New Warriors (TV pilot)
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''Marvel's New Warriors'' is an unaired American
television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distr ...
created and written by Kevin Biegel for Freeform, based on the
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
superhero team of the same name. It was intended to be set in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
(MCU) and acknowledge the continuity of the franchise's films and other television series. The pilot was produced by
ABC Signature Studios ABC Signature is an American television production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company. ...
and
Marvel Television Marvel Television was an American television production company responsible for live-action and animated (through Marvel Animation) television shows and direct-to-DVD series based on characters from Marvel Comics. The division was based at affi ...
. The pilot stars
Milana Vayntrub Milana Aleksandrovna Vayntrub ( , Russian: ; born March 8, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, and activist. Born in the Soviet Union to Jewish parents, she began her career as a child actress shortly after immigrating to the United States ...
as Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl and Derek Theler as Craig Hollis / Mr. Immortal, who make up the New Warriors along with Jeremy Tardy,
Calum Worthy Calum Worthy (born January 28, 1991) is a Canadian actor, writer, and producer, known for his roles as Dez on the Disney Channel series ''Austin & Ally'', Alex Trimboli in the Netflix series '' American Vandal'', Nicholas Godejohn in the Hulu ser ...
,
Matthew Moy Matthew James Moy (born February 3, 1984) is an American actor and artist. He co-starred as Han Lee on the CBS sitcom ''2 Broke Girls'' and provides the voice of Lars Barriga on ''Steven Universe'' and ''Steven Universe Future''. Early life an ...
, and
Kate Comer Kate Comer is an American actress. Career Comer grew up in Sarasota, Florida, where she was involved with community theatre. As a teenager, she became obsessed with movies such as '' Trainspotting'', ''Donnie Darko'' and '' Pretty in Pink''. She ...
. The young group learn to cope with their new abilities in a terrifying world. By August 2016, Marvel Television had developed a series centered on the New Warriors and began offering it to cable networks and streaming outlets. In April 2017, ''New Warriors'' received a series order of 10 episodes from Freeform, with Biegel joining as showrunner and writing the first script. The pilot had been produced by November 2017. ''New Warriors'' was planned to premiere in 2018 on Freeform, and had the potential to launch multiple spinoff series based on each of the New Warriors characters. However, by November 2017 the network no longer had room in its schedule to begin airing the series in 2018, and returned it to Marvel Television so the studio could shop the series to other Disney-owned networks. These efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, and the series was officially considered dead by the end of September 2019.


Premise

Six superpowered young people with offbeat powers different from the Avengers want to make a positive impact in the world, even if they are not quite ready to be heroes.


Cast and characters

*
Milana Vayntrub Milana Aleksandrovna Vayntrub ( , Russian: ; born March 8, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, and activist. Born in the Soviet Union to Jewish parents, she began her career as a child actress shortly after immigrating to the United States ...
as Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl:
A tough, optimistic
fangirl A fan or fanatic, sometimes also termed an aficionado or enthusiast, is a person who exhibits strong interest or admiration for something or somebody, such as a celebrity, a sport, a sports team, a genre, a politician, a book, a movie, a vid ...
, who is also a natural leader with acrobat skills and superhuman strength, and can move and fight like a squirrel. She has a squirrel sidekick named Tippy-Toe that she can communicate with. Vayntrub's costume was inspired by the character's design in ''
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl ''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl'' was an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring Squirrel Girl. The solo series debuted in January 2015 and ran for 8 issues, and was relaunched in October 2015 as part of Marvel's All-New, A ...
'' comic series. * Derek Theler as Craig Hollis / Mr. Immortal: The New Warriors' "resident troublemaker and lothario" who claims that he cannot die, and has a cocky and grumpy personality. * Jeremy Tardy as Dwayne Taylor / Night Thrasher: A local celebrity with no superpowers, who has his own
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channel. Taylor's parents died when he was younger, leaving him with his family's fortune. *
Calum Worthy Calum Worthy (born January 28, 1991) is a Canadian actor, writer, and producer, known for his roles as Dez on the Disney Channel series ''Austin & Ally'', Alex Trimboli in the Netflix series '' American Vandal'', Nicholas Godejohn in the Hulu ser ...
as Robbie Baldwin / Speedball: An immature and impulsive person, who can toss kinetic balls of energy, though he lacks good aim. *
Matthew Moy Matthew James Moy (born February 3, 1984) is an American actor and artist. He co-starred as Han Lee on the CBS sitcom ''2 Broke Girls'' and provides the voice of Lars Barriga on ''Steven Universe'' and ''Steven Universe Future''. Early life an ...
as Zach Smith / Microbe: A shy hypochondriac who can communicate with germs, and is looking for a group of people to hang out with. *
Kate Comer Kate Comer is an American actress. Career Comer grew up in Sarasota, Florida, where she was involved with community theatre. As a teenager, she became obsessed with movies such as '' Trainspotting'', ''Donnie Darko'' and '' Pretty in Pink''. She ...
as Deborah Fields / Debrii: A low-level telekinetic trickster who is a lesbian and has suffered personal loss due to the actions of other superheroes.
Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' T ...
was cast as Ernest Vigman, a municipal employee, which would have been a recurring role.


