Filmmaker Ava DuVernay knows her comics. And she knows a good one when she sees it. Warner Bros Television announced through Variety today that DuVernay and Arrow writer/executive producer Jill Blankenship will be adapting DC’s Naomi for a potential series on The CW. Created by Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker, and Jamal Campbell, Naomi was a 6-issue mini-series from the “Wonder Comics” imprint of DC, a line focused on Teen and YA heroes. In her relatively short career, the neophyte hero has fought alongside both Young Justice and the Justice League while exploring her energy-based power and superhuman strength.
The TV series may position her as a bridge among the many shows on The CW and HBO Max that don’t take place on the same Earth. Variety describes the scenario as “…a teen girl’s journey from her small northwestern town to the heights of the multiverse.” The comic hinted at that potential, as an adopted girl feels an emotional fascination with Superman, then discovers she herself is more than she thought. To say more would be to spoil one of 2019’s best books (and I know Green Machine Comics’ co-owner Steve Mix agrees with me).
Suffice to say Naomi would fit very well encountering HBO Max’s Titans, The CW’s Stargirl, and if the mainstream “Arrowverse” is her home, any and all of those heroes would get a boost from her.
Interestingly, though, this will be produced through the auspices of ARRAY Filmworks, not Berlanti Productions. That may help The CW in their quest to rebrand Berlanti’s “Arrowverse” as “The CWVerse.” It may seem a little fetch, but their superhero programming is exploring the multiverse, and Greg Berlanti has to sleep sometime. (He’s producing Green Lantern and Strange Adventures for HBO Max, which will also have a Peacemaker series spinning out of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.)
There’s no word on a schedule, as so many things are up in the air with film and TV production. But as far as we know, DuVernay is also still working with writer Tom King on her New Gods adaptation, and is also attached to an HBO Max adaptation of the Vertigo series DMZ.
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