After being closed by Disney and revived by Netflix, the animated film adaptation by ND Stevenson Webcomic turned graphic novel Nimona is available to stream now – and fans of the comic will immediately notice the difference in story and tone. You’ll also notice that a new backstory has been added, in a story arc that Stevenson says dates back to the comic’s creation in 2012.
“There’s one thing I really liked to see in the film, because it was the seed of an idea I had with the comic that didn’t really fit into the comic itself,” says Stevenson. “This is the story of Gloreth and her backstory with Nimona.”
In the comic version of NimonaGloreth is a legendary character who has battled a terrifying monster, and when the shape-shifting, anarchic monster-girl Nimona (crucial voice of Chloë Grace Moretz) emerges and teams up with the disgraced knight and supervillain Ballister Blackheart (Boldheart), Ballister looks back on this story back and tries to understand what Nimona is. In the film version, Gloreth seems much larger – literally, given her gigantic statue in the center of Ballister’s hometown. All of Ballister’s society is based on Gloreth’s story as a knight and monster hunter. But flashbacks reveal a different truth while also giving Nimona a much more concrete backstory than in the book, particularly as it relates to Gloreth.
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Image: Netflix
“[That backstory] was something I was thinking about for the comic, so I talked to the filmmakers about it,” says Stevenson. “It was really amazing to see it unfold in the film in such a beautiful way. I love to see how different nuances of this story, which I know very, very well, expand in different directions and evolve into something new.”
When asked about the changes to his original story that would have surprised him in the film, Stevenson pointed to the film’s action climax, in which Nimona gives in to despair and rises as a giant, seething monster.
“I really love the last act, that Nimona killing spree,” says Stevenson. “It was something I really wanted to see, but I wasn’t sure if we were going to do it because it’s difficult to get it right. She becomes the monster everyone thought she was and it’s hard to watch. I was really curious how they would pull that off because the book is pretty dark.”
After all, while Nimona It was an extremely personal story for Stevenson, he endorses the way the story unfolded in its animated form. “[The filmmakers] “I found something so beautiful – they really put their loneliness, their grief and their betrayal in the spotlight and made it so touching,” he says. “It’s family friendly, but their emotions are the focus and it’s like expressing their powers makes their emotions real. I was just so happy to see that portrayed and so pleased with the angle they put into this story.”
