Nimona is a graphic novel by Noelle Stevenson published in 2015 by HarperCollins. It tells the story of the eponymous Nimona, a shapeshifter. One day, Nimona decides to partner with the villainous Ballister Blackheart so that the two can destroy the equally villainous Institute, which liked to control everything and every detail around it. To accomplish their mission of stopping the Institute and proving to everyone that the Institute isn't as great as they thought, Nimona is willing to do anything and everything - including killing people. Blackheart, on the other hand, operates under a strict code of ethics and has deep concerns about killing people. But the battle with the Institute isn't as easy to win as the two had previously thought, leading to conflict and moral quandaries for each of them. Not only that but because of the strenuous battle, the two start to have interpersonal conflicts with each other.
Nimona was a critical darling when it was released in 2015. The novel won an Eisner Award, a Cybils Award, and a Cartoonist Studio Prize and was praised by critics, academics, and readers alike for its complex story and themes - including the inclusion of queerness. Paste Magazine, for instance, said that Nimona is one of the best novels of the year (2015).
The novel has been stuck in "development hell" since Fox acquired the rights to the film in 2015. Originally scheduled for release in 2019, the film was first delayed to 2020, then to 2021, then to 2022, before finally being canceled (despite being 75% complete) by Disney, which had previously acquired Fox. The film was revived and completed at another production studio and is set to release sometime in 2023 on the streaming service Netflix.
