Nope, this is not a late April Fools’ joke. The Nimona film is back in production! And if things go according to plan, you’ll be able to catch the series’ cinematic debut very soon, on Netflix.
Earlier today, creator ND Stevenson turned to Twitter and announced that the Nimona movie “is alive” and “coming at you in 2023.” This time, the film is being produced by Annapurna and Netflix. Stevenson also shared a promo shot for the upcoming film, which you can see in the primary image above.
“Nimona’s always been a spunky little story that just wouldn’t stop,” Stevenson tweeted this morning. “She’s a fighter…but she’s also got some really awesome people fighting for her.”
Chloë Grace Moretz will voice the series’ lead, Nimona herself, and will be joined by Riz Ahmed as Ballister Blackheart and Eugene Lee Yang as antagonist Ambrosius Goldenloin.
What is Nimona?
Before Stevenson rose to fame through Boom! Studios’ Lumberjanes and Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, the American artist and writer reached widespread online acclaim through their webcomic Nimona.
The series follows the titular Nimona, a magical shapeshifting anti-hero who works alongside her villainous mentor Ballister Blackheart to take on the reigning power for law and order in the entire kingdom: the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics. Stevenson’s series masterfully weaves action, adventure, comedy, sci-fi, and fantasy into a beautifully queer tale about institutional power’s incredible dangers, and the comic quickly won readers’ hearts when it premiered on Tumblr in 2012.
Originally, Fox’s Blue Sky Studios took on the production of a Nimona film in 2015. Production continued after Blue Sky became part of Disney under the Fox merger. Despite two delays, fans were expecting the film for January 2022. That is, until Disney closed Blue Sky in February 2021. The movie was reportedly “75 percent complete” at the time, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s Borys Kit.
It’s unclear if Nimona’s queer content influenced Disney’s decision. However, staff on the film claimed that Disney was antagonistic to Nimona’s queer themes, including a kiss between Blackheart and Goldenloin. “We need more queer stories, but we also need to call out how nefarious it is when you don’t tell queer stories,” an anonymous staff member told Insider earlier this year. “When the biggest entertainment company in the world creates content for children and systematically censors queer content, they are pushing queer children to dark places.”
Hopefully, Nimona fans can trust Netflix to take a much more affirming stance. Expect more news as 2023 draws closer.
(featured image: Netflix)
