How lucky Bisha K. Ali “Mrs. Wonderful

It was Bisha K. Ali Loki The Writers’ Room, when the wind first caught a lady wonder TV series and wasted no time firing his shot. As a Marvel loyalist, the British-Pakistani writer knew he could bring authenticity to the story of a Pakistani-American teenager named Kamala Khan (Iman Velani), who discovers a unique set of superpowers. Alim refused to extend his term Loki To work on his presentation with Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feig. Eventually, Ali realized that creating an accurate reflection of a Muslim-American family in Jersey City would be as distinctive as any other family story.

“I told myself [Loki] Executive Kevin Wright, “If you adapt lady wonder “And you don’t put my hat in the ring, none of us go with a hat or a head,” says Ali. the Hollywood Reporter, with a laugh. “I managed to share [Marvel Studios] Because I thought this show was important to me personally, as a fan, as a South Asian man, as a Pakistani woman, as a woman of Muslim descent. I explained why all of this was important, but also how we could marry them in a specific way. s Universal. ”

one of the surprises lady wonder The debut was made by Arian Moayed’s agent, Cleary. Spider-Man: No Way HomeAnd as viewers likely admitted in the second episode, the unique imprint of his interrogation remains intact.

“[Kevin Feige] “I brought up the idea of ​​Agent Clear being a part of our show,” Ali said. “Kevin and the CEOs know all the parts that we might not even know, so they come in and say, ‘Okay, you’ve got this, so let’s figure it out through this work, plug it into something else. ‘ And that’s the thrill of doing it. part of the MCU.”

in the last conversation THRAli also talked about his interactions with the Creatives. wondersWhich will continue the story of Kamala Khan, along with Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel and Teona Paris’s Monica Rambo.

so early Loki done lady wonder come your way?

Something was in between, almost. I was in the writers room LokiAnd as I am a very tired and nasal person, I told myself [Loki] Executive Kevin Wright, “If you adapt lady wonder You will not put my hat in the ring, none of us will wear hats and heads. (laughs.) So it was and back to my first encounter when it was still spinning in the brains of Marvel Commanders and Defenders of Time. That was still the case when I was in the writers’ room. Loki, and I began to develop my speech with the executives. In fact, I brought the others lunch so I could work on my approach. lady wonder. So when my part Loki It was a full, expanded writers’ room, which is pretty common, and they asked me if I’d like to come in and do that. I said, “Thanks, but I really need time to work in my field. I need to understand how to get this job.” So after a few weeks I got up and got a job. I went straight from one to the other.

Which part of your speech did Marvel respond to the most?

I think that was my mood and energy in general. The real square was like a banana and a banana, and they said, “Yes, you, but maybe not.” (laughs.) But I think they really responded to the fact that this story was intensely personal. I get a real sense of who this character was as a fan because he is who he represents. He represents Marvel fans in the real world and is a fan of the Avengers in the MCU. So I, a super fan, walked into that room and thought, ‘Look, I don’t think I’m in this room either. ㅡ I do it. That’s how I want to approach it.” I was able to share with them because I thought this show was important to me personally, as a fan, as a South Asian man, as a Pakistani woman, as a woman of Muslim descent. I explained why all of this was important, but also how we could marry them in a specific way. s Universal. So I explained to them what my path would be like.

He also had bonus points he was working on. Loki. I was working on the first round of shows and I knew how they worked and how they got to television. So being on land during the first wave helped me tremendously in terms of surfing. I also received advice [head writer] malcolm spelman Falcon and Winter Soldier s [head writer] Jacques Schaefer Wanda’s VisionSo everything helped me a lot. We knew each other creatively and they understood who I was and vice versa. So all these elements combine to make perfect sense.

Marvel creatives are often given general settings, like in the comedy world of Wanda and Vision, so what options do you have?

It wasn’t like, “There are limits to what you can do.” It was more like, “Okay, maybe we can go a little further in that direction.” In terms of our setup it was to keep the ground level and luckily I was in compliance from the start. Kamala Khan is the people’s hero of this generation. He represents many current fans who have grown up with a decade of Marvel cinematic history. So that element was really important and what I always wanted to do in my playground was save his character. visual narrative, way [the writers] The narrative, the forces, the relationships relate to Kamala’s inner life, psychology and travels. That was all the creative light from day one and we all agreed from the start.

When you work with Marvel Studios, you often need to transfer your characters to the next set of creatives so they can tell their own story. So you are together wonderful Join and plan Kamala’s next adventure?

At that time we started lady wonder Writers Room, we already knew how to get there wonders It was happening and Mrs. Marvel would be a part of that. What I didn’t know, and still don’t know, is what would happen in this movie, but I have a few hunches… so I knew full well that we were going to buy a teenager in Jersey City without authority, and I had to prepare her for what would happen in this movie. . So I was very aware of that connection, and when they were seriously working on this feature, most of our scripts were written. So they read all of our scripts and knew what was going to happen to them. Everyone had that in mind when they got into the movie, but I was happy to find out what was going on in their story.

Take you and your team [Spider-Man: No Way Home] Arian Moayed Agent Cleary Diaries? ‘Cause that’s where you got it there is no way home He abandoned his routine of a cheerful, transparent good cop.

I don’t think we got Agent Clear’s journals. That’s Kevin’s problem. Kevin knows everything, man. He came up with the idea of ​​Agent Clear being a part of our show and that’s the job of working with Marvel. Kevin and the execs know all the parts that maybe we don’t even know, so they come in and say, “Okay, you get it, so let’s reveal it through this work, let’s link it to something else.” And that’s the thrill of being a part of the MCU. So this is definitely Kevin’s fix.

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lady wonder Now streaming on Disney+. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.