‘Ms. Marvel’ Star Iman Vellani Says It’s ‘Embarrassing’ To Pretend To Have Powers

Iman Vellani, the breakout star of the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel, joined the r/Marvelstudios subreddit community for an “Ask Me Anything” with fans that returned some hilarious answers. Vellani shared some of her personal love of comics those who posed questions and spoke hilariously about the awkward parts of pretending to be a superhero.

She revealed her prior love of comics, saying her first comic book ever read was the Invincible Iron Man series from 2015, and also listed the Silver Surfer as one of her favorite comic book characters that need more films or series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

One user asked Vellani if it’s difficult when she has to pretend to use her powers when nothing is actually happening, and she returned with an exhaustive response. She first confirmed, “It’s very embarrassing, actually,” before launching into the setup required.

“Uncomfy flashy supersuit, can’t pee, cold Atlanta nights, bright lights, you must wear a giant sith lord-esque cape to protect you from the paps,” Vellani began humorously, with it only getting weirder when she’s on set. “You stand tall and suck in ur (sic) stomach, now purple led lights shine at you and you pretend this stuff is coming out of you but reality it is dead silent and you are making weird grunting noises,” she added.

If anyone thought she was complaining, Vellani also quickly added afterward, “But hey! I’m a superhero so that trumps everything.” She also later clarified that developing her character’s poses while using her powers was the result of “lots of conversations with our producers and vfx coordinators,” and that she took lots of inspiration from the way Ms. Marvel was drawn in her comics runs.

Vellani also spoke about her first experience doing green screen acting with MCU actors who weren’t actually in the room while filming the upcoming movie The Marvels. She noted that she was acting in person with Brie Larson, but instead of sharing the scene with Anthony Mackie, the two of them were “acting with Anthony Mackie’s voice and while staring at a piece of orange tape on a c-stand pretending to be him.” She understandably described the process as “weird.”