Marvel Studios continues to double down on characters that moviegoing and streaming audiences have made abundantly clear they have no interest in. The latest revelation is that Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan will be the “center” of the upcoming animated series Marvel Zombies that will air on Disney+.
Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©.
They posted to X, “Marvel Zombies, an animated Original Series from Marvel Studios, coming soon to Disney+.
Marvel Zombies, an animated Original Series from Marvel Studios, coming soon to #DisneyPlus. #DisneyPlusDay pic.twitter.com/Rv6AESN6d3
— Disney+ (@DisneyPlus) November 12, 2021
Actress Iman Vellani, who plays Kamala Khan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, recently revealed in an interview with The Direct that her character will be the “center” of the series.
She said, “We’ve done the whole thing. It was amazing. It was so much fun. And I love—there are a lot of cool characters in the ‘Marvel Zombies’ show. And Kamala is kind of the center of the show.”
“They described it to me, it’s like, ‘She’s basically the Frodo of the story.’ And I was like, ‘That’s amazing,'” she said.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 09: Iman Vellani speaks onstage during THE MARVELS Fan Screening Surprise Talent Appearance at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on November 09, 2023. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
Vellani continued, “And I get to interact and meet all these people along her journey. And, yes, they’re only the voices, and I don’t get to hear their voices in real-time. But just, it’s my fantasies, right?”
“Like, knowing Kamala is going to interact with some really cool people, even if it’s just animation, is so special in a lot of ways,” she stated.
[caption id="attachment_17219" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 09: Iman Vellani attends THE MARVELS Fan Screening Surprise Talent Appearance at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on November 09, 2023. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)This revelation that Kamala Khan will be the center of the show comes after the character has been part of numerous financial disasters for not only Marvel Studios, but Marvel in general.
Obviously, the most recent is the box office failure of The Marvels. The film likely has around a $300 million production budget, but it has only grossed $77.9 million domestically and another $110.1 million internationally for a global gross of $188 million.
The film needs to make at least $750 million in order to break even to cover the film’s marketing costs as well as the split that theaters take from the box office grosses.
Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 MARVEL.
On top of The Marvels failing, the live-action Disney+ series Ms. Marvel is the lowest viewed Marvel Studios production on the platform. Samba TV reported the show’s premiere was only viewed by 775,000 households in the United States.
775k US households watched the premiere of #MsMarvel. While less than other MCU series, it was a hit with #GenZ. Viewers age 20-24 watched at the highest rate of any MCU show, and it drew a more diverse audience with Black, Hispanic and Asian households watching at a higher rate. pic.twitter.com/Ugcvu7een8
— Samba TV (@samba_tv) June 17, 2022
The analytics and data tracking company shared in a follow-up that the show’s viewership was just above half of what Hawkeye’s was. Hawkeye held the previous record for low viewership for a Marvel Studios premiere on Disney+.
— Samba TV (@samba_tv) June 17, 2022
Not only has Kamala Khan failed on the big screen and the small screen, but she’s also failed in video games. The character was revealed to be the main character of Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics’ Marvel’s Avengers game at New York Comic Con back in 2019.
Creative Director and Writer Shaun Escayg stated, “Kamala Khan is the defining ingredient that makes our game stand apart from any Avengers story you’ve experienced before.”
Crystal Dynamics Community Manager Meagan Marie added, “Kamala’s unwavering loyalty to the Avengers, intelligence, inquisitive nature, and ever-optimistic personality lead to a huge discovery when she uncovers a shocking conspiracy. As Kamala learns to harness and embrace her powers, she finds the will and the way to reassemble Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.”
Kamala Khan in Marvel’s Avengers (2020), Crystal Dynamics
Support for the game ended in September of this year. It came after Square Enix announced in the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2021 that they suffered a $48 million loss. Marvel’s Avengers was their only major release at this time.
Square Enix President and Representative Director Yosuke Matsuda had also revealed during an earnings briefing, “The HD Games sub-segment posted an operating loss as initial sales of Marvel’s Avengers were lower than we had expected and unable to completely offset the amortization of the game’s development costs.”
In the company’s 2021 Annual Report, Matsuda added that “the new challenge that we tackled with [Marvel’s Avengers] produced a disappointing outcome.”
Kamala Khan in Marvel’s Avengers (2020), Crystal Dynamics
One can only expect that given the character of Kamala Khan is at the “center” of Marvel Zombies it will produce just as bad or even worse results as other attempts to make audiences interested in the character.
What do you make of Kamala Khan being the “center” of Marvel Zombies?
[…] RELATED: After ‘The Marvels’ Box Office Failure And Abysmal Disney+ Numbers, Marvel Studios Doubles Down … […]