Ava DuVernay is already deep into DC-lore, since she’s already helming the New Gods movie and adapting the comic DMZ into a HBO Max series. But she’s not done there, as now she’s getting involved in The CW’s Arrow-verse too. DuVernay is developing an adaptation of DC comic Naomi for the American network.
Naomi began in 2019 as a comic series from writers Brian Michael Bendis and David F. Walker and artist Jamal Campbell. It follows the adventures of an American teenage girl who happens her way into a multiverse full of outrageous and eccentric superheroes after a cataclysmic event.
But as she investigates the origins of the multiverse, she begins to learn more about these heroes and discovers they might not be what they seem. DuVernay will develop the property as writer and executive producer alongside Arrow writer and executive producer Jill Blankenship. Sarah Bremner and Paul Garnes will produce for Array Filmworks, DuVernay’s production company.
The project sounds fun enough, and should be a hit in a post-Spider-Verse world, but it’s fair to wonder why DuVernay, one of the most talented contemporary filmmakers, is working on a CW series. It’s a credit to her that she’s seeking to diversify the superhero genre with adaptations of comics with Black leads, but frankly she’s too good to be stuck in the Arrow-verse.
Hopefully New Gods is a hit and that allows her to push forward with an original, non-superhero project, although it’s understandable why she’d be focused on those since that genre dominates Hollywood right now.
#Peace.Love.Naomi
