Naomi (TV series)

Naomi
Genre	Drama Superhero
Created by	Ava DuVernay & Jill Blankenship
Based on	Characters created for DC by Brian Bendis, Jamal Campbell, and David F. Walker
Starring	Kaci Walfall Cranston Johnson Alexander Wraith Mary-Charles Jones Mouzam Makkar Daniel Puig Camila Moreno Will Meyers Aidan Gemme Barry Watson
Music by	Amanda Jones
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	7
Production
Executive producers	Jill Blankenship Paul Garnes Ava DuVernay
Producers	Brian Bendis Nellie Nugiel Moe Bardach
Cinematography	Matthew Lloyd Cliff Charles
Editors	Gina Hirsch John Reyes-Nguyen Peter Basinski Martin Wilson Melissa Gearhart Jennifer Van Goethem Dan Downer
Production companies	ARRAY Filmworks DC Entertainment Warner Bros. Television
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network	The CW
Original release	January 11, 2022 (2022-01-11) – present (present)
External links
Website
Production website

Naomi is an American superhero drama television series created by Ava DuVernay and Jill Blankenship which is based on the comic book series of the same name co-written by Brian Michael Bendis and David F. Walker and illustrated by Jamal Campbell.^[1] It premiered on The CW on January 11, 2022.^[2]

Plot[]

Naomi McDuffie is a comic book-loving teenager and the host of a Superman fan website. After a supernatural event occurs in Port Oswego, Oregon, Naomi sets out to determine its origins with help from her best friend, her supporting adoptive parents, and a tattoo shop owner with a secret origin.

Cast and characters[]

Main[]

• Kaci Walfall as Naomi McDuffie,^[3] an intelligent, confident comic book-loving teenager who discovers she has powers
• Cranston Johnson as Zumbado, the owner of a local car lot with a hidden agenda
• Alexander Wraith as Dee, a local tattoo store owner who is a Thanagarian and serves as Naomi's mentor
• Mary-Charles Jones as Annabelle, Naomi's loyal best friend
• Mouzam Makkar as Jennifer McDuffie,^[3] Naomi's adoptive mother who is a linguist
• Daniel Puig as Nathan, a jock who is Naomi's boyfriend
• Camila Moreno as Lourdes, a young woman and comic book enthusiast with a sarcastic sense of humor who works in a vintage collectibles shop
• Will Meyers as Anthony, a townie in Port Oswego who is Naomi's friend but has a crush on her
• Aidan Gemme as Jacob, Annabelle's loyal boyfriend and an UFO enthusiast
• Barry Watson as Greg McDuffie,^[3] Naomi's adoptive father and an active duty military officer

Recurring[]

• Stephanie March as Akira

Guest[]

• Chase Anderson as Adam Blake

Episodes[]

