This week, season 2 of Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur will kick off on Disney Channel — with the episodes also available on Disney+. To mark the occasion, we had a chance to chat with the show’s executive producer Steve Loter as well as co-executive producer Rodney Clouden about what’s new in season 2, what they hope fans take away from the series, and more.
Laughing Place: The last time we talked was before you won the Emmy. What's it like to see Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur recognized in that way?
Steve Loter: It's an incredible feeling. I mean, to be recognized by your peers is a tremendous thing. Just the fan outpouring of love for the show has been incredible. This year has been, well, 2023 last year has been an incredible ride as we're going into season two in 2024.
LP: Speaking of season two, we left last year on a bit of a cliffhanger. I think it's safe to say Moon Girl will still be part of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. But what's it like to have that massive change in the character? She has a new dynamic with her grandmother now that they both have shared their secrets with each other. How does that play into the arc of the next season?
Rodney Clouden: Well, it's going to play a big role in terms of just what she went through, but also now she has an outlet with Mimi that they're both carrying the secret. The superhero life and the personal life collides with each other, and it's about what are we going to do? Are we going to tell our families? How do we tell our families? Is it important to tell our families? What are the repercussions of that kind of thing?
Lunella being a 13-year-old girl with that weight of that big decision, and to have somebody like Mimi who is also very similar to her, it's kind of helpful to have that sounding board.
LP: In the first season, while she had her challenges, Lunella was very confident in her Moon Girl magic and everything would get wrapped up and it might be an adventure, but she'd be able to take care of it. Having gone through the experience she's gone through, she seems to be a little less certain that everything's going to be okay as we get into season two. She still obviously still has her brilliance, she still has her wits about her, but she's just a little rattled, and it's neat to see that new dynamic. What went into your decision to kind of really challenge her in a bit of a more dramatic way in season two?
SL: Well, season one was Luella becoming Moon Girl, season two is her being Moon Girl. So that carries a whole new level of stressors for the fact that now that she's well-known, villains are leveling up against her, maybe to make a name for themselves. The secret that she is hiding from her family about being Moon Girl is becoming more and more difficult to do.
Everything is starting to ratchet up, and in my mind, with season one, you're now become familiar with the character. So in season two, you can bring your protagonist through a deeper, more meaningful journey because you're already familiar with what you think that character's reaction is going to be. And then you could take that character on a ride.
I always feel like what we're doing, we're doing for family entertainment. It's something that is great for kids, absolutely, it's our primary audience, but that parents can enjoy with the kids. It's not disposable entertainment. It has some weight and some value, and it also has a ton of comedy and heart and just really incredible music at the same time.
RC: Yeah. It's important, I think, to show that superheroing is not all fun and games. The weight of being a teenage girl is also the big crux of the story because she's a 13-year-old girl who happens to be a superhero. We wanted to approach things like topics like mental health or anxiety or toxic expectations that you place on yourself or other people place on you.
One episode is about a teacher that has very high expectations for Luella and she's trying to meet them and how that affects her. We wanted to approach these topics that even Luella, who is super smart, is a superhero, goes through these kind of situations too. We want to approach it also in a unique way that's an approachable way and relatable way that everybody, and especially the kids that are watching this show, can understand and empathize with.
LP: You continue the great trend from season one of having great guest stars, including some recurring guest stars. For example, Laurence Fishburne is back as the Beyonder and plays a great role in the season premiere. What's it been like to work with this amazing group of talented folks that want to be part of the Moon Girl universe?
SL: Well, it's absolutely incredible, and a lot of people are coming onto this show because they love the message, they love the show. So yeah, it's been incredible. We have a ton of amazing guest cast. We have a couple of surprises coming up of names we haven't announced.
But it's been amazing because everybody comes with this level of enthusiasm. They want to know about their characters ahead of time. They want to have a conversation and say, "Hey, can I try this? I feel like the character would be thinking like that." So for them, it's not just the job, it's more than that, which I absolutely love.
