After playing Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel and The Marvels, Iman Vellani is now venturing into the world of comics with Chachu, a series inspired by her coming-of-age experiences in the entertainment industry.
Joined by artist Marianna Ignazzi (Exquisite Corpses) and colorist Jordie Bellaire (Absolute Wonder Woman), the series launches on August 5, and Vellani recently joined League of Comic Geeks for an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session.
Among the questions put to the actor was how she feels about recent comments that Gen Z doesn't care about superhero movies.
That remark was shared in the trades after they began to dissect where things went wrong with Supergirl. The DCU movie was expected to attract a large female audience, but, not unlike The Marvels, it has struggled to find an audience. In fact, superhero movies as a whole aren't as hot as they were less than a decade ago, suggesting there's a disconnect with younger filmgoers.
Vellani's take echoes that of many fans, as she argued that the genre can continue to thrive, provided it finds a way to tell new and relatable stories that "[can] only be told through this genre."
"I don't agree that Gen Z has stopped caring about superheroes. Maybe they've just stopped feeling obligated to show up. Our generation has grown up with an abundance of superhero stories, so perhaps the novelty has worn off -- which is natural. The bar is higher now. We're looking for stories that feel specific and emotional -- especially in the age of AI. We want honesty from our storytellers. We want our intelligence respected."
"If anything, I think Gen Z responds incredibly well to superheroes when they're treated as people first. The themes of grief, identity, legacy, belonging -- they're timeless and will never age out. Every genre goes through cycles. Westerns did. Musicals did. Romcoms did. So the answer isn't to abandon the genre, but to find new stories that [can] only be told through THIS genre. At the end of the day, I think we just want these films to evolve and grow alongside their audience."
Despite being Marvel Television's best-reviewed Disney+ series, Ms. Marvel hasn't been renewed for a second season. The character's future is uncertain, though she is expected to appear in Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars (perhaps both). However, that remains unconfirmed.
Ms. Marvel established that Kamala is a mutant, a plot point that could eventually lead to her being in the X-Men's orbit. Admitting that "the mutant stuff was really daunting for me," Vellani pointed out that, "I think we found a fair balance to accommodate her new identity without jeopardizing everything we love about this character."
She added, "We don't root for a character because they can shoot webs or make giant fists. We root for a character when we relate to their humanity. And that part was never compromised in the MCU version."
Let us know your thoughts on Vellani's insights in the comments section below.