During the Disney Branded Television panel at the Television Critics Association 2022 Winter press tour, Marvel fans got their first look at Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, debuting this summer on the Disney Channel. With the first look, singer and songwriter Diamond White made history as Marvel’s first Black, young, female superhero: Lunella Lafayette, aka Moon Girl, a 13-year-old prodigy from Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Starring alongside White in the co-titular role will be Fred Tatasciore (Star Trek: Lower Decks) as the time-swapped (and red) Devil Dinosaur.
Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is from Disney Television Animation and executive producers Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix), Helen Sugland’s Cinema Gypsy Productions (black-ish) and Steve Loter (Kim Possible), and supervising producer Rodney Clouden (Futurama). Also, attached to the project are Emmy Award-winner Kate Kondell (The Pirate Fairy) and Jeffrey M. Howard (Planes) as co-producers and story editors, as well as Pilar Flynn (Elena of Avalor) as a producer.
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The previously announced animated series is based on the Marvel Comics’ hit series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur about the adventures of (9-year-old) Lunella Lafayette, created by writers Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder, and artist Natacha Bustos, and her 10-ton T. Rex, Devil Dinosaur, created by Jack Kirby. After going through some unexpected changes (terrigenesis), Lunella accidentally brings Devil Dinosaur into present-day New York City via a time vortex. Once Devil Dinosaur is in the present day, the duo must learn to work together to protect the city’s Lower East Side from danger, and that’s not all! The young prodigy – who is more intelligent than Bruce Banner – must learn how to solve problems while sometimes switching brains with her prehistoric side-kick!
By playing Lunella, White becomes the first actor to play a young Black girl in a Marvel animated series, and she took to her social media accounts to share her excitement. Check out what White posted below:
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In a statement to EW, Fishburne shared, “I am overjoyed to share a little Black Girl Magic with the debut of Lunella Lafayette, her family, Devil Dinosaur, Casey, and The Beyonder. We at Cinema Gypsy Productions and Disney Television Animation hope that Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur will be a family favorite and an inspiration to the younger generations.”
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See Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Characters in the Gallery Below
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Rounding out the cast is Libe Barer (DuckTales) as Casey, a 13-year-old Puerto Rican-Jewish powerhouse and Moon Girl’s best friend, and Gary Anthony Williams (Solar Opposites) as Pops, Lunella’s cool grandpa, described as “a clever tinkerer and meticulous craftsman, constructing custom skates and reviving old pairs ‘til they’re better than new.” Then, returning to the Marvel universe is Alfre Woodard (Luke Cage) as Mimi, Lunella’s grandmother.
Other cast members include Jermaine Fowler (BoJack Horseman) as James Jr., Lunella’s dad, who runs Roll With It, the last roller-skating rink in New York City, and Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics) as Adria, Lunella’s mother, a social activist and musician who serves as the DJ at the family-owned roller-skating rink. Also in a recurring role, executive producer Fishburne as The Beyonder, described as “brilliant when it comes to the makeup of matter and the universe, he is clueless about humans.”
Watch the clip below:
