Does anyone care about a Nancy Drew spinoff? Learn The CW’s plans

If you’ve been sleeping on The CW’s take on Nancy Drew, then you seriously need to stop doing so. While it’s got a more paranormal bent, then previous iterations of the character, the show is awesome. The mysteries are suspenseful. The characters are great. Nancy Drew (Kennedy McMann) is perfectly cast: a balance between clever and brave. 

Seriously, Nancy Drew is awesome. Unfortunately, however, it’s not a huge ratings draw for The CW. So, it’s definitely a surprise that there’s a Nancy Drew spinoff series in the works over at the network. It’s not a bad surprise, of course. Nancy Drew has done a lot of great stuff over the course of its first season, but still a surprise nonetheless. So just what will this Nancy Drew spin-off be about? 

More importantly, does anyone care? Well, here’s what you need to know. 

Details on the CW’s Nancy Drew spin-off

Debuting as a backdoor pilot in season 2 of Nancy Drew, the spin-off series focuses on Tom Swift, an inventor character created back in 1910 by Edward Stratemeyer. There are more than 100 volumes in the series. Like Nancy Drew, Tom Swift has been largely written by various ghostwriters under the name of Victor Appleton with new writings done as recently as 2007.

In The CW’s version, Swift is a “a gay Black man and billionaire inventor who is thrown into the world of sci-fi conspiracy and unexplained phenomena after the shocking disappearance of his father. As Tom goes on a quest to unravel the truth, he will fight to stay one step ahead of an Illuminati-scale group hell-bent on stopping him.” While Nancy Drew went ghost story, Tom Swift is going sci-fi conspiracy theory.

Tom Swift was co-created, written, and executive-produced by Nancy Drew showrunners’ Melinda Hsu Taylor and Noga Landau, along with Empire‘s Cameron Johnson. Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, and Lis Rowinski will serve as executive producers for the project as well.

But why?

Tom Swift is definitely not a character as well-known as Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys. Basing a series around him is definitely . . . interesting. It’s a risk. He’s not an immediately well-known character in the vein of Archie Andrews or Sabrina Spellman, you know? This does, however, allow for the CW to feel unconstrained in their modern reinterpretation of the character of Tom Swift. 

30 millions copies of Tom Swift books have been sold worldwide. That’s not a small number. In recent years, films and television series have been trying to bring lesser-known characters to the forefront. So long as the series is adapted well, then it could be something really interesting to see in the vein of The X-Files. 

Will anyone care?

Here’s the thing about television series on the CW, it kind of doesn’t matter? Their live ratings have always been on the low side for most of their series. Dynasty, which is the lowest rated across the board, got another season. Usually, if they can find an international audience, an online audience, or a dedicated group of fans, the CW will tend to let their shows run their course. 

Nancy Drew has made a dedicated fan group. Is it as big as the Arrowverse or the Archieverse? No. But it’s there. The show definitely deserves more love as well because, despite a rocky pilot, the season gets really freaking good as it goes on. So yes, there are people that will care, depending how well Tom Swift is introduced in the backdoor pilot. 

At the very least, it’s worth a looksee.