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Disney+ would be the perfect home for a New Warriors show, especially if it was an adaptation of the original comics.
Disney+ is offering great new ways to introduce characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Kate Bishop and Echo were the first of a wave of fan-favorite characters that will enter the MCU via a limited series on the streaming service. She’ll be joined by Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk as part of Disney+’s packed 2022 schedule.
Beyond introducing new characters to the MCU, Hawkeye also served as home to the return of Vincent D’Onofrio’s towering Kingpin. This proved the potential of Disney+ to integrate more characters from previous iterations of Marvel TV, from other Netflix characters like Jessica Jones to the Runaways. It could even bring some characters whose TV shows never got off the ground into the MCU, including ’90s teen superteam The New Warriors.
The New Warriors were created by Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz, who introduced them in The Mighty Thor #411. The Warriors’ founding line-up was mostly comprised of existing teen superheroes who had either had their own comics or been supporting characters in comics like X-Men and Namor. Namorita, Firestar, Justice (a younger incarnation of original Guardians of the Galaxy member Vance Astro), Speedball, and Nova were brought together by original creation Night Thrasher. When the team got its own ongoing series, they handed the team off to the creators most associated with The New Warriors. Artists Mark Bagley and future co-creator of The Boys Darrick Robertson defined the series visually, while writer Fabian Nicieza wrote 53 of the first volume’s 75 issues.
The New Warriors were as close as Marvel has come to their version of the New Teen Titans. They were never as popular as DC’s premier teen team, but the Warriors did have the advantage of having never served as kid sidekicks. They were unofficially the Avengers junior squad, established in the first issue of their ongoing when the Avengers arrived after the team defeated Terrax and wound up (unintentionally) taking credit for it Firestar and Justice would go on to join the Avengers and Nova would become a lynchpin of Marvel’s cosmic titles due to his participation in the Annihilation crossover, but the team itself have only been part of an intermittent series of short-lived relaunches over the years.
Despite that, they were slated to have a television series as part of Marvel’s line-up of teen heroes on Freeform. The series combined characters from the Warriors and the comical Great Lakes Avengers. The New Warriors series was slated to be the MCU’s first half-hour sitcom and was intended to debut with a 10 episode first season in 2018. It was eventually canceled due to corporate restructuring by Disney. The show ended up a footnote mainly remembered for casting Milana Vayntrub as Squirrel Girl, a role she did wind up playing in the Marvel Rising animated series.
As much as fans might enjoy Vayntrub finally joining the MCU, introducing her as part of a New Warriors sitcom probably wouldn’t be the best use of the property, given that She-Hulk will be covering that territory. Something more in line with the ’90s incarnation of the team would fill a new niche in the MCU though. Marvel TV has had its share of teen heroes in The Runaways and Cloak & Dagger, but it hasn’t had a team with costumes and secret identities. As Spider-Man is entering young adulthood following No Way Home, the New Warriors could follow in his footsteps as fresh-faced teen heroes, potentially mentored by the Avengers. Nova’s ties to the Guardians of the Galaxy’s Nova Corps and Namorita’s status as an Atlantean and mutant could also add ties to current and future Marvel properties.
Beyond giving Marvel a chance to fill that void, it would also bring some much-needed diversity to the MCU. The ’90s version featured four heroes of color: Night Thrasher, Silhouette, Turbo, and Rage. That makes it a better than average source of representation than most older properties. Silhouette’s a rare hero who is disabled, which would be a significant addition to Marvel’s roster. A New Warriors Disney+ series would give HBO Max’s Titans a serious competitor and open up some new storytelling options in the MCU, making it a win-win proposition.
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