An official look at Squirrel Girl from the cancelled New Warriors TV show has been revealed by writer Kevin Biegel. Squirrel Girl AKA Doreen Allene Green, is a Marvel Comics character created by Will Murray and Steve Ditko in 1991. She has appeared in multiple comic titles, including her own solo series throughout the years, as well as popping up in various Marvel animated projects, including Ultimate Spider-Man, and video game appearances. Her mutant powers include superhuman strength and agility, retractable knuckle spikes, a bushy tail, claws and buck teeth, as well as the ability to communicate with squirrels.
Squirrel Girl was originally set to appear in the New Warriors series for Freeform with showrunner Kevin Biegel writing the pilot episode. Originally set for a 10-Episode series, Freeform dropped New Warriors from their schedule, sending it out to other Disney-owned networks for consideration. However, the show failed to find a home, leaving the pilot episode and the series itself abandoned. Milana Vayntrub, who also did Squirrel Girl's voice on Marvel Rising, was cast in the role for the New Warriors series, which was intended to tie directly into the MCU narrative.
Taking to Twitter, showrunner Kevin Biegel decided to speak out about rumors as to why the show was cancelled, saying that "1 exec" killed the show before it could be given a series order. In addition, Biegel shared a number of behind-the-scenes images from New Warriors, including an official look at Milana Vayntrub in costume as the famed superhero. Biegel said that the look of the character was based on the artwork of Erica Henderson, who drew The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl for Marvel Comics. Biegel's tweets have since been deleted, but the images can be seen in a tweet from QuidVacuo_ and the video in a tweet from NebsGoodTakes:
With Marvel's Netflix shows at an end and ABC's Disney+ continuing to focus on original content for streaming, it's unlikely there will be any movement on non-Disney+ shows in the near future.
With Biegel seemingly letting the squirrels out of the bag with these BTS images and video, it's possible that Disney+ could take notice and reconsider airing the pilot for New Warriors. Fan online and on social media has helped many a series or film gain notoriety, so it's entirely possible that this could happen again. If Disney+ isn't interested in a New Warriors show still, then perhaps they'll consider a Squirrel Girl spinoff starring Vayntrub instead. Either way, it sounds like New Warriors got a bit of a raw deal and may be worthy of a second look by the powers that be. Until then, Squirrel Girl will continue to live on within the comic page.
Source: Kevin Biegel
