The most tragic loss of the Marvel Universe didn’t happen in Avengers: Infinity War or Endgame, it happened when the studio promised us Milana Vayntrub as Squirrel Girl and didn’t deliver. Vayntrub, whose most visible role remains Lily in the AT&T phone ads, was announced to be filling the role of Doreen Green back in 2017…and we really couldn’t think of more perfect casting for that part.
The live-action Squirrel Girl was going to make her premiere in a Marvel TV series called The New Warriors, which would have shown up someplace like Freeform. But as you know, Marvel’s TV division went through heavy restructuring just a few short months later and completely shifted strategies, focusing on big-budget Disney+ mini-shows that were directly connected to the films.
There was no room for Squirrel Girl anymore. All we have of what could have been is this leaked photo:
Thing is, it’s not like Vayntrub NEVER got to play the character — she’s just had to do it in very small-time, almost nonexistent roles. A series of web shorts called Marvel Rising was released the following year that featured Vayntrub as the voice of Doreen, and now we’re hearing (quite literally) her voice in a new podcast, Marvel’s Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show.
Squirrel Girl has taken down Thanos and Doctor Doom — but now she faces something far more terrifying… living authentically. The new series follows Empire State University college student, Doreen Green, who has recently been outed as a super hero — The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl! Hoping to unify her personas in the public eye, Squirrel Girl has created a new student radio show on ESU’s own college station. With the help of her best girl-friend, Nancy Whitehead as producer, and her best squirrel-friend, Tippy-Toe in the booth; Doreen is ready to help more people than ever with her greatest super hero advice. And when the going get rough, she can always lean on her heroic friends: Iron Man, Spider-Man, Chipmunk Hunk, Koi Boi and Brain Drain.
However, with a call-in show comes caller anonymity and not all the folks on the line want help – some want to crime – and crime hard! When a suspicious caller wreaks havoc on New York City, Squirrel Girl and her friends will have to put their heroics to the test and prove that once and for all Doreen Green is the unbeatable Squirrel Girl.
The nice thing about this is that it not only stars Vayntrub but is written by Ryan North, who together with Erica Henderson created a hit Squirrel Girl comic book in 2014 that lasted fifty unbroken, un-rebooted issues (a real sign of success at Marvel Comics these days). Also, you could be in the show if you’re lucky: a call-in number is posted on the official site, where you can leave a message for Doreen.
The first episode of Marvel’s Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show can be heard now for free; the others will be released in the coming weeks and require a $4 subscription fee, though there is a one-week free trial.
But where’s her Disney+ show? Where’s her dramatic MCU entrance? Vayntrub isn’t getting any younger, fellas!