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date [4]	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"Don't Believe Everything You Think"	Amanda Marsalis	Teleplay by : Ava DuVernay & Jill Blankenship	January 11, 2022 (2022-01-11)	0.80[5]
In Port Oswego, Oregon, Superman fan site host Naomi McDuffie gets a text from her best friend Annabelle informing her something related to Superman is happening. Naomi passes out on her way to see the event. When she comes to, she learns she missed an apparent battle between Superman and a blue-skinned villain. After reviewing security footage, she sees Superman and also seems to recognize Dee, a tattoo artist. When confronted by Naomi and Annabelle, Dee confesses to staging the event for publicity. At a debate, Naomi passes out again and is told she had a panic attack. She notices a military man with a note regarding a "SUPERMAN ROCKET" in the woods. Naomi goes and finds a disc with alien writing on it before being confronted by Zumbado, a local car dealership owner, who tells her they are both "different". Leaves begin to swirl around Naomi and she runs away, leaving the disc behind. Later, she and her friends break into Zumbado's dealership and find a newspaper describing a UFO sighting on March 14, 2004, the same day Naomi was adopted. Naomi confronts Dee, who he reveals himself to be a Thanagarian.
2	"Unidentified Flying Object"	DeMane Davis	Jill Blankenship	January 18, 2022 (2022-01-18)	0.73[6]
Dee tells Naomi that she herself is an alien. The next day he tries to get her to jump off a bridge to activate her hidden powers, but Naomi refuses. Later, in a forest, she discovers that she has super-hearing. While investigating the crash site of a UFO in 2004, Naomi and her friends are surprised by Zumbado. She attempts to use her powers to ward him off, but he reveals he also has powers and scares her away. Naomi returns to Dee, who offers to teach her how to use her powers.
3	"Zero to Sixty"	Sheldon Candis	Oscar Balderrama	January 25, 2022 (2022-01-25)	0.59[7]
Catching her parents watching a video of her as a young child, Naomi begins questioning where she really wants to go to college. Meanwhile, Zumbado approaches an old former colleague of his, Akira, who's wanting him to leave her out of his misguided ways, as it's revealed that it's his fault that he caused the meteor shower in the first place, as Dee begins training Naomi to use her powers responsibly, all while Naomi and Annabelle seek to get the disc back from Zumbado, and with help from Nathan, Jacob, Anthony and Lourdes, try to find out its origin.
4	"Enigma"	Neema Barnette	Stephanie Coggins	February 1, 2022 (2022-02-01)	0.51[8]
Flashbacks reveal how Naomi was found by Greg and Jennifer. As Naomi deals with learning that she's an alien, just like Superman, she also deals with the school pressuring her to be the school's new class president. Meanwhile, Dee continues to train Naomi, but Naomi is struggling to control her emotions during training. Naomi later confronts Zumbado, wanting the disc back, yet Zumbado gives her the disc without starting a fight, with him saying to not believe everything that she thinks. Even Naomi confronts Akira and finds out more about Earth-29, the earth where she came from. Later, she, Annabelle and Jacob try deciphering the code off the disc. Meanwhile, Greg and his general begin discovering that someone has appeared through a portal, that person being a bounty hunter, out to hunt Naomi and bring her back to his earth. Luckily, Dee saves her at the last minute. In the end, Naomi finally finds out what she wants in life, as she runs for class president and rekindles her relationship with Nathan.
5	"Shadow Ridge"	Stephanie Turner	Jason Ganzel	February 22, 2022 (2022-02-22)	0.48[9]
This episode's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (March 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) A flashback reveals a glimpse of how happy Naomi and Nathan were together. In the present, Naomi is training with Dee to fight or face her emotions, with her doing well in her first meditation. But she's still dealing with her fears of dying at the hands of the bounty hunter, if Dee never showed up. Meanwhile, Naomi, Annabelle, Nathan, Anthony and the rest of the school take a trip to Camp Shadow Ridge to become the leaders of tomorrow, and learn of a mysterious thing haunting the campgrounds. Later, Jennifer and Greg speak with Greg's general about an artifact that resembles Naomi's logo. Naomi and Nathan later meet up, only to see Anthony pass out right in front of them. Later, Naomi visits Anthony in the ER and she learns that Anthony snuck out to see something, only to hear someone and saw rocks that were glowing. Later, Naomi, Annabelle, Anthony, and Nathan ask questions about what is going on in the woods, but Naomi and Anthony find out that the person behind everything is Counselor Jeff. During the episode, Jennifer and Greg later try to erase all evidence to protect Naomi, while Dee and Zumbado reluctantly team up to stop the bounty hunter and in doing so, Dee learns that his former lover was on the hunter's list.
6	"Homecoming"	Kent Faulcon	Stacy A. Littlejohn	March 1, 2022 (2022-03-01)	0.48[10]
This episode's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (March 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) While skateboarding in the park, Naomi, Jennifer and Greg grab a churro to celebrate her session, until she sees that Zumbado is also in the park. Later, Naomi and Annabelle throw their first order of Homecoming committee business, though Esme, Anthony and Nathan get into an argument. Meanwhile, Naomi tries to figure out what Zumbado is hiding, as she and Dee continue training, until Dee reveals he needs to find his former lover, Qyeala, who he believes may still be alive. Later, Naomi struggles to find out what she truly wants to have in her relationship with Nathan, now that they're back together. Naomi and Annabelle later return to the building from Episode 2 to find the markings, only to find a secret room where she finds her spaceship that she came to Earth in, thanks to her new power of x-ray vision. Nathan and Anthony later get in detention after a fight ensues between them, and Anthony believes that Nathan isn't good enough for Naomi, but the two later patch up their differences to find out who damaged Anthony's architecture project, who's revealed to be Esme. In the end, realizing that her father demands much out of her, the two settle the dispute by buying one of her pies. Later, Naomi meets Dr. Bell who she believes can help her, and goes to S.T.A.R. Labs, only to realize that she wants her powers for her own purposes, leaving Zumbado to rescue her.
7	"I Am Not a Used Car Salesman"	Lisa France	Jill Blankenship	March 8, 2022 (2022-03-08)	0.43[11]
8	"Fellowship of the Disc"[12]	DeMane Davis	Gussie Roc	March 22, 2022 (2022-03-22)	TBD
9	"Keep Your Friends Close"[13]	Charles Stone III	Rebecca Bellotto	March 29, 2022 (2022-03-29)	TBD

Production[]

Development[]

On December 4, 2020, it was reported that Ava DuVernay and Jill Blankenship are developing a series for The CW based on the comic book series Naomi, co-written by Brian Bendis and David F. Walker and illustrated by Jamal Campbell.^[14] On February 9, 2021, The CW gave the production a pilot order.^[15] On May 24, 2021, Naomi was picked up to series. The series is created by DuVernay and Jill Blankenship who are expected to executive produce alongside Sarah Bremner and Paul Garnes.^[1] The pilot is written by DuVernay and directed by Amanda Marsalis. The production companies involved with the series are Array Filmworks and Warner Bros. Television.^[16] The series premiered on January 11, 2022.^[2]

Casting[]

In March 2021, Kaci Walfall was cast in the titular role while Alexander Wraith, Cranston Johnson, Camila Moreno, Barry Watson, Mouzam Makkar, Mary-Charles Jones, Aidan Gemme, Daniel Puig and Will Meyers were also tapped as series regulars.^[17][18] In December 2021, Stephanie March joined the cast in a guest starring role..^[19] In January 2022, Chase Anderson was cast in a undisclosed capacity.^[20]

Filming[]

Principal photography for the series began on August 23, 2021, in Georgia.^[21][22] Cliff Charles is a cinematographer while DeMane Davis is a director for the series.^[23]

International release[]

In Latin America, Naomi premiered on HBO Max on January 27, 2022.^[24] In Scandinavia, it premiered on HBO Max on February 3, 2022.^[25]

Reception[]

Critical response[]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 90% approval rating with an average rating of 7/10, based on 25 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Kaci Walfall proves a plucky enough heroine to give the deliberately-paced Naomi its own super-powered charm."^[26] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[27]

Ratings[]

According to Samba TV, 313,000 U.S. households streamed the premiere on the first day of availability.^[28]

References[]