Every superhero struggles with the concept of identity. As readers and viewers, we connect with these stories because we have struggled to understand our place in the world and how we fit into the larger puzzle of humanity. As teenagers, we struggled to form our identities, either joining, drifting between, or feeling isolated from social groups. By definition, superheroes remain set apart from general society. Whether they publicize their identities or create alter egos, they exist outside of the norm.
For Lunella Lafayette, also known as Moon Girl, the journey of discovering her identity is based on both. As a teenager, Lunellla faces the same challenges that we—and our children—face. At the same time, she is a superhero who needs to maintain two separate identities—one as a gifted teenager and one as a superheroine.
After watching the first four episodes of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur season 2 and getting the opportunity to talk to the show’s producers, Rodney Clouden and Steve Loter, parents and kids of all ages will find that the show continues to resonate and bring everyone the joy we desperately need.
From Becoming to Being
While Season 1 had an underlying throughline of self-discovery, Season 2 brings us a Lunella who faces new challenges as her family, school, social, and superhero lives start to collide. When speaking about season 2, Steve Louter explained:
It was important to show season one as her becoming Moon Girl and the emotional growth that comes along with it. Season two is her being Moon Girl, and it’s a different zone for her. Now that she’s known, villains are leveling up against her. The conflicts between her family life and her superhero life are becoming really challenging for her to be able to manage. Friendships are becoming strained because of her life as a superhero. We love to have all the parallels to a relatable human emotion.
Rodney Clouden expanded on this, saying:
Dealing with family, that particular through line is going to be through the season. Mimi [the grandmother] has a secret. Lunella’s a superhero, and that’s a big secret. They’ve been keeping secrets from their family, and they have each other. It’s helpful for Lunella, who’s 13, having to deal with this big issue and to have someone to bounce ideas off of. What do we do? Do we tell our family? Why should we tell our family? What are we going to tell our family? How is this going to affect the family dynamics? What are the consequences of telling or not telling the family?
As the parent of a 14-year-old and someone who was once a teen, these questions resonate with me. Working through your identity—at any age—is a process where you may know something about yourself, but you still wonder how others will respond when you tell them. Lunella’s challenges as a superhero parallel the experience of the everyday teenager.
Bringing in the Parent Experience
As the parent of a teenager, watching Lunella’s struggles in season 2 resonated with my experience of being unable to escape the sound of teenagers talking on speakerphone. (IYKYK) Today’s teens struggle with the same things we did in the 1980s and 1990s, but their experiences look different because they have greater connectivity due to smartphones and social media.
When I interviewed the Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur team in 2023, I effused about the way the show represented Lunella’s experiences as a teen. As season 2 explores her journey of being Moon Girl, parents get more insights that they can bring with them to their own superteens.
Without giving away any spoilers, the episode that really brought this out to me was “Belly of the Beast.” Lunella and Casey struggle to work together in close quarters. Instead of communicating about the problems, they end up in almost a passive-aggressive battle of wills. At certain points, I felt myself just wanting to tell them, “OMG just talk to each other!” However, any parent of a teen will agree, teens will never take the fastest, most emotionally vulnerable action to respond to a conflict with friends. As I watched the episode unfold, I felt my head involuntarily nodding while my eyes did the same rolling motion they’ve become accustomed to.
Lunella’s experience is so relatable, that I asked whether Clouden and Loter had teenagers, following up with whether being a parent informed how they tell these stories. In response, Loter, whose child is now past this stage, responded:
I’ve lived through those years and apply that to the fictional narrative. It’s definitely influenced by a lot of the things I saw them or their friends go through, and stuff that we went through. I also think that kids today face different stressors than we faced as kids. In some ways, it’s a tougher world for them. It’s important for us to acknowledge that and provide some coping mechanisms or tools to navigate these treacherous waters.
In season 2, we see a Lunella who desperately tries to be independent while struggling with the underlying through line that relying on friends and trusting other people is critical. Clouden elaborated on this, saying:
There’s also the idea this season that you don’t have to be everything to everybody. You can’t do it all yourself. You can ask for help. In terms of coping, if you’re having to deal with trauma or stress, you can actually talk to somebody about it. She has Mimi she can talk to, and Casey, and even Devil who’s a very compassionate T-Rex.
