Nimona isn’t your average fairy-tale protagonist; you never saw a mischievous grin like the one above on Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella. In the animated film that shares her name, the young changeling serves as the sidekick to disgraced knight Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed), and she turns any traditional notion of fantasy heroism on its head. “When we were first getting started, one of the things I spoke to the directors about was that they wanted high highs and low lows, almost an erratic amount of emotion and chaos,” says Chloë Grace Moretz, who provides the voice at the heart of Nimona. “And then when she’s quiet and still, it hits in a much more impactful way. It was a really interesting thing to play with.”

While the character first found life on the pages of ND Stevenson’s hit webcomic and later graphic novel, Moretz has always been a part of the character of Nimona. Stevenson took inspiration from Moretz’s portrayal of Hit Girl in the 2010 superhero comedy Kick-Ass as he developed his character. 

Now Hit Girl is Nimona, and Moretz had a blast experimenting with the possibilities. “There were probably millions of takes of me doing absolutely off-the-wall crazy stuff, but you can really tell how she has ups and downs, she’s throwing all these things out there, and then will kind of slam you rock hard in your stomach with this sweet honesty when she gets to her own truth,” she says. “In those moments your heart really melts for her, and that’s something that really came across on the page and even more so in the movie now."

Nimona has had a famously storied journey to the screen, but today, directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane are itching to share their vision. “After a long wait full of twists and turns, ups and downs — we’re so excited to finally be able to share a first teaser trailer for our film,” they tell Tudum.

Still, don’t expect your average sneak peek — Nimona marches to the beat of her own drum, after all. “We mean ‘tease’ in the truest sense,” the directors explain about the still above. “Something that celebrates the impish disruptor of a spirit that is Nimona. Almost like she reached out from the movie and took over the idea just to stir things up a bit. And even though it’s a bit of a stylistic departure from the look of the film at the beginning, it gives a fun little glimpse into the mischievous mind and imagination of Nimona herself. We hope you have fun watching it and we can’t wait to share even more mischief from Nimona in the upcoming weeks!”

You can check out the teaser trailer for Nimona above, and read on to find out more about the fiery shapeshifter’s upcoming summer adventure. 

When is Nimona’s release date?

 You can catch up with Nimona when the movie hits Netflix on June 30. 

What is Nimona about?

When knight-in-training Ballister Boldheart is framed for a horrible crime, he’s forced on the run from his own comrades, and into the company of a chaotic shapeshifter named Nimona, who might just be the very creature he was trained to destroy. Together, the unlikely duo will have to prove Ballister’s innocence — and maybe learn a little bit about each other along the way.

 “When I heard about this story, I just felt an instant connection to it and to Ballister, and I think others will too because most of us have known what it’s like to be on the outside,” Ahmed says. “That’s what Ballister is really dealing with, a sense of being an impostor who so badly wants to prove he’s worthy of this institution. But of course, what you realize by the end is that you don’t get your sense of worth from other people telling you what you’re worth. You have to think for yourself and live by your own values.”

Who is in the cast of Nimona? 

The ensemble voice cast of Nimona includes Chloë Grace Moretz as Nimona, Riz Ahmed as Ballister Boldheart and Eugene Lee Yang as Ambrosius Goldenloin. Filling out the cast are Frances Conroy, Beck Bennett, Julio Torres, Lorraine Toussaint, Indya Moore, Sarah Sherman and RuPaul Charles. 

Hey, what’s that song playing in the Nimona teaser?

The teaser for Nimona features an original song called ‘T-Rex,” by singer-songwriter K. Flay, to be released closer to the film’s on-service launch date. In writing the tune, K.Flay says she tried to melodically represent the spirit of Nimona’s title character. “My mentality when working on this was really to capture energy and power because I think Nimona has both of those things in spades,” she told Netflix. “She has a joie de vivre, a hunger and a thirst for life — and that’s the type of power I wanted to capture with this song as opposed to something violent. There's an edge to it, but it's not an oppressive power. It emboldens.” 

That message of embracing one’s inner strength holds special significance for the artist, whose experience of writing the song intersected with a difficult moment in her personal life. K.Flay had just completed a pre-mix version of “T-Rex” when she experienced a sudden loss of hearing that turned her world upside down. “I remember thinking, ‘Am I going to be able to make music again?’” she told Netflix. “This thing I loved was now the cause of so much pain and chaos.” “T-Rex” was the first song she was able to listen to after coming to terms with her condition. “I listened to the song, I cried and cried, I sent it to my parents, and finally I felt like I could do this job again — do what I love,” she said. 

Go Behind the Scenes of Nimona“People are so much more than what you see on the surface.”