New Warriors TV Series Coming From Marvel

Are you ready for a half-hour comedy series set in the Marvel Universe? One that features younger heroes with offbeat codenames and superpowers? Well, you'd better be, because Marvel and ABC are developing New Warriors.

The New Warriors first appeared in Marvel Comics in the late '80s/early '90s, and featured young heroes with unfortunate names like Night Thrasher and Speedball. There's no word on who would make up the TV roster, except for one important name: Squirrel Girl. Yes, Squirrel Girl, former Great Lakes Avengers member and star of current Marvel Comics sensation The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North and Erica Henderson. The character is descibed (in case you aren't reading the comics) 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."

Freeform, the YA-centric Disney cable network, has won the bidding for New Warriors, and it's going straight to series over there with a 10 episode order. Kevin Biegel (Cougar Town, Scrubs) will write the pilot and likely serve as showrunner. Freeform is also developing Marvel's Cloak and Dagger, which is currently in production. 

Here's the official synopsis from Marvel:

“Marvel’s New Warriors” is about six young people with powers living and working together.  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.

There's been all manner of internet craziness recently surrounding the idea of Anna Kendrick as Squirrel Girl after comments she made about enjoying the comic, but that's unlikely to happen within the confines of a half hour TV series. Riverdale and Stranger Things actress Shannon Purser has also expressed interest in the character. Karey Burke, the executive VP of programming and development for Freeform told The Hollywood Reporter that "I'm interested to see if name actresses feel right," for the role.

"Marvel's New Warriors have always been fan favorites and now particularly with the addition of Squirrel Girl, they are Marvel Television favorites as well," Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb said in a statement. "After the amazing experience we've had with Freeform on Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger we can't think of a better place for our young heroes."

We'll probably see New Warriors hit Freeform in late 2018. We'll update this with more information as it becomes available.