Ali Wong is surprised by her teenage self in Prime Video's Paper Girls teaser
The time travel series is set to hit the streamer next month
Just when we thought Netflix had a monopoly on shows based on beloved graphic novels and shows featuring wily teens on bikes in the ‘80s, Prime Video has decided to throw its hat in the ring with Paper Girls–a show that’s based on a beloved graphic novel AND features wily teens on bikes in the ‘80s. And they’ve got Ali Wong! Take that, Netflix.
The Paper Girls teaser gives us our first look at the show’s four heroes–Tiffany (Camryn Jones), Erin (Riley Lai Nelet), Mac (Sofia Rosinsky), and KJ (Fina Strazza)–as they process the fact that they are, in fact, no longer teens on bikes in the ‘80s. The sky has turned purple, they’ve time traveled to 2019, and things have gotten weird.
There are sci-fi bugs! The girls run into an older version of Erin (Wong) who still apparently lives in her childhood home! 21st century capitalism is much more visible now in the form of (shudder) a Capital One Cafe! No wonder our heroes seem so keen on returning to their original lives in 1988.
We don’t get much more information in the teaser, but the synopsis tells us that the girls are on their delivery route the morning after Halloween “when they become caught in the crossfire between warring time-travelers, changing the course of their lives forever.”
The rest of the series is summarized:
While reconciling that their futures are far different than their 12-year-old selves imagined, they are being hunted by a militant faction of time-travelers known as the Old Watch, who have outlawed time travel so that they can stay in power. In order to survive, the girls will need to overcome their differences and learn to trust each other, and themselves.
Paper Girls is based on the best-selling series of the same name written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Cliff Chiang. Vaughan and Chiang are involved in the adaptation as executive producers, along with Christopher C. Rogers, Stephany Folsom, Christopher Cantwell, Steven Prinz, and Plan B. The show will also star Nate Corddry (For All Mankind) as Larry and Adina Porter (American Horror Story, The 100) as Prioress.
You’re probably ready to watch Paper Girls today. But since you can’t actually time travel, you’ll just have to settle for waiting until July 29, when the series drops on Prime Video.