EMBIGGEN! Alysia Reiner Joins Cast of Ms. Marvel

by Rebecca Kaplan · March 1, 2021

There are even more casting announcements for the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel, and the latest news from Atlanta, Georgia is sure to excite Orange Is the New Black fans out there! Alysia Reiner has joined the cast!

Photo: Alysia Reiner Website

For now, production on Ms. Marvel is continuing in Atlanta before the set moves to Thailand in March for the next phase in filming. Although its been awhile since we’ve seen anything exciting from the set, new photos just surfaced revealing the latest addition to the Ms. Marvel cast: Orange Is the New Black star Alysia Reiner.

Alysia Reiner Joins Cast of Ms. Marvel

Yesterday, Ms. Marvel co-star Laith Nakli posted a photo on his Instagram account, saying:

And that’s a wrap for Ms. Marvel what an experience. Just when I thought it couldn’t get better it did when Alysia Reiner joined the cast. 16 years of friendship and working together. Thank you Sana Amanat and bad ass directors Bilall Fallah, Adil El Arbi, Meera Menon, and the incredible cast! Can’t wait for the world to see this show.

We don’t know what character Rainer is playing yet, but the news broke courtesy of her co-star’s social media account, so it looks like it’s official! Here is a picture of the Instagram post so that you can see the exciting news for yourself:

Laith Nakli and Alysia Reiner. Photo: Laith Nakli’s Instragram Account

According to ComicBookMovie.com, Nakli is likely playing Sheikh Abdullah – the sheikh at the local mosque, who, at least in the comics, acts as a confidant for Kamala Khan – but we still don’t know who Reiner will be playing in the forthcoming series.

Who Is Alysia Reiner?

Reiner is a talented actress and “eco-mom.” On OITNB, she played Natalia Figueroa, and won a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. She also appeared on the Peadbody Award-winning series F/X’s Better Things, HBO’s The Deuce, Broad City, and How to Get Away with Murder (to name a few).

Photo: Netflix

However, Reiner is also an activist, and she wants people to know that she “LOOOOVE[s] working as a change maker for women.” She has been invited to speak at the United Nations, and won a Persistence of Vision Award by the Women’s Media Summit, the Sarah Powell Leadership Award by the Women’s Prison Association, and the Collaboration Award from the Coalition for Women in the Arts and Media – and those are only some of the amazing accolades she has received for her work on prison reform.