The Hollywood Reporter today brings word that Marvel and Freeform’s New Warriors series has filled out its cast, with Milana Vayntrub set to spearhead the ensemble as Doreen Green (AKA Squirrel Girl).
Vayntrub, best known for her work on This Is Us, will be rubbing shoulders with Derek Theler (Mister Immortal), Jeremy Tardy (Night Thrasher), Calum Worthy (Speedball), Matthew Moy (Microbe), and Kate Comer as Debrii. The live-action scripted comedy series will span 10 episodes in its first season and skew toward a younger audience, not unlike Marvel’s soon-to-be-released Cloak and Dagger series.
But whereas Cloak and Dagger focuses on the fiery love story between its titular leads, New Warriors is all about “six young people learning to cope with their abilities in a world where bad guys can be as terrifying as bad dates.” Behind the scenes, series showrunner and all-around Squirrel Girl superfan, Kevin Biegel, released the following statement:
I am thrilled beyond belief to be working with this incredible group of actors. They are funny, sincere, eager, charming and perfectly embody these characters. It’ll be a blast and an honor to create this show with each of them.
And though Marvel will be hoping to transform all of those aforementioned mascots into household names by the end of 2018, Squirrel Girl is arguably the most famous of the bunch. When New Warriors was ordered straight-to-series back in April, Mae Whitman, Shannon Purser (Stranger Things), and even Anna Kendrick all became linked with the part of Doreen Green, but Marvel and Freeform have now selected Milana Vayntrub for the coveted part.
Her character is described as “a totally empowered fangirl who has the incredible powers of a … squirrel. Her greatest quality is her optimism and her best friend is a pet squirrel, Tippy Toe.” Meanwhile, Green’s squad is comprised of five flawed heroes, the details of which can be found below.
Craig Hollis, aka Mister Immortal. Craig can’t die … or so he says. Although Craig’s superpower seems amazing, he hasn’t made use of it at all — he figures if he has all the time in the world to learn how to do anything heroic, what’s the rush?
Dwayne Taylor, aka Night Thrasher. Brilliant and noble and maybe a bit full of himself, Dwayne is a shameless self-promoter and entrepreneur who also deeply believes in justice.
Zack Smith, aka Microbe. Zack is a shy hypochondriac whose ability is that he can talk to germs that tell him where you’ve been, what you ate and who you hung out with. It’s impossible to keep secrets around him.
Robbie Baldwin, aka Speedball. Robbie is an impulsive people-pleaser with a misplaced sense of confidence who throws kinetic balls of energy that are completely out of control.
Deborah Fields, aka Debrii. Deborah is proud, funny and quick witted. Confidently out as a lesbian, Deborah is a low-level telekentic, very low like she can move a paper cup.
Now that the ensemble cast is in place, Marvel’s New Warriors series will launch alongside Cloak and Dagger sometime in 2018. Both superhero series have set up shop at Freeform, but in light of today’s casting coup, what are your thoughts on Marvel’s latest small-screen offering? Do let us know.