Warrior Nun

This page is the Netflix series Warrior Nun. If you're looking for the titular character, see The Warrior Nun.

Warrior Nun is an American fantasy drama television series, based on the eponymous comic series named Warrior Nun Areala by Ben Dunn, that premiered on Netflix on July 2, 2020.

On August 19, 2020 the series was renewed for a second season by Netflix.^[1]^[2] The season was released on November 10, 2022.

On December 13, 2022, it was announced that Netflix has opted not to order a third season of Warrior Nun, ending the program after two seasons.^[3] Following the cancellation, showrunner Simon Barry indicated the possibility of shopping the show to other streaming services or networks.^[4] On June 28, 2023, it was announced by Barry that the series had been saved following a massive fan campaign, with more details to come shortly.^[5] Following this, Barry tweeted a link to a website "Warrior Nun Saved," with a countdown counter promising information on the program's return on August 15, 2023, with an option to sign up for e-mail updates.^[6] The site was revealed on the third anniversary of the show's original premiere.

Warrior_Nun_Saved_August_15_Announcement — Warrior Nun Saved August 15 Announcement

On August 15, 2023, an announcement was posted on the site by executive producer Dean English that the property is slated to return as "a trilogy of motion pictures." No other firm details were immediately available due to the ongoing writer/director and actor strikes, but he stated that the answer to the question of "Does this perhaps infer that there's going to be a universe being launched of Warrior Nun, which could expand into films and TV series following characters that we already know?" was "Yes." A video of English reading off the exact statement posted on the site was also made available on YouTube.

Synopsis[]

Warrior Nun revolves around a 19 year-old woman who wakes up in a morgue with a new lease on life and a divine artifact embedded in her back. She discovers she is now part of an ancient order named The Order of the Cruciform Sword that has been tasked with fighting demons on Earth, and powerful forces representing both heaven and hell want to find and control her."^[7]

Credits[]

Cast and characters[]

Alba Baptista as Ava Silva
Tristán Ulloa as Father Vincent
Kristina Tonteri-Young as Sister Beatrice
Lorena Andrea as Sister Lilith
Toya Turner as Shotgun Mary
Thekla Reuten as Jillian Salvius
Sylvia De Fanti as Mother Superion
Emilio Sakraya as J.C.
Olivia Delcán as Sister Camila
Joaquim De Almeida as Cardinal Duretti
May Simón Lifschitz as Chanel
Dimitri Abold as Randall
Charlotte Vega as Zori

Crew[]

Simon Barry (Creator / Writer / Showrunner / Executive Producer)
Terri Hughes Burton (Co-Executive Producer)
Stephen Hegyes (Executive Producer)
Jet Wilkinson (Executive Producer)
Amy Berg (Consulting Producer)

Development[]

On September 28, 2018, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. Simon Barry was set to serve as showrunner for the series. Barry is also credited as an executive producer alongside Stephen Hegyes with Terri Hughes Burton serving as an co-executive producer for the series. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Fresco Film Services and Reality Distortion Field.
Although the original comic on which the series is based was set in New York, the Warrior Nun television series is set in Spain. This decision was made by showrunner Simon Barry, who desired to feature the European setting because of its rich religious architecture and history. It was felt that the series needed a "sense of Christian history because we were tying in the origins of the halo to the Crusades."^[8]
Prior to the release of the Warrior Nun television series, an opening was created by Ben Dunn for an animated pilot of a series based on Warrior Nun Areala. Although interest was shown, the animation was never picked up. The opening can be viewed on YouTube. Additionally, a feature film was considered, but placed on hold following the WGA writers strike.

Reception[]

The series' first season holds a 74% fresh rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. The site's Critic's Consensus for the series states that "Though Warrior Nun's heavy handed set-up weighs it down, committed performances and excellent fight choreography may be enough for those looking for more pulp with their pulpit."^[9] The second season currently holds a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though with only nine reviews. However, fan response has been nearly universally positive, with over 4700 user ratings and an overall fresh rating of 99%.^[10]

Fan efforts[]

Following the cancellation of the program after its second season, fans of the series began a vigorous campaign to save the series, either by getting Netflix to reverse their decision and renew the program for a third season, or to get another streaming service or network to pick up the program. Fans began flooding Netflix's social media feeds with the hashtags #savewarriornun and later #NETFLIX CORRECT YOUR MISTAKE. ^[11] On January 21, 2023, it was reported that fans had succeeding in securing a billboard directly across from Netflix's corporate office in Los Angeles. The billboard depicts Ava Silva with the Halo on her back bearing a "3" for the desired third season of the show. It reads "#SAVE WARRIOR NUN" and states that it was paid for Sarah B. and Warrior Nun fans across the globe.^[12]

Warrior Nun Saved[]

As of June 28th, 2023, Simon Barry (the showrunner) announced through Twitter that, thanks to all the fan efforts, Warrior Nun will be returning. The announcement comes after reaching 15 million #SaveWarriorNun tweets on Twitter. This goal was set by a fan who asked Simon if they reached this milestone of 15 million tweets, could the Warrior Nun fandom receive an update? After reaching the goal, Simon quickly responded by posting a GIF of a sunrise, which is the opposite of the sunset he posted when the show was initially announced to be canceled. Later, he announced in a tweet, saying, "#WarriorNun will return and is going to be more EPIC than you could imagine."

The successful campaign of #SaveWarriorNun has undoubtedly laid the foundation for future campaigns and has proven to be extremely successful. The campaign continues as #WarriorNunSaved, and the fandom eagerly awaits more details. On August 15, 2023, it was announced by executive producer Dean English that the franchise would return as a trilogy of feature films, though no further no details were immediately available.

Trivia[]

The title of each episode is a passage from the Bible that references the general theme of the episode.
In addition to Baptista, Kristina Tonteri-Young, Lorena Andrea, Toya Turner and Olivia Delcán reprised their roles in the second season.^[2] Toya Turner was additionally set to reprise her role as Shotgun Mary, but was forced to exit from the series for personal reasons, necessitating the rewriting of some scenes to account for her absence.^[13]
Barry executive produces with Stephen Hegyes, Amy Berg is consulting producer and Terri Hughes Burton is co-executive producer on the first season and second season.^[2]