Netflix has released the first teaser trailer for its next animated feature Nimona.
The trailer begins in a crudely animated fairytale kingdom, where a princess spots a peculiar-looking bird and demands that it make her a dress. The bird shapeshifts into a girl, tells the princess to make her own dress, then proceeds to take the form of various giant monsters and cause mayhem in the kingdom. The scene is revealed to be drawn by our title character, Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz), before giving a glimpse of her adventures, accompanied by the tagline, "A new kind of hero takes shape," set to the song "T-Rex" by K. Flay.
Nimona began as a webcomic in 2012, written and drawn by ND Stevenson. Set in a medieval landscape that blends sorcery and science, the story follows Nimona, a young shapeshifter who becomes the sidekick of arch-villain Ballister Blackheart in his quest to fight against the Institution governing the land and expose its corruption. The series received praise for its humor, art style and exploration of LGBTQ+ themes. The entirety of Nimona was later published as a graphic novel, which became a New York Times bestseller and won the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album - Reprint.
Work on a film adaptation of Nimona began in 2015, with 20th Century Fox Animation producing and Blue Sky Studios developing the project. However, after the Walt Disney Company acquired Fox in May 2019, the film was delayed multiple times and eventually canceled by Disney when Blue Sky was shut down. Former staffers claimed Disney was put off by the film's prominent queer themes, including an onscreen same-sex kiss, which may have led to its cancellation. In April 2022, it was announced that Annapurna had picked up Nimona and would be completing the film and releasing it through Netflix in 2023.
In addition to Moretz, Nimona will star Riz Ahmed as Ballister Blackheart and Eugene Lee Yang as Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin, the Institute's champion and Ballister's former best friend. Frances Conroy, Lorraine Toussaint, Indya Moore, Julio Torres, Beck Bennett, RuPaul Charles, and Sarah Sherman have also been cast in undisclosed roles. Nick Bruno and Troy Quane will direct from a script by Robert L. Baird and Lloyd Taylor.
In addition to Nimona, Stevenson has written for animated series like Wander Over Yonder, DuckTales and Big Hero Six. He went on to executive produce She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, a reboot of the He-Man spinoff that ran for four seasons on Netflix. Stevenson was also a co-creator of BOOM! Studios' adventure comic Lumberjanes, which was set to be adapted into an animated series for HBO Max in 2020, however, it's unknown if the project is still in development.
Nimona premieres June 30 on Netflix.
Source: YouTube