“With great honour and strength, I am proud to finally announce: I am Kamala Khan,” Sandra Saad tweeted almost a year ago.
Since then, fans have been eagerly waiting to see the American-Egyptian actor bring the character of Ms Marvel to life outside of the comic books for the first time.
With the Friday, September 4, release of the Marvel's Avengers video game, we got to see the elastic-limbed superhero in action at last. Despite sharing a storyline with some of Marvel's better-known characters such as Iron Man, Thor and Black Widow, Saad not only managed to ensure that the character gets her dues, but her performance pretty much steals the show.
A large part of what makes Saad's portrayal of the optimistic and confident Ms Marvel so memorable is that the actress was careful to ensure she is presented as three-dimensional and "not a token".
"She's a real person," Saad told The Independent. "I feel like, all too often, when you do see Muslim characters – or specific characters that have something about them that's different – they focus really heavily on that and that's all that becomes of the character."
This incarnation of Ms Marvel, also known as Pakistani-American teenager Kamala Khan, made her first appearance in an August 2013 edition of Captain Marvel, and landed her own comic book series in February 2014.
“The great thing about Kamala Khan is she’s not just Muslim. She’s not just Pakistani. She’s not just hopeful. She’s a fully actualised, three-dimensional character with a life, a background and a family. She’s a first-generation American – she’s a lot.”
This is not Saad's first foray into voicing a video game character. She's previously lent her voice to a number of characters in Fallout 76 as well as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, but her role as Khan/Ms Marvel marks the first time she's taken a lead role.
“I’ve always wanted to be in a role that inspired somebody,” she said. “I landed a role that inspired me.”
Saad told The Independent that she shares a number of personality traits with her character, including her cheerful optimism. "All of us actors are very similar to the characters," she said of her co-stars in the game, which includes Nolan North (Iron Man), Troy Baker (Bruce Banner) and Laura Bailey (Black Widow).
“So it’s easy to just keep it rolling with our own input. Working with Troy and Nolan, and all those guys, you definitely get a lot of improvisation between the lines – just kind of like: ‘Do what you feel.’”
Speaking about the necessity of having more diverse representation within the entertainment industry, Saad said: "I feel like, why not? If we can make an effort to look for actors of colour, you can find them.
"I know that this is a really big thing with casting offices. You might like to play it safe and stick with the same people that they’re used to, whatever their background is from.
"But just taking that extra step to look for a new talent can be very important for those people watching who are that same race.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%20Profile
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan 2 (Vecino 65', Barella 83')
Verona 1 (Verre 19' pen)
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Prop idols
Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.
Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)
An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.
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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)
Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.
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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)
Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
