Raising Dion is an American superherodramaweb television series that premiered October 4, 2019 on Netflix. It is based on the 2015 comic book and short film of the same name by Dennis Liu. In January 2020, Netflix renewed the series for a second season.
Premise
Raising Dion follows the story of a woman named Nicole who raises her son Dion after the death of her husband Mark. The normal dramas of raising a son as a single mom are amplified when Dion starts to manifest several magical, superhero-like abilities. Nicole must now keep her son's gifts secret with the help of Mark's best friend Pat, and protect Dion from people out to exploit him while figuring out the origin of his abilities.
Cast and characters
Main
Alisha Wainwright as Nicole Reese, a widowed mother who is raising her son alone while trying to manage his supernatural abilities after the death of her husband.
Ja'Siah Young as Dion Warren, Nicole's eight-year-old, superpowered son.
Jazmyn Simon as Kat Neese, Nicole's older sister who is a surgeon.
Jason Ritter as Pat Rollins, an engineer at a biotech company called BIONA, Mark's best friend and Dion's godfather. He is revealed to be "The Crooked Man", having been affected by the Iceland event and given the ability to transform into a storm-like entity that hunts down and absorbs other superpowered beings to survive.
Recurring
Michael B. Jordan as Mark Warren, a scientist and Nicole's deceased husband, who secretly was given superpowers by the aurora event in Iceland and is trapped as a spirit after having been absorbed by the Crooked Man.
Gavin Munn as Jonathan King, Dion's classmate and bully-turned-friend.
Ali Ahn as Suzanne Wu, a scientist and the CEO of BIONA.
Donald Paul as Mr. Anthony Fry, Dion's science teacher.
Matt Lewis as Mr. Campbell, Dion's school principal.
Marc Menchaca as Walter Mills, a farmer who is a superpowered man from the Iceland event. He is absorbed into the Crooked Man, leaving his son Brayden, who developed telepathy due to his father's own superpowers, alone.
Moriah Brown as Willa
Diana Chiritescu as Jill Noona
Kylen Davis as Malik, Nicole's teenage neighbor and Tessa's son.
Dana Gourrier as Tessa, Nicole's neighbor and Malik's mother.
Deirdre Lovejoy as Charlotte Tuck, a woman saved by Mark in a storm. She is another woman with superpowers from the Iceland event.
Production
Development
On October 5, 2017, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a straight-to-series order for a first season consisting of nine episodes. The series is based on the comic book of the same name written by Dennis Liu and illustrated by Jason Piperberg. Liu then directed a short film based on his comic. Carol Barbee adapted a screenplay from the short film and comic and is the showrunner for the series. Executive producers for the series were set to include Liu, Barbee, Michael B. Jordan, Charles D. King, Kim Roth, Poppy Hanks, Kenny Goodman, and Michael Green. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Outlier Society Productions and MACRO. The series premiered on October 4, 2019. On January 2, 2020, it was reported that Netflix renewed the series for a second season.
Casting
Alongside the initial announcement of the series order, it was confirmed that Michael B. Jordan had been cast in a supporting role in the series. In June 2018, it was announced that Jason Ritter, Jazmyn Simon, Alisha Wainwright, and Ja'Siah Young had been cast as a series regulars. In July 2018, Donald Paul was cast as a recurring role in the series. On January 29, 2019, it was reported that Ali Ahn had joined the cast in a recurring capacity.
Filming
Principal photography for the series began in late July 2018 in various cities and towns in Georgia including Chattahoochee Hills and Fairburn. Filming continued in the same areas in August 2018 and also took place in Midtown Atlanta at locations including the Fox Theatre.
Episodes
Release
On September 18, 2019, the official trailer for the series was released.
Reception
The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 82% approval rating for the series, based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 6.75/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While its family drama and superhero aspirations don't quite come together, compelling performances and a sense of wonder keep Raising Dion afloat and suggest that with a little more guidance it could become something great". On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the series was assigned a score of 61 out of 100 based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
