the wayside once the series launches on Disney+.