And you see that work reflected on the screen. Their performances are absolutely incredible. I think also the Beyonder, Laurence Fishburne's character as the Beyonder, is just so out there and just so much fun that everyone sees that and says, "I want to do a little of that."
LP: I've already had music from season two stuck in my head. How important has music been to telling this story?
RC: Well, in terms of telling the story, it's like with anything, if you put some music, it sets the tone for a scene. Raphael Saadiq is just an amazing composer. He set the score and the songs for the mix tapes and things like that.
He really looks at the scene, reads the script, and we have discussions about it. And then he goes into his lab and then he cooks up some kind of amazing formula and comes up with anything that really fits the tone of the scene. It's a pretty easy process for us, so we're pretty spoiled in that aspect of it.
LP: One of my favorite things about the show is you never know what you're going to get. It's never heavy-handed and trying to convey a message or anything. It's still a lot of fun. But through the journey you learn lessons like you would through any journey.
But how do you come up with so many quality ideas? I mean, some of these episodes could be a season long arc on their own. You told a complete full story. Your writing team is just unbelievable. How easy is it to come up with all these different ideas? What is the pitch sort of process in that you were able to come up with so many great ideas?
SL: Well, our writer's room is incredible. It's made up of all female writers led by Kate Kondell and Halima Lucas. Pretty much we have the structure of almost the primetime TV series where we think of the bigger broader season arc first. Usually that ends up being bookends for the series in a way where it's kind of like your first pays off to your last, but it's building and it ebbs and flows depending on your episodes.
But also we wanted to treat each episode like a movie and do different genres. Try this, let's try that. Let's take this to a place. I know there was a number of ideas and stories that we didn't do because they felt too similar to something we've already done.
We were definitely conscious going in that we wanted to do something where each episode felt like almost like if you would go to a record store and you'd pull a different record out of each different bin. Oh, here's rock, here's pop, here's R&B, here's jazz. I mean musically we go there, but I think even spiritually, and in just the tone of the episode we go there. Each episode is that unique.
RC: Also our writing staff is mostly mainly women. And they also draw from their experiences growing up as little girls. And so that also influences some storylines also.
LP: We get to meet Mimi's friends from college. What was so neat about that is you see a complete lack of a generational divide in it. And you see their version of Moon Girl magic, and then you see Lunella's version of Moon Girl magic and how they can learn from each other.
I think a lot of times in children's television, old people are kind of goofy, silly, and play for comedic effect. In this one, even the characters that don't know the Secret are still totally relatable as adults and you really flesh them out. It's not just Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur's characters, but the whole supporting cast. It seems like you put a lot of attention into those supporting cast, if I'm not mistaken. What's your thought?
RC: Definitely. I have an 11-year-old son and he understands tropes and he understands… What did he call it? Script armor. He's saying these terms. The sophistication of a kid, a viewer, television viewer is pretty high. And we have respect for our viewers, our audience. We're approaching it as a story like, what will we enjoy? We're not trying to water it down too much where it's just like the tropes are tropey and you're going to just kind of be bored of it.
There's a fine balance that we try to find when we were doing these stories, and the character development is very important because in the long run, those characters have to be relatable and people have to like them or not like them depending on what their situation is in the story. The approach is something that we do it as a respect for the audience.
LP: Just to wrap up, there's a lot of fans. You can go to Disneyland and see. The show has spoken to a lot of people. What do you hope they take away from season two?
SL: Well, I hope they enjoy it, first off. It's a season long story. I mean, I will say there's elements of serialization, there's definitely elements of standalone episode, but it's very rewarding to see the 14 episodes that's dropping on Disney+ on February 3rd.
But I think that one of those things where we're just excited to bring Lunella Lafayette to the screen. It's a character that we've needed for a very long time. And it's just been an absolute joy to delve into the world of Marvel for this show.
LP: Well, thank you so much. You guys have always been so gracious with your time as we've been on this journey together, and we can't wait to catch the rest of the episodes as they drop on Disney+ and Disney Channel.