Marvel Entertainment has partnered with Scholastic on a multi-year deal to bring “new original stories” about Marvel characters to “young readers around the world.” Kicking off this new partnership in 2020 are the two middle-grade prose novels – Shuri: A Black Panther Novel by Nic Stone, and Avengers Assembly by Preeti Chhibber.
“Marvel is always looking for best-in-class partners to develop new and exciting ways to experience the Marvel Universe, and Scholastic is the perfect partner to do this. We couldn’t be more thrilled,” said Marvel’s Director of Licensed Publishing Sven Larsen. “As two brands dedicated to storytelling for every kind of reader and fan, the combined strength of this collaboration will be truly one of a kind – with a superpower to bring together the next generation of fans through the joy of reading and Marvel.”
Since the 1960s, prose novels starring Marvel characters have been published sporadically by such publishers as Random House and Simon & Schuster. Under the brand “Marvel Press” the mammoth publisher began publishing prose novels itself in 2003. Recent titles published by Marvel Press includes Black Panther: The Young Prince and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: 2 Fuzzy, 2 Furious.
“Marvel’s characters mean so much to our fans because they inspire us to embrace our individual power," said Sana Amanat, Marvel’s VP of Content & Character Development. “As the first title we’re launching with Scholastic, Shuri is the perfect character to highlight this message. She may be a Wakandan princess, but what makes Shuri the ultimate hero is her unique sense of intelligence, responsibility, and determination, ideals that resonate with all of us.”
“The Marvel Universe is vast, inclusive and iconic with a great range of multi-faceted characters, and Scholastic and Marvel share a commitment to bringing diverse characters to life,” said Scholastic’s VP/Publisher of Global Licensing, Brands, and Media, Debra Dorfman. “Shuri, Ms. Marvel, Miles Morales, Squirrel Girl, etc. are all ‘ordinary’ characters with extraordinary powers – and there are a lot of stories to be told!”
