WEBVTT 00:02.500 --> 00:05.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: A new Disney+ series features the first Muslim superhero in the Marvel Cinematic 00:06.800 --> 00:11.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Universe and is now one of the highest rated shows of its kind. 00:11.100 --> 00:15.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Amna Nawaz talked to the director about bring this character to life. 00:15.733 --> 00:18.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's part of our arts and culture series, Canvas. 00:18.300 --> 00:20.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% MATT LINTZ, Actor: What does it feel like? 00:20.633 --> 00:22.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% IMAN VELLANI, Actress: Cosmic. 00:22.066 --> 00:24.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: It's the origin story of Kamala Khan, 00:26.900 --> 00:31.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% a 16-year-old Pakistani American living in New Jersey and Marvel's newest superhero. 00:33.200 --> 00:37.000 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% The six-part series now streaming on Disney+ follows Khan, a Marvel Comics-obsessed teen 00:38.966 --> 00:42.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and super fan of Captain Marvel, who suddenly finds herself thrust into 00:42.333 --> 00:47.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the superhero ranks when an ancient family heirloom grants Khan her own superpowers. 00:48.200 --> 00:50.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% IMAN VELLANI: I'm a superhero. 00:50.333 --> 00:54.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: But "Ms. Marvel" brings something new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, 00:54.566 --> 00:59.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% or MCU, as it's known. The series is based on Marvel's first Muslim lead character and 01:01.600 --> 01:05.233 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% weaves Kamala Khan's culture throughout, with Pakistani music, food and dialogue in Urdu. 01:08.466 --> 01:10.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% ZENOBIA SHROFF, Actress: Bara Hulk or choti Hulk? 01:10.766 --> 01:13.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: I spoke with one of the directors of the show, 01:13.200 --> 01:17.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, on representing both hero and heritage in "Ms. Marvel." 01:17.900 --> 01:21.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY, Director: If you had told me that this story would be 01:21.500 --> 01:26.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% told 20 years ago, when I was growing up, I would have laughed at it. 01:28.400 --> 01:31.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But my daughters are going to have a superhero that looks like them, 01:34.266 --> 01:37.300 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% that are use -- about curfew just the way they do, or that are given what they should be wearing. 01:39.333 --> 01:43.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% What "Ms. Marvel" does is, it takes audiences into our world, 01:43.300 --> 01:48.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% lets them in into our secret, that we have this beautiful, colorful, incredible culture. 01:51.766 --> 01:56.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Pakistani Canadian Obaid-Chinoy burst onto the world stage in 2012, winning an 01:58.700 --> 02:02.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Oscar for her documentary "Saving Face" on acid attacks against women in Pakistan. 02:02.066 --> 02:07.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% She won again in 2016 for "A Girl in the River" about honor killings. 02:08.800 --> 02:11.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% How does a director go from Academy Award-winning documentaries 02:11.666 --> 02:16.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to a live-action superhero teen series? What is it that drew you to this project? 02:18.666 --> 02:22.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY: Amna, I have always sort of filmed men and women around the world 02:23.633 --> 02:28.000 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% who are extraordinary, who are creating change in their communities, 02:28.000 --> 02:30.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% working on climate change or health or education. 02:33.466 --> 02:36.500 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% They are superheroes. And so, when "Ms. Marvel" came around, I thought about what she would mean 02:38.566 --> 02:43.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to millions of people around the world who would see a reflection of themselves in her. And I knew 02:45.200 --> 02:48.900 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% immediately that she was in the same vein as the kind of projects that I have always been doing. 02:50.133 --> 02:52.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: The heart and face of the show, 02:52.433 --> 02:55.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Pakistani Canadian actress Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan. 02:55.933 --> 02:59.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% IMAN VELLANI: I really hope that the show can do for other people with the comics did for me. 02:59.133 --> 03:02.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Iman Vellani is actually Kamala 03:02.800 --> 03:07.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Khan, she is a Pakistani Canadian who grew up as a first-generation immigrant. 03:09.633 --> 03:14.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And she is just this incredible actress. And she sort of just eased into that role. 03:15.566 --> 03:17.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% SAAGAR SHAIKH, Actor: Oh, my God. 03:17.600 --> 03:20.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY: In the filming of the series, Iman connected with her own culture. 03:22.300 --> 03:23.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: In the final two episodes of the series, 03:23.900 --> 03:28.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Khan finds herself in Karachi, Pakistan, Obaid-Chinoy's hometown. 03:28.133 --> 03:30.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY: We often see Pakistan 03:30.400 --> 03:35.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in Hollywood through this yellow filter. It's like the entire country has jaundice. 