ABC in talks to bring a “mostly new” female superhero to the network

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

With Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. coming to an end after its seventh season, ABC is busy making plans to assure that at least one Marvel-branded property remains on their network. To that end, ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke has recently told Deadline, “I have spoken to Marvel and we are in active talks about one project in particular.” While Burke was reluctant to divulge too many details, she did confirm that the character would be "something brand new, mostly." She also shared that the project would fall in line with Marvel's push to highlight more female-focused superheroes. Moreover, it's been stated that this newly-announced endeavor will not be related to the untitled, hour-long project that WONDER WOMAN writer Allan Heinberg has been developing since last year. Yes, Heinberg's project is female-focused, but will remain a separate entity from Marvel's latest foray into female-centric superheroics.

For the past several years, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has done a fine job with regard to featuring female heroes, such as Daisy Johnson, a.k.a. Quake (Chloe Bennet), Mokingbird (Adrianne Palicki), Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), Yo-Yo Rodriguez (Natalia Cordova-Buckley), just to name a few. Be that as it may, the world could always use more heroes, and Marvel certainly has plenty to spare.

What trips me up about this news is the descriptor "something brand new, mostly." I mean, if ABC was thinking about developing a Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff, they'd probably just come right out and say it, right? And so, if this character has yet to be introduced via one of Marvel's many television series or films, are we looking at a character such as Ms. Marvel or the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl coming to ABC? Granted, these characters have been kicking around for sometime, but perhaps the "new, mostly" language refers to them becoming a larger part of the Marvel brand in recent times? There's also a chance that we could be getting a series based on America Chavez, or Bruce Banner's cousin, Jennifer Walters, a.k.a. She-Hulk. To be honest, the possibilities are endless, especially with Marvel's publishing arm making a concentrated effort to release more and more female-focused standalone adventures.

I suppose that we'll have to wait for information to find out, and to be honest, I've no idea who they could be thinking about for this project. This all has me very excited, as many of my favorite Marvel characters hail from the female side of the tracks. Give us a Dazzler, Pixie, or Spider-Woman series, you cowards!