Prior to The Marvels, actress Iman Villani was showing off her work in a comedy titled “Ms. Marvel”.

Iman Villani, star of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Ms. Marvel TV series and the month of november wonderlandknows a thing or two about being a teen, Muslim, superhero-obsessed, who is suddenly catapulted into fame and public expectations along with the people she once admired from afar.

she also You know a thing or two about Ms. Marvel, the superhero-adoring Muslim teen who just rose to fame and public expectations (when she realized she was a mutant) along with the same people (superheroes) she once admired from afar. Namely, the X-Men. these years Hell party The story of the event revealed that although Kamala’s powers come from her Inhuman ancestors, she is also He has an inactive mutant X gene.

So, while Villani had never written a comic before her new Marvel Comics miniseries, Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant, You can’t say that this doesn’t make much sense. Today, Kamala Khan embarks on a brand new adventure as the newest member of the X-Men. Unfortunately, an alliance of mutant-hating humans and computer intelligence has framed the mutant to massacre dozens of human dignitaries and exile almost all of Earth’s mutant to parts unknown.

Photo: Sarah Picelli/Marvel Comics

You can say it isn’t better It’s time to realize you’re a mutant, but at least Kamala is in good hands. Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant Co-written by Villani and Saber Pirzada (Co-Author of Book Ms. Marvel TV series) and illustrated by Carlos Gomez and Adam Gorham, with covers by Marvel legend Sarah Picelli.

Polygon sat down with Vellani via video chat this month to find out what it’s like to move on from playing Ms. Marvel to write Ms. Marvel – and from reading comics to making them.

“I thought I was working with the biggest geeks at Marvel Studios, but then I met the guys at Marvel Publishing, who are a whole other level of geeks,” Villani joked.

Read on for the rest of our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity.

Polygon: You’ve played Ms. Marvel on TV and in film. Is writing for it the same as playing with it?

Iman Villani: It almost feels like a diary. I have incorporated a lot of my personal and real life experiences over the past three years into this book. Kamala (in the comics) is dealing with a massive change in her life right now, and this is what happened to me. I wanted to use a lot of the things I learned along the way, the kinds of people I would be around, how I would handle things, and put that into the book. It was very comforting for me in many ways to be given this platform and to express so much of what I’ve been through, through Kamala. I’ve always felt like I’ve lived vicariously through this character since high school. She is me, and I am her. And we lived the same life. So I feel very comfortable, whether I’m playing her or writing for her. I feel like I understand her voice very well, because it is very similar to mine.

Do you feel like you learned something new about her by writing about her?

Overall, yes, but the biggest learning experience has been working with a co-writer and editorial editor for Marvel. The collaboration process has been the most rewarding part of this whole thing. I thought I was working with the biggest geeks at Marvel Studios, but then I met the guys at Marvel Publishing, who are a whole other level of geeks (He laughs). Suffice it to say, I feel very at home.

Saber, my co-writer, is probably the best and most generous collaborator I’ve ever had, he really gave me the upper hand in driving the narrative and responding to all my desires. Anytime we run into any speed bumps or continuity issues, he’ll be the first to come up with 20 different ideas on how to solve it, so we can tell the story we wanted the way we wanted. I probably learned a lot from him, not even directly, but just by observing the way he responds to emails, the way he incorporates editorial notes into his pages and coherently relays opinions if there’s something we don’t necessarily agree with. I would probably have been more hesitant about this whole process if he had not been such a good writer and human being as he is. It was the most striking part of this whole thing.

Photo: Carlos Gomez, Adam Gorham/Marvel Comics

Seeing the process of making comic books firsthand is absolutely magical. I write these words, and then people draw the words I write, and then other people color those drawings. It’s just, so… amazing. I can’t describe it any other way. Every day when I get sketches it’s so cool; It is very rewarding when artists paint the page exactly as you envisioned it. And then when they don’t, I’m like, Well, this is my role, I need to describe something better. It really is continuous learning. And I think I’ve progressed a lot from v1 to v4.

Your scenarios are very different from the movie script. It is basically a letter to the artist. It’s more complicated. becomes more detailed. As you learn more about the artist, how he paints, and how he likes to work, your texts change with that, too. It was really cool.

Do you have a favorite X-Men character?

It is different for each medium. With the 90’s cartoon, I love Jubilee and I love Rogue. And with Grant Morrison’s career, I mean Wolverine and Emma Frost are my favorites. and then House of X/Powers of X… it changes. I mean there are times when I really like Magneto. But can I say that? I don’t know. I like a lot of women, honestly, the female characters are so beautifully written. It really changes, and I think that’s the beautiful thing about the X-Men, because there are so many characters. The more I read about any of them, the more interesting they became, and suddenly they were my new favorite. In every comic I read, I have a different favorite.

With Kamala turning into an inhuman and a mutant at the same time, it got me thinking about the time Snowman came out as gay in superhero x-men Number 600, and he explained that he stayed in the closet for so long because he was so afraid of getting another mark that would make people look down on him. I know you can’t talk much about what happens in the comic, but I was wondering if you could talk about how Kamala feels about getting “another title.”

Photo: Sarah Picelli/Marvel Comics

We got her blended into this whole world by taking on her first secret mission as the greenest member of the X-Men – a team so small now, after the Hellfire ceremony, that we didn’t have a lot of characters to choose from. (He laughs). At the same time, she struggles to come to terms with the new colors she’s wearing, and the new life she’s literally been given. There’s a part of her that feels like she owes something to the X-Men, because they’re the ones who brought her back to life. But she doesn’t want to totally fit in, because she’s like, you guys Just Tell me I’m an X-Man, I still have homework, and I don’t know what you want from me right now.

sHe realizes that being a mutant sets her apart in a way she has never experienced before. Especially after the Hellfire Ceremony, mutants’ hatred took over the world, because they believed mutants massacred everyone. Kamala enters this mission and is a little naive about the amount of discrimination she is about to face that is out there for mutants. She is also one of the only shapeshifters who can also sustain an above-ground life; All mutants are now underground because people know they are part of the X-Men. And for now, no one knows Ms. Marvel is the X-Man until she steps out in her new X-suit.

I don’t want to reveal too many details, but it’s a true testament to what kind of heroine she is and what she’s capable of. I think it’s really interesting that you raised Bobby Drake, because Kamala has always been a mutant. She has always had the X gene, but now she talks about it publicly. And now People’s perceptions change. and she’s like, What does it matter? I was the same hero. Now they know I’m trans, now they know I’m trans. Why do people look at me differently? She is beginning to realize how difficult it is to be trans and the discrimination they face. For the first time, she gets a taste of what it is like to be seen as an enemy. It’s the whole other side of her that we kind of play with.

So while we wrap things up, what are you reading these days? Other than looking for work?

a lot of Paper girls newly. The owner of my comic book store got me into them. And I read a lot of comic strips – Planet Bitch It’s my favorite – but I’m obsessed Paper girls. I love it, and I think it’s a fun story.

Photo: Cliff Chiang/Image Comics

We now know that Kamala’s Inhuman status prevented her mutant gene from activating. Will we see her mutant gene activate in this series and find out what her mutant powers are?

Would you like that to happen? I’m still editing the fourth issue…

Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant No. 1 hits shelves August 30th.