Is Fawad Khan joining the cast of MCU’s Ms. Marvel?

It seems like the cast of Ms. Marvel from Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is getting bigger and bigger by the day with a huge flavour of Pakistani artists. If recent news reports are to be believed, one of Pakistan’s most followed actor-star - Fawad Khan has also joined the series. This exciting bit of information went viral when senior journalist Haroon Rashid of BBC Entertainment took to Twitter and shared it, lending it enormous credibility. Though MCU hasn’t made an official announcement about roping in the musician-turned-actor, Haroon Rashid mentioned in his tweet that Fawad has been credited as a cast member on IMDb.

“Wow! Fawad Khan set to appear in Ms. Marvel – the Disney+ series about Marvel’s first titular Muslim character,” read Haroon’s tweet. “He’s listed on the show’s official IMDB page... Marvel yet to comment. Amazing if true!” he added.

Fawad Khan’s fans are overjoyed with this news, especially after waiting for the release of Bilal Lashari’s much anticipated and delayed The Legend of Maula Jatt, which was slated to release on Eid-ul-Fitr, last year but was postponed indefinitely due to the emergence of the pandemic Covid-19.

We already know for a fact that Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is one of the co-directors and will be helming at least one episode. Other co-directors of the upcoming series include Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah and Meera Menon. This news first made waves when President of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, and two-time Oscar winner Sharmeen confirmed it. Apart from the Humsafar actor and Sharmeen Obaid, Ms. Marvel’s team has roped in at least two more Pakistani artists including actor par excellence Nimra Bucha as well as veteran actor Samina Ahmed, who can be seen at present in drama serial Shehnai.

Ms. Marvel focuses on the character of Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teen based in New Jersey. Created by Sana Amanat, Stephen Wacker, G. Willow Wilson, and Adrian Alphona, Kamala Khan is Marvel’s first Muslim character to headline her own comic book. She made her first appearance in Captain Marvel in August 2013, before starring in the solo series Ms. Marvel in February 2014. In the comic books, Ms. Marvel’s refers to her alter-ego Kamala Khan. The character devotedly follows the career of Captain Marvel and goes by the codename Ms. Marvel once she discovers her own ability of changing shape.

Besides a potential slew of Pakistani talent, Bollywood star from across the border, actor-singer and director Farhan Akhtar has also joined the ensemble cast that includes Iman Vellani in the titular role of Ms. Marvel, Aramis Knight as Kareem (a.k.a. Red Dagger), Saagar Shaikh as Amir Khan and Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan among many others.

We can’t wait to see what Ms.Marvel, has in store for us. The series is set to release sometime this year.

Malala Yousafzai features on the cover of British Vogue

The 23-year-old Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel Peace Prize Winner - who survived a life threatening terrorist act against her life - and has been advocating for girls’ education, has been featured on the cover of British Vogue’s July edition. The world’s youngest Nobel Prize laureate, Malala in the cover story titled ‘The Extraordinary life of Malala Yousafzai’, opened up about activism, religion and her partnership with AppleTV+.

In the stunning cover photo by photographer Nick Knight, Malala is dressed in a bright red Stella McCartney outfit along with a headscarf. Apart from her in-depth interview, the July edition of British Vogue will feature tributes from some of Malala’s high-profile admirers, such as former First Lady Michelle Obama, who termed her “truly extraordinary,” and Apple CEO Tim Cook, who told Vogue, “I don’t think there’s anyone quite like her.”

In the interview, according to Vogue, Malala described her headscarf as “a cultural symbol for us Pashtuns, so it represents where I come from.” She went on to add, “And Muslim girls or Pashtun girls or Pakistani girls, when we follow our traditional dress, we’re considered to be oppressed, or voiceless, or living under patriarchy. I want to tell everyone that you can have your own voice within your culture, and you can have equality in your culture.”

Having graduated last year from Oxford University with a degree in politics, philosophy and economics, Malala recently launched her own production house, called Extracurricular. During the course of her interview she also shared details about the time she spent studying in the UK as well as the multi-year partnership with Apple TV+ that will focus on releasing documentaries about girls’ education and women’s rights, children’s series and much more. While some of her views have been taken out of context, artists such as Ali Sethi have battled for her. -This is a developing story