Marvel Comics released a brand new trailer introducing their New Warriors line-up that includes a new superhero called Safespace and his non-binary twin called Snowflake.
New Warriors writer Daniel Kibblesmith introduced the new team and detailed the premise of the upcoming series.
“My editors on the previous books that I’d done like Loki and Black Panther vs Deadpool asked if I’d be interested in doing a New Warriors tie-in that actually poses them as the authority figures in this conflict instead of the rebels. And I really liked the attention of that.”
Kibblesmith then details that Marvel Comics will be introducing a new team of New Warriors that will be mentored by the classic New Warriors team.
“So because the New Warriors are the authority figures in this story they have to be mentoring new New Warriors who are under 21 and subject to the laws that triggered the Outlawed event. This new law is making it illegal to be a vigilante under the age of 21.”
Speaking with Marvel.com, Kibblesmith added, “I wanted to have teen characters who felt as “now” as the New Warriors did in 1990. The New Warriors have been zeitgeist characters from the beginning, you get edgy skateboarding Night Thrasher in the ’90s and the Reality TV team in the 2000s, and now in 2020, we have New Warriors who have never grown up without the Internet, and one character who appears to essentially live inside it.”
He continued in the video, “The artist on New Warriors #1 is Luciano Vecchio. He designed all of the new New Warriors and gave them costumes that felt as modern as the New Warriors costumes feel classic and instantly familiar.”
Kibblesmith then breaks down each of these new New Warriors.
Trailblazer
“So the first character that we are introduced to is Trailblazer. She’s a group home and foster kid who is volunteering at a senior center when this mysterious threat shows up and Night Thrasher runs to the rescue. And because she helps him, she ends up in the crosshairs of this new Outlawed law. And she inherited from her grandfather a magic backpack of divine origin.”
Kibblesmith then details why they chose the name Trailblazer.
“We picked the name Trailblazer because she’s somebody who charges into action. She knows that she can do some good with this mysterious gift she’s been given.”
Screentime
He then introduces Screentime.
“Screentime is an internet kid taken to its sort of logical conclusion. As a youth he was exposed to his grandfather’s experimental internet gas, and that has patched him permanently into the world wide web.”
He adds, “The word Screentime is only sort of used in a restrictive sense. And because we are doing a story about teenage rebels a lot of the names are about teens fighting against labels that are put on them. So with Screentime we liked the idea that he has infinite screen time.”
Snowflake and Safespace
He then introduces Snowflake and Safespace, who are twins.
“Snowflake and Safespace are the twins. And their names are very similar to Screentime. It’s this idea that these are terms that get thrown around on the internet that they don’t see as derogatory. To take those words and kind of wear them as badges of honor.”
Kibblesmith then explains Safespace:
“Safespace is kind of a big, burly sort of stereotypical jock. He can create force fields, but he can only trigger them if he is protecting somebody else.”
As for Snowflake, Kibblesmith explains, “Snowflake is non-binary and goes by they/them. Snowflake has the power to generate individual crystallized snowflake-shaped shurikens. The connotations of the word snowflake in our culture right now are something fragile. And this is a character who is turning it into something sharp. Snowflake is the person who has the more offensive power and Safespace is the person who has the more defensive power. The idea is that they would mirror each other and complement each other.”
B-Negative
Finally, Kibblesmith introduces B-Negative.
“B-Negative is the goth kid. When he was a baby, he got a rogue life-saving blood transfusion, we assume from Michael Morbius. And now he has a very similar look and very similar vampire powers.”
He adds, “B-Negative also is obviously a pun. It’s a blood type which is great for a vampire character. And it’s also proud ownership of having a bad attitude.”
Kibblesmith concludes:
“I want the people who read our New Warriors to feel all of the excitement they felt if they read the ’90s one. We want it to have big colorful characters, personality clashes, romance, a diverse cast, which is something the New Warriors titles have always strived to make a priority. Every New Warriors comic has always felt like a reflection of the year that it came out. And I don’t think we are worried about being dated. I think we are way more interested in being now.”