The Devil You Know… Or Do You?
I’m going to say what we’re all probably thinking as fans of this show. Devil is absolutely the dinosaur we all wanted when we were kids. Fred Tatasciore vocally brings Devil to life while the animators give him the visual cues of personality. Even if your favorite dinosaur is a triceratops, Devil is still the ideal prehistoric pet-friend.
Devil also has a “becoming to being” narrative this season. His “becoming arc” in season 1 focused on learning to live in our dimension and finding out what it means to become someone’s friend. This season, Clouden and Loter promise that we’ll be getting more character development from our favorite friend.
First, I managed to clear up a question that I know you’ve all been burning to have answered: In human years, how old would Devil be? We can thank Steve Loter for answering, “I think he’s a teenager. I think that a lot of his emotions are shared with Lunella. I think that he has a little bit more reason at this point, but I do feel he’s a young dinosaur still kind of discovering himself and his way in the world.”
According to Loter, Devil is also going to have a personal journey this season:
There’s an episode where he feels dejected because he can only share in half of Lunella’s life, just a superheroing part because of the secret. He can’t really be part of the Lafayette family and that kind of hurts him deeply. He goes for solace and kind of gets in with a superhero sidekick support group which isn’t quite all it appears on the surface. So I think Devil is on an emotional journey, too.
Clouden followed up on this point, sharing:
You’re gonna see Devil as a character grow his purpose, personality, and mindfulness. You’ll see how mindful Devil is this season. The dinosaur, dealing with emotions, it’s all situation. Whatever situation that we put him into, his reaction to that so we can get a lot of depth of character and emotion out of that through Fred’s vocal work. The animators and storyboard artists for Devil are able to emote in facial expressions, so you’re going to see a little more about who he is and how he develops as a person who has hobbies and things he likes.
A Page from The Big Bang Theory
If you remember the show The Big Bang Theory, you may also remember that they had science advisors to help keep the humor and scientific plots accurate. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur does the same thing.
While watching the screeners, I found myself randomly Googling things like “black hole spaghettification.” (Yup, even NASA uses the term spaghettification.) Since I get to ask all the questions that tickle my brain, I decided to ask Clouden and Loter about how they incorporate the real science and make Lunella’s theories scientifically plausible, along the lines of “would this at all, ever, be possible?” rather than “this is totally scientifically accurate.”
Lunella is definitely a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) girl, and Clouden gave the following insights about how the team works this into the storylines:
The one thing about the science is that they’re actually speaking on theories, and we want that to be accurate because somebody will fact-check us on that. When it comes to her building, like upcycling trash or something she makes, we have a little bit more leeway of suspension of disbelief that she made a freeze ray out of a paperclip and vacuum and ice cream machine. The science of that doesn’t have to work. There’s a balance to have that accuracy of really pertinent things that helps with the suspension of disbelief.
Following up, Loter explained:
Some of our crew are former biologists and scientists who decided that they’re drawing this red dinosaur their living which we’re very very happy about. We always start with the narrative to drive the science.
Similar to how other shows incorporate science, the Moon Girl team reaches out to consultants telling them that they need something to happen in an episode and asking them how that might end up, whether it’s plausibly (if not realistically) possible. According to Loter, “Things in the background, like when we have a chart behind Lunella or an element table or something like that, it’s accurate.”
And just in case you’re curious like I was, yes, scorpions do glow under black light.
Grateful and Ecstatic for Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Season 2
While I’m grateful and ecstatic for season 2, these were really words that Clouden and Loter used to describe their feelings to fan reactions to season 1. My final question for the team was, “Give me three words that describe the fan reaction to season 1 and three words that describe your reaction to the fan reaction.”
Steve Louter: Phenomenal. Happy. Relatable. My reaction is grateful and ecstatic.
Rodney Cloudon: I’m going to take grateful for the fan reaction because there’s a lot of grateful people that were able to see Lunella on the screen and see representation throughout. Grateful, incredible, and magical. And my reaction to that is thank you very much.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur season 2 premiers February 2 on Disney Channel and Disney XD, and next day on Disney+.
