The 13-year-old Moon Girl, Lunella Lafayette, and her 10-tonne dinosaur are the latest additions to Marvel Entertainment. On Thursday, July 21, at the San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel announced the animated series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and dropped teasers as well as additional footage for the show.
With its vibrant visual treatment and foot-tapping background score, Lunella and her Dino friend are the perfect getaways to a rather grim phase four of the MCU.
Created by Brandon Montclare, Amy Reeder, and Natacha Bustos in 2015, Moon Girl first appeared in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #1 while Jack Kirby’s creation Devil Dinosaur was first seen in Devil Dinosaur#1, way back in 1978.
An intelligent 13-year-old New Yorker who is part human and part Inhuman, Lunella finds an Omni-Wave Projector which creates a rift between space and time and transports Devil Dinosaur from Dinosaur Land to Earth.
Despite his name, Devil Dinosaur is cute and finds himself making friends with Lunella. The series sees the super-smart Lunella take up the mantle of Moon Girl and invent different gadgets with the help of Devil Dinosaur. The two fight evil and save the lower east side of New York City from danger.
Now, the Marvel panel is ready to bring this hyperbolic idea to life in a colorful animated series, slated to air on Disney sometime in 2023.
"Lot of fun stuff here": Fans delighted with Marvel's announcement at SDCC
Following the announcement at San Diego Comic-Con, elated fans took to the internet to express their anticipation about the upcoming series:
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur to be helmed by Laurence Fishburne, will not be part of MCU
Veteran actor Laurence Fishburne, who is known for his character Morpheus in The Matrix, discovered the Moon Girl comic a few years ago and approached Marvel. Fishburne, who played the role of Dr. Bill Foster in Antman and the Wasp, is no stranger to the Marvel franchise. The studio had immense faith in the idea and green-lit the project with Fishburne as Executive Producer.
The project boasts a plethora of Hollywood stars like Community star Alison Brie, Stranger Things fame Maya Hawke, MCU’s agent Maria Hill a.k.a Cobie Smulders, and the OG Blade Wesley Snipes. Other stars like Andy Cohen (Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen), Daveed Diggs (Broadway's Hamilton), Jennifer Hudson (Respect) and Cliff "Method Man" Smith (Power Book II: Ghost) will also be crucial parts of the animated show.
While the show is different from MCU’s continuity, the creators claimed that it may contain tons of Easter Eggs and references to MCU and its heroes. With Marvel opening doors to the concept of the multiverse, who is to say when the Devil Dinosaur and his little friend will swoop in to save the Avengers?
The creators have revealed that the show will include villains who are ill-suited for the MCU or who cannot be portrayed in live-action. That being said, Marvel has kept the identities of the villains and characters of the series under wraps so far.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is still under production. While the exact release date of the series has not yet been revealed, it is estimated that it will be showcased on Disney channel as well as Disney Plus in 2023.