Go Nuts! Squirrel Girl and the New Warriors Comedy Coming to Freeform

While we highly doubt that 'Squirrel Girl and the New Warriors' will be the name of the newly announced comedy on Freeform, she appears to be the frontrunner to lead the team.

In their news release they describe Doreen Green (aka Squirrel Girl) as "a totally empowering fan girl—tough, optimistic and a natural leader. Doreen is confident and has the powers of a squirrel… She’s acrobatic, can fight and talk to other squirrels. Her most important trait is that she has faith in people and teaches them to believe in themselves."

With her increased cult following and the good publicity that comes with promoting a female lead, having Squirrel Girl be the face of the franchise makes perfect sense.

Kevin Beigel (Scrubs) is expected to complete a deal soon that would have him writing the script and running the show. With a 10 episode order, it seems like Freeform is playing it safe before making a long-term investment. Each episode is expected to fill a 30 minute time slot debuting sometime in 2018.

While there is no casting news yet, other than Squirrel Girl, we can speculate that since the show will be targeted towards young adults, perhaps Speedball of the New Warriors will join the cast. This will help develop Squirrel Girl's obsessive crush on the hero as part of the ongoing storyline.

A series description has been released by Marvel:
 

“Marvel’s New Warriors” is about six young people with powers living and working together.  With powers and abilities on the opposite end of the spectrum of The Avengers, the New Warriors want to make a difference in the world… Even if the world isn’t ready.  Not quite super, not yet heroes, “Marvel’s New Warriors” is about that time in your life when you first enter adulthood and feel like you can do everything and nothing at once — except in this world, bad guys can be as terrifying as bad dates.

Squirrel girl has been affiliated with the New Avengers and the US Avengers on different occasions but she hasn't been an official member of the New Warriors, to date. I doubt too many New Warriors enthusiasts will complain about her inclusion. For the purpose of the show, it's sure to be a popular decision. Given the habit of comic books mimicking their television and movie counterparts, it may not be long before we see her leap onto the pages of a New Warriors comic. Her solo adventures are always met with great fanfare.

The most recent 'superhero' comedy on television, DC's POWERLESS airing Thursday nights on NBC, hasn't exactly been received with high marks. Many feel the show lacks direction and the humor falls flat as a workplace comedy. Kevin Beigal's experience with the highly popular show, SCRUBS, might provide a glance at what to expect for New Warriors. A similar type of zaniness with some drama mixed in may be what the doctor orders.

I don't have any thoughts as of right now as to who I'd like to see play Squirrel Girl although both Anna Kendrick (PITCH PERFECT, TROLLS) and Shannon Purser (STRANGER THINGS) have both shown interest. I'm pretty sure Anna was hoping to play the role on the big screen, not a small screen comedy written for Freeform, so you can probably remove her from contention. Shannon Purser's performance on the Netflix original series made her a quick fan favorite via the hashtag #JusticeforBarb after being devoured by a demogorgon. Not to mention, at only 19 years old, she's much closer in age to the target demographic of New Warriors. The only question would be if her recurring role as Ethel Muggs in RIVERDALE would create a conflict in scheduling. Would she even still be interested?

What New Warriors would you like to see join the cast? Leave your suggestions in the comments below!