Freeform is going all-in on Marvel TV shows. The network already has a Cloak & Dagger series on the way, and now they've ordered the previously-rumored New Warriors for a 10-episode series order. Here's the thing...they've picked it up as a half-hour comedy. Ugh. And it'll feature Squirrel Girl. Double ugh. Yeah, we knew about both of these things last year but they bear repeating because they're still awful.
I know loads of fans are really big on Doreen Green aka Squirrel Girl right now; she's got one of Marvel's best-reviewed comics right now. But the character has always been idiotic, and worse she's never actually been a member of the New Warriors. Go make a Great Lakes Avengers show for her to be on! In case you were wondering about her powers, well, she has the power of a squirrel. And she can communicate with them. Presumably she can stuff acorns into her cheeks and nearly cause drivers to run off the road.
The New Warriors were created as a sort of junior league Avengers, but under the guidance of creator Fabian Nicieza they forged an identity of their own. Many of the members had ties to other Marvel teams, such as Justice who grows up in the 31st century as one of the original Guardians of the Galaxy; or his occasional girlfriend Firestar, a mutant who first appeared in the Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends cartoon; or Namorita who is Namor's cousin, and so forth. When Marvel ran out of ideas for them they turned the New Warriors into a joke. They fought supervillains as part of a reality show and accidentally triggered the event that caused Civil War. Oh, and it got the entire team killed. Oops. But they're still around in various forms with different characters, always as a punchline.
And that's why we now have New Warriors the sitcom. Kevin Biegel (Cougar Town) is negotiating to write the scripts and serve as showrunner, and he's got his work cut out for him. [THR]
