Recent transphobic comments made by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling on Twitter resulted in a swell of support for K.A. Applegate's Animorphs. Animorphs is a progressive young-adult book series from the '90s that fans are recommending in place of the controversial author's popular series.
K.A. Applegate (married writing duo Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant) released the first book in the Animorphs Scholastic series in 1996. That led to over 60 additional books over five years, which featured a darkly realistic look at a group of super-powered teens who dealt with an alien invasion. Because the series focused on real-world themes in a much more progressive way than Rowling's Harry Potter series, fans have reasoned Animorphs is a good alternative for those appalled by Rowling's attitudes.
The initial run of Animorphs books proved so popular that a live-action Canadian TV series was developed, with Shawn Ashmore (who would go on to play Iceman in the X-Men cinematic franchise) in the starring role of Jake, leader of the group of teens who would become known as the Animorphs. The series began airing in 1998 on Nickelodeon in the U.S. and YTV in Canada and lasted for a total of 26 episodes over two seasons. The show covered the first few books in the series with other original episodes worked in, leaving many of the books unadapted.
Animorphs followed Jake and his friends Marco, Cassie, Rachel and Tobias after they encounter a dying alien Andalite named Elfangor. Elfangor grants them the ability to acquire the DNA of an organic being, which they could then use to transform or morph into that being at any time. This power was given to them so they would have a defense against an invasion that had already begun on their planet by a conquering alien race known as Yeerks. The Yeerks were parasitic slugs that entered their hosts through the ear canal, allowing them to take control of their hosts' brains and enslave them.
The leader of the Yeerk invasion on Earth was a Yeerk-Controller named Visser Three, the only Yeerk to ever successfully take over an Andalite body. Visser Three worked alongside other Yeerk-controlled humans like Jake's brother Tom, the school principal and many others. That quickly isolated the Animorphs and they learned they couldn't trust anyone but each other.
Jake and his friends were also soon joined by Ax, the younger brother of the Andalite who first gave them their abilities, and they continued to train and fight the Yeerk invasion over the course of the series, though there were casualties.
The exploration of each character's trials and tribulations as they grew up, while also dealing with the horrors of war, was surprisingly ahead of its time. For example, as a result of the morphing process' two-hour time limit, Tobias was trapped in his hawk form very early on in the fight, which allowed the series to explore issues related to the character's identity, his broken home and other mature themes. Given its depiction of real-life challenges in a sci-fi setting, the series could work just as well, if not even better, on television today.
One of the major hurdles the original Animorphs series faced was the visual effects available in the '90s restricted both the use of morphing as well as the believability of the alien characters. However, the technology that would bring the animorph process to life has greatly improved in the twenty years since the original Animorphs adaptation aired on Nickolodeon. As a result, it seems high time for a reboot of the series.
The CW, in particular, have the budget and the viewership to really let an adaptation of Animorphs shine. Not only would the technology make the show more believable but it would fall into the same superhero/sci-fi/soap opera genre as other popular CW series like Legacies, Riverdale and the numerous Arrowverse shows that the network's fanbase is eager for. Animorphs may have been ahead of its time, but given the recent groundswell of support and interest in the series, now might be the right time for a new adaptation that can properly bring the classic YA series to life.