Mumbai: After a long period of speculation it has been confirmed that actor-director Farhan Akhtar will be joining the Marvel universe in the TV mini series 'Ms. Marvel'.
For the actor, the news did not come in the form of any official confirmation from himself, but in the form of a congratulatory message from his new wife Shibani Dandekar who stated that her husband had indeed joined the MCU.
She wrote, “THIS!!! Can't wait for this one!! First mainstream leading Indian actor to be part of the Marvel Universe! Beyond proud of you @faroutakhtar @purvilavingia for making this happen @amarjeetchahal for being there always #msmarvel #disneyplus (sic).”
Later, Farhan posted a photo of an international news clip and penned, “Grateful that the universe gifts these opportunities to grow, learn and in this case have a ton of fun while doing it (sic).”
Taking to Instagram, Farhan posted a snippet from an online report which contained details of 'Ms Marvel' and that he will have a 'guest starring' role.
In addition to Farhan Akhtar, the series will also feature Pakistani actor Fawad Khan in a small role in the series.
Fawad, on his part, had confirmed that he is appearing on the show. In an interview with Film Companion in December, Fawad was asked if he was a part of 'Ms Marvel'.
“Yeah, I am. Woh toh main deny nahi kar sakta, ab toh main jhooth nahi bol sakta, woh toh unhone khud news laga di hai (Yeah, I can no longer deny that and neither can I lie about it because they have revealed the news themselves),” he said.
Talking about the experience of working in the show, Fawad had added, “It's a wonderful experience, it was good fun. The cast that I worked with, the people that I worked with, it was good fun, but I am sorry, I cannot say anything more than that at this point in time.”
'Ms. Marvel' also stars Pakistani Canadian actress Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, Marvel's first Muslim superhero, and explores a girl with great imagination, her school life, her different religion and near limitless fascination with the Avengers, particularly her idol Captain Marvel and eventually acquiring super powers and becoming a superhero like her heroes in a very comic book style.
The trailer for the show has received polarized reception, with some showing great interest in it while some have complained that the show is the personification of all the problems that Marvel and Disney harbour today with their obsession with forced diversity, feminism and forced moral and social justice messaging.
Created by Bisha. K Ali, the show also stars Aramis Knight, Matt Lintz, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Naki, Azhar Usman, Travina Springer, and Nimra Bucha, and will release on June 8 on Disney+. (UNI)