How Ms. Marvel Head Writer Bisha K. Ali Forced Herself In The Room To Get The Job
Bisha K. Ali's "Ms. Marvel" series is off and running on Disney+, bringing the hit comic book fangirl (and New Jersey superhero) to the MCU. And while there's been a lot of details to take in on the show itself — particularly in regard to all those Easter eggs, such as the revelation of Ant-Man's hilarious side-hustle — it turns out that the real superhero story is what Ali did behind the scenes to ensure her vision of Kamala Khan saw the light of day.
First, in order to understand how Ali got herself in front of Disney execs to pitch her take on the popular Marvel character, we must look back at her time inside the writers' room for "Loki." Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in a June 15 interview, Ali described how it was during her time working within that realm of multiverse mischief — while working with series exec Kevin Wright — where she ultimately got her foot in the Disney door for "Ms. Marvel."
"It was kind of in the middle [of 'Loki' production], almost," Ali said, noting how she decided that before pitching her "Ms. Marvel" ideas to the Disney higher-ups, she decided to get Wright on her side. Her approach to this, though, turned out to be pretty hilarious — and successful.
'None of us are leaving with hats or heads'
Forging her own Disney destiny inside the "Loki" writer's room, Bisha K. Ali made her pass at Kevin Wright the only way she knew how — with a little bit of dark humor.
"I said to [Wright], 'If you guys are doing an adaptation of Ms. Marvel and you don't put my hat in the ring, none of us are leaving with hats or heads,'" Ali recalled to THR, laughing. "So he went away and came back with my first meeting on it, when it was still percolating amongst the brains of the Marvel overlords and timekeepers."
In order to prepare herself, Ali said she would often take lunch away from her colleagues to work on the series and her pitch — and even went so far as to decline a writers' room extension once "Loki" wrapped up. Just a few weeks afterward, she made her big swing for the higher-ups, and got hired. While in front of Disney execs, the former "Four Weddings and a Funeral" writer says that while some of her initial ideas didn't necessarily click, what got her the job was that she was able to successfully showcase her connection to the Ms. Marvel character on a personal level. "I think they really responded to the fact that this story was intensely personal," Ali explained. She later added, "I was able to share with them why I thought this show was important for me personally, as a fan, as a South Asian person, as a Pakistani woman, as a woman from a Muslim background [...] But also how we could marry them in a way that's specific and universal."
Episodes of "Ms. Marvel" drop every Wednesday on Disney+ until the series wraps up on July 13.