''Naomi'' is an American

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

television series created by

Ava DuVernay Ava Marie DuVernay (; born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker, television producer and former film publicist. She is a recipient of a Primetime Emmy Award, a NAACP Image Award, a BAFTA Film Award and a BAFTA TV Award, as well as a nominee ...

and Jill Blankenship which is based on the comic book series of the same name co-written by

Brian Michael Bendis Brian Michael Bendis (; born August 18, 1967) is an American comic book writer and artist. He has won five Eisner Awards for both his creator-owned work and his work on various Marvel Comics books.Bendis, Brian Michael and Oeming, Michael Avon, ' ...

and David F. Walker and illustrated by Jamal Campbell. It premiered on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

on January 11, 2022, and concluded on May 10, 2022. In May 2022, the series was canceled after one season.

Plot

Naomi McDuffie is a comic book-loving teenager and the host of a

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

fan website. After a supernatural event occurs in Port Oswego,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, Naomi sets out to determine its origins with help from her best friend, her supporting adoptive parents, and a tattoo shop owner with a secret origin.

Cast and characters

Main

* Kaci Walfall as Naomi McDuffie, an intelligent, confident comic book-loving teenager who discovers she has powers * Cranston Johnson as Zumbado, the owner of a local car lot with a hidden agenda who eventually becomes an ally to Naomi * Alexander Wraith as Dee, a local tattoo store owner who is a

Thanagarian List of alien races in DC Comics is a list of fictional extraterrestrial races that have appeared in comic book titles published by DC Comics, as well as properties from other media that are listed below, with appropriately brief descriptions and ...

and serves as Naomi's mentor * Mary-Charles Jones as Annabelle, Naomi's loyal best friend *

Mouzam Makkar Mouzam Makkar is an Indian-born American actress. Early life and education Makkar was born in Kerala, India, and raised in the United Arab Emirates. She moved to the United States when she was twelve. She graduated from the University of Illino ...

as Jennifer McDuffie, Naomi's adoptive mother who is a linguist * Daniel Puig as Nathan, a jock who is Naomi's ex-boyfriend * Camila Moreno as Lourdes, a young woman and comic book enthusiast with a sarcastic sense of humor who works in a vintage collectibles shop and has a crush on Naomi * Will Meyers as Anthony, a townie in Port Oswego who is Naomi's friend but has a crush on her * Aidan Gemme as Jacob, Annabelle's loyal boyfriend and a

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

enthusiast * Barry Watson as Greg McDuffie, Naomi's adoptive father and an active duty military officer

Recurring

Stephanie March Stephanie Caroline March Benton (born July 23, 1974) is an American actress. She is known for starring as Alexandra Cabot in the crime drama franchise ''Law & Order'', which she played in the NBC series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2 ...

as Akira, an old colleague of Zumbado In addition, Alie Urquhart costars as Esme Brooks, class president of Port Oswego High school and Naomi's rival while Brian Brightman co-stars as

Commander Steel Commander Steel (also known as Captain Steel, Citizen Steel and Sergeant Steel) is the name of three superheroes appearing in comics by the American publisher DC Comics, all members of the same family. The first Steel appeared in ''Steel, The ...

, a U.S. Military Commander based in Port Oswego.

Guest

* Chase Anderson as Adam Blake, a superhero with a hipster personality that knows Dee *

Ray Porter Raymond Porter is an American actor and audiobook narrator who is most widely known for portraying the DC Comics villain Darkseid in ''Zack Snyder's Justice League''. Career After appearing in many television shows, he gained attention when h ...

as Brutus

Episodes

Production

Development

On December 4, 2020, it was reported that

and Jill Blankenship are developing a series for

based on the comic book series ''

Naomi Naomi or Naomie may refer to: People and biblical figures * Naomi (given name), a female given name and a list of people with the name * Naomi (biblical figure), Ruth's mother-in-law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth * Naomi (Romanian singer) (bor ...

'', co-written by

Brian Bendis Brian Michael Bendis (; born August 18, 1967) is an Americans, American comic book writer and artist. He has won five Eisner Awards for both his creator-owned work and his work on various Marvel Comics books.Bendis, Brian Michael and Oeming, Mich ...

and David F. Walker and illustrated by Jamal Campbell. On February 9, 2021, The CW gave the production a pilot order. On May 24, 2021, ''Naomi'' was picked up to series. The series is created by DuVernay and Jill Blankenship who are expected to executive produce alongside Sarah Bremner and Paul Garnes. The pilot is written by DuVernay and directed by

Amanda Marsalis Amanda Marsalis is an American film director and photographer. Career Photographic career Marsalis attended California College of Arts and Crafts where she studied with Larry Sultan and Jim Goldberg. Directing career Marsalis made her dire ...

. The production companies involved with the series are Array Filmworks and

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

. The series premiered on January 11, 2022. On May 12, 2022, The CW canceled the series after one season.

Casting

In March 2021, Kaci Walfall was cast in the titular role while Alexander Wraith, Cranston Johnson, Camila Moreno, Barry Watson,

, Mary-Charles Jones, Aidan Gemme, Daniel Puig and Will Meyers were also tapped as series regulars. In December 2021,

joined the cast in a guest starring role. In January 2022, Chase Anderson was cast in an undisclosed capacity.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

for the series began on August 23, 2021, in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Cliff Charles is a cinematographer while DeMane Davis is a director for the series.

International release

In Latin America, Naomi premiered on

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

on January 27, 2022. In Scandinavia, it premiered on HBO Max on February 3, 2022.

Reception

Critical response

The

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website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported a 90% approval rating with an average rating of 7/10, based on 26 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Kaci Walfall proves a plucky enough heroine to give the deliberately-paced ''Naomi'' its own super-powered charm."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Ratings

According to

Samba TV Samba TV is a television technology company that offers real-time insights and audience analytics. It was founded in 2008 by early employees of BitTorrent, including Samba TV's current CEO, Ashwin Navin. It develops software for televisions, set ...

, 313,000 U.S. households streamed the premiere on the first day of availability.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DC Comics TV 2020s American black television series 2020s American drama television series 2020s American science fiction television series 2022 American television series debuts 2022 American television series endings American black superhero television shows Fiction about superhuman features or abilities The CW original programming Teen superhero television series Television series about teenagers Television shows based on DC Comics Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows filmed in Georgia (U.S. state) Television shows set in Oregon