For years DC Comics has ruled television while Marvel reigned supreme on the big screen, but it looks like the house that Stan built is playing catch up on the small screen in a major way. Beyond the Netflix series Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist (let alone The Defenders), there's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the forthcoming Inhumans and Cloak And Dagger. Now comes word that New Warriors has been given a straight-to-series order.
Focusing on a team of young adult super-powered beings, this is Marvel's first comedy and will be presented in ten thirty-minute installments. Marvel describes the show as follows: "With powers and abilities on the opposite end of the spectrum of The Avengers, the New Warriors want to make a difference in the world… Even if the world isn’t ready. Not quite super, not yet heroes, Marvel’s New Warriors is about that time in your life when you first enter adulthood and feel like you can do everything and nothing at once — except in this world, bad guys can be as terrifying as bad dates."
The first time New Warriors appeared in the pages of Marvel Comics was in 1989, and over the years the team's roster has changed radically. While it's not clear at this point which characters will be part of the show, we do know that Squirrel Girl (Doreen Green), who has never been a part of the team in the past but has grown enormously popular over the past few years, will be a central figure.
Marvel describes Squirrel Girl as a "totally empowering fan girl — tough, optimistic and a natural leader. Doreen is confident and has the powers of a squirrel… She’s acrobatic, can fight and talk to other squirrels. Her most important trait is that she has faith in people and teaches them to believe in themselves."
Writer Will Murray, who created the character along with artist Steve Ditko, told jazmaonline, "I based Squirrel Girl on a long-ago girlfriend who read comics and was into 'critters' — wild animals of all types. Coincidentally, she was a big Ditko fan. I think I got the idea because I had a bunch of squirrels running around my roof and sometimes coming in through my open bedroom window, and inspiration struck."
New Warriors will air, in America, on the Freeform network along with Cloak And Dagger. “New Warriors have always been fan favorites and now, particularly with the addition of Squirrel Girl, they are Marvel Television favorites as well,” said the company's Head of Television and Executive Producer, Jeph Loeb. “After the amazing experience we’ve had with Freeform on Cloak & Dagger, we can’t think of a better place for our young heroes.”
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