Yesterday, we brought you the news that the animated series adaptation of BOOM! Box’s Lumberjanes is “on ice,” at least for the moment. Well, turning to another of creator ND Stevenson’s beloved properties, Nimona, we’ve got some more positive news: not only is there still active talk of a sequel movie to the Netflix hit, but Stevenson has thought about a book sequel, as well.
During a longer-ranging conversation focusing on Stevenson’s upcoming prose novel, Scarlet Morning, the topic of a Nimona sequel was brought up. Specifically, co-director Troy Quane expressed openness to pursuing the story further back in 2023… Though didn’t offer any specifics beyond that. Stevenson, though, offered up some specifics: there’s a pitch for a Nimona sequel, though at the time it’s not much beyond that.
“It’s something that’s been kept alive,” Stevenson explained. “It’s also a deeply weird time in animation. Not a lot of stuff is getting made. Not a lot of stuff with queer characters is getting made right now, for sure, it’s a very strange environment. I like to think of it as a transitional time. That’s the positive spin on it, maybe this is leading to something even better. But right now, it’s not fun…
“All of that’s to say, it’s out there. There is a pitch I am very excited about, and I think if it ever comes to fruition, and at this point, I’ve been doing this long enough to know that nothing’s ever really dead forever. You know something can be put on ice, something can be killed, dead as a doornail, which Nimona, the first one was, and then it came back to life. I don’t think it ever has to be over if there’s at least one person still fighting for it… The conversation is far from dead, and I hope that one day it can come to fruition.”
If you’re not familiar, Nimona started as a webcomic Stevenson created in college, got picked up as a graphic novel that was released in 2015, and subsequently won multiple awards. Focusing on the title character, Nimona is a shapeshifter who wants to be a supervillain and joins forces with a disgraced knight named Ballister Blackheart to take down The Institution, tangling with the earnest good guy Goldenloin in the process.
The film version had… A rockier road than the book, to put it lightly. It was initially set to be adapted by Blue Sky Studios for Fox, but, like a lot of other projects, got caught up in Disney’s acquisition of the company and was subsequently canceled when Disney closed Blue Sky entirely. Annapurna Pictures, alongside DNEG Animation, picked it up, sold it for distribution to Netflix, and the resulting film was released in 2023 and went on to get nominated for multiple awards, including a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards.
With the success of the movie comes the talk of a sequel, but the question is: what would it adapt, if anything? Nimona the book and Nimona the movie veer off very differently in terms of plot and characterization. So even if Stevenson tackled a book sequel, it likely would be extremely different from whatever the screen version would be. That said, would he even be interested in continuing the story of Nimona and friends, in graphic novel form?
“Yeah, that I’m not sure about,” Stevenson said. “Because the movie, for me, there was a split, like a sort of parallel universes thing. I have a very positive experience with both of them. I love the movie. I really love the changes that they made to the comic, and I feel like they coexist. For example, I think that the character of Ambrosius Goldenloin, he’s two different people in the book versus the movie, but I love them both. In fact, the character of Goldenloin is one that I would want to see more fleshed out in the movie version.
“So when working on what the movie sequel would look like, that was almost easier, because it’s not building on the canon of the book. Whereas, with the book, I’m really fond of the way that it ends. I think that Nimona as a character is a question, and so to end the book on a question just felt right to me, and I didn’t want to answer that question unless it introduced more questions in a way that felt right.”
So that’s a no on a Nimona graphic novel sequel, right? Well, not quite.
“I definitely have thought about it,” Stevenson continued. “I was deep in my feels when the movie was coming out, and did a couple pages of really loose, sketchy, like, what it might be like for them to meet again? So it’s out there. It’s simmering. I want it to be for the right reason, and not just because you want to hang out with your friends again… I’m sure that you’ve had your heart broken by some piece of media that like, ‘oh my god, after 20 years, [they’re] making another season. I can’t wait to see my friends.’ And then at the end, you’re like, ‘I kind of wish…’
“The thing that’s in your head is so much [better]. Kids who come up to me and they’re like, ‘why does the book just end? I want to know what happens to Nimona.’ I’m like, ‘that’s the point. You’re wondering, and that’s the point, it’s happening in your head.’ That’s what I set out to do. So if there’s a reason, I’m definitely not saying no. I also have the urge to hang out with my friends again. I just want my reason.”
You can watch the full interview with Stevenson below. Scarlet Morning hits stores on September 23, 2025.
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