Production


Development

By the end of August 2016,
Marvel Television Marvel Television was an American television production company responsible for live-action and animated (through Marvel Animation) television shows and direct-to-DVD series based on characters from Marvel Comics. The division was based at affi ...
and
ABC Studios ABC Signature is an American television production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company. ...
were developing a half-hour comedy series based on the
New Warriors The New Warriors is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They traditionally consisted of teenage and young adult heroes, and were often seen to serve as a junior counterpart to Avengers (comics), ...
featuring
Squirrel Girl Squirrel Girl (Doreen Allene Green) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Will Murray and writer/artist Steve Ditko, she first appeared in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' vol. 2 #8, a.k.a. ' ...
, with the series being offered to cable networks and streaming outlets. In April 2017, Freeform ordered ''Marvel's New Warriors'' straight-to-series for 10 episodes, marking Marvel's first foray into
single-camera The single-camera setup, or single-camera mode of production, also known as portable single camera, is a method of filmmaking and video production. The single-camera setup originally developed during the birth of the classical Hollywood cinema ...
live-action comedy, and their first half-hour series. Kevin Biegel was nearing a deal to write a script and serve as showrunner for the series, after Marvel had attached him to the project before Freeform's involvement.
Jeph Loeb Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III () is an American film and television writer, producer and comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series ''Smallville'' and ''Lost'', writer for the films '' Commando'' and ''Teen Wolf'', and a writer and ...
, the head of Marvel Television, and Jim Chory were set to executive produce the series alongside Biegel. Karey Burke, Executive Vice President of Programming and Development at Freeform, said the network had interest in a Squirrel Girl series before Marvel was moving forward with the project, and before Freeform ordered their other Marvel series, '' Marvel's Cloak & Dagger''. Burke also felt Freeform was the best network for ''New Warriors'', believing that Marvel had "started to see our strength with young adults" following the success of ''Cloak & Dagger'', and both companies wanted to "find the right characters that felt like they would speak directly to Freeform's audience. The Avengers wouldn't work here but the about-to-be-Avengers works here." On whether the network would consider spinoff series for each of the characters on the New Warriors team, in a similar fashion to
Marvel's Netflix television series Marvel's Netflix television series are a set of interconnected American television series created for the streaming service Netflix, based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. Produced by Marvel Television and ABC Studios ...
, Burke felt they "absolutely" could given the characters Marvel chose "are all really singular and could each carry the show that they're on. They're bound together ... for as long as we choose with this show but it's conceptually tailor-made for spinoffs." Biegel was confirmed as showrunner in July 2017, and production on the pilot episode had taken place by that November. Demi Adejuyigbe was part of the series' writing team. The
Great Lakes Avengers The Great Lakes Avengers (also known as The Lightning Rods, The Great Lakes X-Men, The Great Lakes Champions, and The Great Lakes Initiative) are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The cha ...
inspired various elements of the planned series.


Casting

Casting was expected to begin "shortly" after the series was announced in April 2017. Burke noted that actresses Anna Kendrick and Shannon Purser, who had both publicly expressed interest in portraying Squirrel Girl, had been discussed for that role. She added that the network had historically "made a lot of stars", but noted that the character put them in a unique position, saying "The character is such a calling card. I'm interested to see if name actresses feel right for it." Kendrick later admitted that she thought she had given "one of those answers that just goes away" and had no real interest in the role. By July 2017, Purser and
Mae Whitman Mae Margaret Whitman (born June 9, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She began acting in commercials as a child, making her film debut at the age of six in the romantic drama '' When a Man Loves a Woman'' (1994). She achieved recognition as ...
, who had also publicly expressed interest in the role, were among those that had been seriously considered for the part, with the character having been written with Whitman in mind. Discussions of Whitman were cut short due to her commitments to the series '' Good Girls''. In early July, the series cast was announced, with
Milana Vayntrub Milana Aleksandrovna Vayntrub ( , Russian: ; born March 8, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, and activist. Born in the Soviet Union to Jewish parents, she began her career as a child actress shortly after immigrating to the United States ...
as Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl, and Derek Theler as the series' co-lead Craig Hollis / Mr. Immortal. Also announced were Jeremy Tardy as Dwayne Taylor / Night Thrasher,
Calum Worthy Calum Worthy (born January 28, 1991) is a Canadian actor, writer, and producer, known for his roles as Dez on the Disney Channel series ''Austin & Ally'', Alex Trimboli in the Netflix series '' American Vandal'', Nicholas Godejohn in the Hulu ser ...
as Robbie Baldwin / Speedball,
Matthew Moy Matthew James Moy (born February 3, 1984) is an American actor and artist. He co-starred as Han Lee on the CBS sitcom ''2 Broke Girls'' and provides the voice of Lars Barriga on ''Steven Universe'' and ''Steven Universe Future''. Early life an ...
as Zach Smith / Microbe, and
Kate Comer Kate Comer is an American actress. Career Comer grew up in Sarasota, Florida, where she was involved with community theatre. As a teenager, she became obsessed with movies such as '' Trainspotting'', ''Donnie Darko'' and '' Pretty in Pink''. She ...
as Deborah Fields / Debrii.
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
r and voice actor SungWon Cho was also in contention for Microbe. In late July 2017,
Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' T ...
was cast in the recurring role of Ernest Vigman for the series. In June 2020, Biegel revealed he had a "seasons-long plan" for David to become the character M.O.D.O.K.


Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins

Discussing the potential for ''New Warriors'' to connect to ''Cloak & Dagger'' in April 2017, Burke said that the two properties were "not particularly connected" given "their tones are so wildly different", adding, "There are many degrees of separation with where they fall in the Marvel universe. But anything is possible with Marvel." That July, Loeb said there were no plans to crossover the two series, nor to crossover them across networks with the similarly youth-oriented '' Marvel's Runaways'' on Hulu. He added that Marvel wanted ''New Warriors'' to find its footing before further connecting with other elements of the
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
, saying, "You'll see things that comment on each other; we try to touch base wherever we can... It's being aware of it and trying to find a way for it to be able to discuss in a way that makes sense."


Cancellation

In November 2017, ''New Warriors'' was no longer set to air on Freeform. The completed pilot was said to have "tested through the roof", with high-level executives at
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
taking interest in the project. Marvel wanted the series to air in 2018, but Freeform found that it did not have room in its schedule for the series, and agreed to give the project back to Marvel; the studio would shop the series to new partners who could release the series in 2018, potentially only looking at companies that are Disney-owned, and hoping to secure a two-season pick-up from the new network. The series was still considered to be likely to produce multiple spinoffs in a similar model to Marvel's Netflix shows. Production on the remainder of ''New Warriors'' was scheduled to resume in January 2018, pending the series being picked up by a new network. Loeb stated in June 2018 that Marvel Television was still looking for a network to air the series. The studio discussed moving the series to Disney's streaming services
Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
and Hulu, but neither broadcaster was interested in picking-up the series. By the end of September 2019, ''New Warriors'' was officially considered to be dead. In September 2021, Biegel shared a number of behind the scenes images from the pilot, including Vayntrub in costume and various sets such as a bedroom with a number of Iron Man posters and a restaurant named "Fabian's" after Marvel comic writer
Fabian Nicieza Fabian Nicieza (born December 31, 1961) is an Argentine-American comic book writer and editor who is best known for his work on Marvel titles such as ''X-Men'', '' X-Force'', ''New Warriors'', ''Nomad'', '' Cable'', ''Deadpool'' and ''Thunderbo ...
. He also shared footage from filming, including of the animatronic used to depict Green's pet squirrel Tippy-Toe. He stated that the pilot had strong LGBTQ themes and believed an executive had prevented it from being made due to it being "too gay". A Marvel spokesman addressed Biegel's claims by saying that Marvel had been "fully supportive of the show" and it was only canceled after various distributors had passed on the series. The character of Mr. Immortal would eventually make his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Marvel Studios'
Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
series '' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law'', portrayed by
David Pasquesi David Pasquesi (born December 22, 1960) is an American actor and comedian. His screen credits include ''Groundhog Day'', ''Strangers with Candy'', ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', ''Return to Me'', '' The Ice Harvest'', ''Veep'', ''At Home with Amy Sed ...
.


See also

*
List of unproduced television projects based on Marvel Comics This is a list of unmade and unreleased television projects based on Marvel Comics. Some of these productions were, or still are, in development hell. Projects that have not provided significant production announcements within at least a year, ...


References


External links

* {{Portal bar, Television, United States, Speculative fiction American action comedy television series American action television series American comic science fiction television series English-language television shows Marvel Cinematic Universe television series Marvel Comics television episodes Marvel's young adult television series Single-camera television sitcoms Teen superhero television series Television pilots not picked up as a series Television series by ABC Signature Studios Television series by Marvel Television Unaired television pilots