Warrior Nun is a Netflix fantasy series with lots of action and drama. Oh, and also a whole lot of sassy one-liners from our lead character. She’s played perfectly by Alba Baptista, who leads as Ava.

Ava is the dead orphan who turns into a warrior nun. Yes, you read that right!

This new Netflix series is based on a comic book and has the vibe to match this origin. I was an immediate fan, but it might not be for everyone. For me, the character of Ava should be enough to give this one a chance.

A fantasy series with the female gaze

Since Warrior Nun has a lot of female characters (including the title character), it makes sense that most episodes are directed by women. I’ll get back to that in the final segment of this review. My point is simply that, yes, it does show. You can actually tell, that this Netflix series has the female gaze even though the creator is a man, so it does matter.

In case anyone was still wondering after watching Wonder Woman in Justice League versus Wonder Woman or Captain Marvel in Avengers: End Game versus Captain Marvel. It really does make a big difference and the Warrior Nun, Ava, is definitely all about being an empowered young woman – in every sense of the word.

Sure, there are moments that may divert a bit from the female gaze focus, but not nearly as much as in most other series!


Also, there are all kinds of women in this series. Both heroes and villains. And also of most races, since the nuns in this order are from all over the world. We also get some backstory to most of them and often their pasts seem to haunt them a bit.

As part of this crew of Warrior Nuns, they find both purpose and a home with a family. It’s a key part of this story and one that Ava (Alba Baptista) struggles with at first since she is an orphan. Still, despite growing up under less than ideal circumstances – to put it mildly – she’s very positive and tries to do the right thing.

Most of the time, anyway! I mean, her experience with nuns is less than ideal, to begin with. You’ll know what I mean from the first episode of this new Netflix series.


Alba Baptista is the Warrior Nun

In every way, Alba Baptista is the Warrior Nun. Both because she is absolutely the key character in this Netflix series and because she plays the Warrior Nun. I want to say that she’s the “would-be” Warrior Nun, but she really does not want to become this person and struggles with it a lot at first.

Also, for the record, while I don’t want to spoil anything, I can say that Ava (Alba Baptista) doesn’t actually meet the nuns until after a while. Longer than I expected from watching the trailer, anyway.

Overall, there are many wonderful characters and actors in this Netflix fantasy series, but I do want to focus on Alba Baptista. This series simply would not work at all without her portrayal of Ava. She’s both likable and a bit of a brat at times. But honestly, you can’t really blame her when you know her story. I’m certainly rooting for her from the start!

Also, she’s strangely familiar to me from the very beginning. Despite the fact that I don’t believe I’ve ever seen her in anything prior to this. I’ve come to realize it’s because she looks and acts like a hybrid between Ellen Page (X-Men, The Umbrella Academy) and Britt Robertson (Under the Dome, Tomorrowland). It’s almost uncanny, but it works perfectly for her!
 
Watch Warrior Nun season 1 on Netflix



Warrior Nun was created by Simon Barry and is the fourth series he has been a creator on. The first was Continuum (2012-2015), which was followed by Bad Blood (2017-) co-created with Michael Konyves. Finally, there was the fantasy-horror series Ghost Wars on SyFy before he turned his attention to Warrior Nun.

There are five directors attached to season 1 of Warrior Nun and they’ve each directed two episodes. These five directors are Jet Wilkinson, Mathias Herndl, Agnieszka Smoczynska, Sarah Walker, and creator Simon Barry himself.

Jet Wilkinson is an obvious choice with a lot of comic book experience after she directed episodes of Jessica Jones, The Punisher, and Daredevil. Mathias Herndl has directed on the Netflix fantasy series The Order and on The Twilight Zone reboot by Jordan Peele.

Agnieszka Smoczynska is an up-and-coming Polish director who already has a lot of productions under her belt. Finally, Sarah Walker has directed on the fantasy series Wolfblood (2012-2017) and, more recently, on season 1 of A Discovery of Witches (2018-).

If you like Netflix series such as Jessica Jones or The Umbrella Academy, then Warrior Nun is definitely worth checking out. It has both humor, action, and a lot of seriously creepy demon creatures!

Season 1 of Warrior Nun is out on Netflix worldwide from July 2, 2020.

Details
Creator/Showrunner: Simon Barr
Stars: Alba Baptista (Ava), Tristán Ulloa (Father Vincent), Kristina Tonteri-Young (Sister Beatrice), Lorena Andrea (Sister Lilith), Toya Turner (Shotgun Mary), Thekla Reuten (Jillian Salvius), Sylvia De Fanti (Mother Superion), Emilio Sakraya (J.C.), Olivia Delcán (Sister Camila), Joaquim De Almeida (Cardinal Duretti), May Simón Lifschitz (Chanel), Dimitri Abold (Randall), Charlotte Vega (Zori)

Plot

Inspired by the Manga novels, 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 that has been tasked with fighting demons on Earth, and powerful forces representing both heaven and hell want to find and control her.