Ms. Marvel’s newest style of stardom
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The premiere of Ms. Marvel was accompanied by a media blitz for 19-year-old Iman Vellani of Markham, Ontario, who channeled her own fandom into the starring role on Disney Plus—where episodes will debut over six weeks. Vellani is being widely hailed as a global celebrity-in-waiting, thanks to her playing the first Muslim superhero made by Marvel.
A passage to greater chaos
The group of more than 100 independent Canadian publishers asking for the Online News Act to accommodate innovators had Google offering to fund a lobbyist, but the idea was rejected. Google had put its concerns with Bill C-18 in writing to every MP and senator, as legacy media outlets are still expecting to get what they lobbied for despite a past CRTC president anticipating new complications.
Waterloo Region’s school board won’t say why they’ve silenced an opinionated trustee. Mike Ramsey believes “a political vendetta” drove his being banned from meetings for the rest of the school year. The decision followed debates over the age-appropriateness of certain library books, and a retired teacher’s $1.75 million lawsuit.
None of the above is winning
Two of the MPs backing Patrick Brown as federal Conservative leader defected to Jean Charest, although the Brampton mayor boasts of selling more than 150,000 memberships to the party. But the Pierre Poilievre campaign claims to have found 311,00 sign-ups while Charest’s camp is staying vague beyond saying he can prevail past wider antipathy:
Citytv tries to make the most out of linear life on a procedural planet. Wong & Winchester is the female buddy cop show joining the dog-and-man Hudson & Rex as Canadian contributions to the next season from Rogers. But the model of building prime time around U.S. imports is weakening everywhere before old eyes left behind.
Finally, homegrown Afro-punk
The Onyx Experience, a new live concert film capturing the evolution of Black rock music in Toronto, is getting a theatrical premiere tied to Canadian Music Week before streaming via CBC Gem. Sufficiently loud acts the OBGMs and SATE are part of the movie, along with former teen star Fefe Dobson, returning to a new paradigm after nearly a decade away: