Gather ’round, folks, because we’ve got the biggest piece of Marvel news since Robert Downey Jr. started buying shirts with see-through chest windows: Squirrel Girl has been cast. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the part of Doreen Green—a.k.a. the New Warriors’ cheerful, bad-guy-trouncing Squirrel Girl—has been given to This Is Us actress Milana Vayntrub. Vayntrub will play the part in the New Warriors TV show, which was recently picked up to series at Freeform.
Squirrel Girl has proven to be a surprisingly high-profile part to cast, with everybody from Anna Kendrick to Stranger Things’ Shannon Purser tossing their name into the mix. The character has become a popular member of the Marvel ensemble in recent years, on the strength of her sunny disposition, a funny underlying joke—i.e., her only power is talking to squirrels, yet she regularly defeats cosmic-level Marvel villains like Thanos and Dr. Doom—and books like Ryan North and Erica Henderson’s Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.
Vayntrub—who plays Sloane on This Is Us—wasn’t the only New Warrior to be cast today. Derek Theler—who spent six seasons on Baby Daddy back when Freeform was still ABC Family—will play Mister Immortal, a former member of the gag-team The Great Lakes Avengers, whose only power is his inability to stay dead after his inevitable demise. The two join a cast of misfit superheroes that also includes Jeremy Tardy, Calum Worthy, Matthew Moy, and Kate Comer.