Amazon Prime Video is developing an animated series based on Monstress, the comic book series created by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda. According to Variety, Steven Maeda (co-creator and former showrunner of Netflix’s One Piece adaptation) will serve as the showrunner for the project.
Monstress is set in a matriarchal society and follows the protagonist, Maika Halfwolf, through a high-fantasy environment. The series pitch says, “Set in an Asian-inspired fantasy world, Monstress tells the story of a young woman with a literal monster living inside of her. On a quest to understand her past and avenge her mother’s murder, she’s joined by a colorful ensemble including a talking cat and a hybrid fox/human girl as they’re thrown in the middle of a war between human and otherworldly forces.”
Takeda, who has won multiple Eisner and Hugo awards for her artwork on the series, designs characters by focusing on their internal identity rather than conventional aesthetics. She told Sktchd: “When I portray characters, I do not really try to make them look nice, beautiful or robust or look like some figures because doing so can make them look unnatural or ugly. Instead, I try to imagine thoroughly what his or her character or inner person is like.”
Liu and Takeda will serve as executive producers on the series. The Monstress comic book series is still ongoing, and in 2025, the creators published volume 3 of their horror graphic novel series The Night Eaters.
Monstress Volume 1: Awakening
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The Night Eaters #1: She Eats the Night
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