Will a Squirrel Girl TV Show Be a Mistake for Marvel? (Nerdist News w/ Jessica Chobot)

(clapping and cheering) - Marvel's latest announcement
has left us feeling squirrely.
Find out why on today's Nerdist News.
(squirrel chatter)
That's my version.
Squirrel Girl is coming to television,
so why aren't we more excited?
I don't know.
Ever since Marvel's quirkiest hero exploded in popularity,
fans have been eager to see her join the MCU.
There have been hashtags, online petitions,
and Tumblrs upon Tumblrs worth of speculative artwork.
Just last year, when actress Anna Kendrick
expressed interest in the role,
the internet exploded with a resounding yas
and provided photoshopped mockups,
proving just how Pitch Perfect she'd look
rocking that bushy brown tail.
With all that squirrel-powered enthusiasm in the air,
you'd think that Marvel's latest announcement
would get fans' whiskers twitching.
According to The Hollywood Reporter,
Squirrel Girl will be the star
of her very own television series
coming to the small screen sometime in 2018,
but instead, the response has been decidedly mixed.
So, why aren't we going more nuts?
Well, that announcement comes with quite a few caveats.
For one thing, this won't be one of the prestiged
Netflix Marvel shows or even an ABC joint
like Agents of Shield.
Squirrel Girl is going to be building her nest
on Freeform, a network with no experience
in the superhero game, unless you consider
lying while pretty a superpower.
What's more, the show will be a half-hour comedy
instead of an hour long adventure.
Now, while we're not totally opposed to that,
experimenting with tone and format
could add some variety to the increasingly familiar MCU,
their choice of show runner makes us a bit nervous,
who, up until this point, is best known
as one of the co-creators of Cougar Town.
And although, yes, you could describe
Courtney Cox's intake of wine on Cougar Town as truly heroic
and reminiscent of myself,
once again, it doesn't seem like quite the pedigree needed
to bring a beloved superhero like Squirrel Girl
to the small screen.
And b t dubs, if you had to go
with someone from the world of sitcoms,
maybe just maybe this is one of those situations
where a female creator would be better suited for the job.
Like seriously, New Girl is on the bubble, folks.
Did anyone check to see what their show runner,
Elizabeth Meriwether, is up to?
But aside from a new girl-esque Squirrel Girl sitcom
being an incredibly perfect idea
that Marvel should be embarrassed for not thinking of,
our biggest disappointment about
this Squirrel Girl announcement is that
it really isn't even a Squirrel Girl announcement.
Doreen Green won't be getting her very own show,
like she deserves.
Instead, she'll be the lead in an ensemble comedy
about the New Warriors.
Now, for those not in the know,
the New Warriors are kind of like the Teen Titans
to the Avengers' JLA.
They're the scrappy, teen superhero team
on the Marvel block,
but their books have never really had a comedic bend
aside from a brief run in the early 2000s
where they became stars of a reality TV show,
a run that ended in tragedy
when their actions caused a supervillain to blow up a school
which in turn kicked off the events of Civil War.
So yeah, not exactly the perfect groundwork
for a lighthearted superhero sitcom.
Of course, that's not really the big issue here.
The issue is Squirrel Girl doesn't deserve to be shoved
into some preexisting team short of her original team,
the Great Lakes Avengers, don't cha know.
She's proven herself more than capable
of holding the spotlight,
and her current comic is packed with enough story,
heart, and humor to carry multiple seasons worth
of her own sitcom.
However, there is some hope that Marvel will eventually
do right by her.
The announcement also mentions that if New Warriors
is successful, they could see all the characters involved
being granted spinoff series.
And you have to imagine that Squirrel Girl
will be at the head of that pack.
Maybe if the show is big enough,
we'll even get the thing we all really want,
a Squirrel Girl movie.
Hey, if Peter Parker can find his way
into the big screen MCU, then any animal powered
underaged superhero can.
But what do you guys think?
Are you excited for a New Warriors series,
or would you like to see Squirrel Girl
on her own in the MCU?
Let's discuss.

Will a Squirrel Girl TV Show Be a Mistake for Marvel? (Nerdist News w/ Jessica Chobot)

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