03:37.033 --> 03:39.433 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% In my episode, she goes on this chase through the streets of Karachi, 03:39.433 --> 03:44.433 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% where you have trucks and buses and things happening. In the chaos 03:46.500 --> 03:49.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of her chase is the beauty of Pakistan that I wanted to bring onto the screen. 03:50.400 --> 03:51.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% IMAN VELLANI: About the bangles. 03:51.933 --> 03:54.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% SAMINA AHMED, Actress: That bangle belongs to my Aisha. 03:54.966 --> 03:58.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% IMAN VELLANI: The one who disappeared during Partition, my great-grandmother Aisha? 03:58.500 --> 04:01.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: There is a history lesson embedded in the magic. 04:03.433 --> 04:08.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Khan herself time-traveling to 1947 Partition, the division of India and 04:10.433 --> 04:14.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Pakistan that led to one of the largest and deadliest mass migrations in world history. 04:15.466 --> 04:17.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Tell me why you decided to go into that in the detail you did? 04:17.500 --> 04:21.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY: It isn't something that people talk about very much. 04:21.100 --> 04:26.100 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% And it's definitely never visualized in Hollywood. I didn't want to sanitize the history, 04:28.133 --> 04:32.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that moment. It might be part of a superhero story, but these kinds of stories are very real. 04:35.733 --> 04:40.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Many families lost each other in the move. Many people were killed in them. 04:42.700 --> 04:47.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And so that had to be kept alive. The ethos of 1947 had to be kept alive. 04:49.133 --> 04:52.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Today, Kamala Khan is breaking ground and taking up space in a world that's 04:55.000 --> 04:58.600 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% long sidelined and silenced voices like hers. A report last year from the University of Southern 05:00.566 --> 05:04.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% California's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative looked at the 200 top-grossing films between 05:06.233 --> 05:10.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% 2017 and 2019; 90.5 percent didn't feature any Muslims and speaking roles. 05:12.300 --> 05:16.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Among those that had any Muslim characters, less than a quarter were women. 05:17.933 --> 05:21.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The representation on screen, Obaid-Chinoy says, is rooted in the team off-camera, 05:23.766 --> 05:27.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% like executive producer Sana Amanat, lead writer Bisha K. Ali, and their teams. 05:29.433 --> 05:32.500 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY: I remember walking on set and thinking that what I'm experiencing 05:33.900 --> 05:38.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is truly historic, where not only is there representation of 05:39.933 --> 05:42.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% people from around the world who are helping to tell the Kamala Khan story, 05:44.566 --> 05:47.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% but there is also representation in terms of the number of women who are in decision-making seats. 05:51.200 --> 05:54.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% In the "Ms. Marvel" story, you can see it on screen 05:56.300 --> 06:00.300 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% that it has been told with a lot of love, with a lot of electricity. 06:02.800 --> 06:05.433 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: And that story is resonating. "Ms. Marvel" now boasts a 98 percent score on Rotten 06:07.500 --> 06:12.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Tomatoes, the highest rated Disney+ original series ever and the highest rated Marvel 06:14.733 --> 06:18.200 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% series in history. Though critical acclaim is high, some audiences are just now catching up. 06:20.133 --> 06:23.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% There were some early reports that viewership, at least initial viewership, 06:23.600 --> 06:28.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% lagged some of these other big series launches. And I wonder why you think that is. 06:28.233 --> 06:33.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY: We're used to seeing superheroes who are white and who are men. 06:35.166 --> 06:38.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% We're not used to seeing brown, women, immigrant superheroes. And I think that audiences 06:43.200 --> 06:48.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% were slow to accept it. I think the idea of "Ms. Marvel" doesn't sit well with a lot 06:50.800 --> 06:55.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of people. But I will also say that it is changing, because, as more and more people 06:57.900 --> 07:02.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% watch it and word spreads, even if it's out of curiosity, the naysayers are watching it. 07:05.266 --> 07:10.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And there are elements of it that are resonating with them, because, at the heart of it all, 07:12.300 --> 07:16.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% it is the story of one family and their struggles and their love and their celebrations. 07:17.666 --> 07:21.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Change comes slowly. It never comes easy. 07:21.100 --> 07:26.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Kamala Khan has now firmly found her place in the superhero world. 07:28.033 --> 07:32.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Audiences will see her next in the feature film "The Marvels" coming in 2023. 07:33.600 --> 07:36.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Amna Nawaz. 07:39.500 --> 07:42.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: I love that, and it is about time.