The leaked footage showing Milana Vayntrub as Squirrel Girl could lead to a live-action television series, in the same way that leaked test footage helped the Deadpool movie get made. The character's name trended on social media following the footage's release and Disney would be short-sighted not to take advantage of this in the same way Fox built upon the hype of the Deadpool leaks.
The buzz began on September 9, 2021, when writer Kevin Biegel released test footage from Marvel's 2017 New Warriors show, for which he was the showrunner. The series was highly hyped at the time, but reportedly canceled because one executive said the finished show was “too gay.” Regardless, the footage proved popular with Marvel Comics fans online, particularly the series' interpretation of Squirrel Girl. Played by Milana Vayntrub, who also voiced the character in the Marvel Rising animated series, Squirrel Girl's name trended on Twitter for over a day after Biegel's footage was released and people are still talking about how Marvel Studios dropped the ball on not bringing Squirrel Girl into the MCU with Vayntrub in the role.
The fan response to Vayntrub as Squirrel Girl strongly resembles the outcry in 2014 when test footage for a Deadpool movie featuring Ryan Reynolds as the infamous "Merc With A Mouth" was leaked online during San Diego Comic-Con. While Fox executives had been reluctant to pursue a Deadpool movie that was true to the comics, fearing that an R-rated superhero movie featuring such an obscure character could never be successful, the overwhelmingly positive feedback from fans calmed their fears and convinced them to give Tim Miller and Ryan Reynolds the go-ahead. The end result was a $738 million blockbuster beloved by critics and comic readers.
While it might not be possible for New Warriors to be revived at this point in its original form, there seems little reason why Disney could not create a new series centered around Milana Vayntrub as Squirrel Girl. The character is far more established than Deadpool was at the time of his film's release, thanks to a succession of comics aimed at young readers and Squirrel Girl's existing animated appearances. A Squirrel Girl series would also fit in nicely with other upcoming Marvel Studios productions centered around female heroes, like Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel.
Another interesting approach, which could solve another problem Disney currently has, would be to make Squirrel Girl the antagonist of the long-awaited Deadpool 3. The two had an adversarial relationship in the comics, where Squirrel Girl was one of the few beings who could beat Deadpool in a fight and force him to behave himself. This could allow Deadpool to be introduced into the MCU in a form that is true to the comics, even if he were forced to scale back his more extreme activities. Even if they didn't play off this past, a Deadpool movie centered around Wade Wilson trying to do his job while evading the much more wholesome and idealistic Doreen Green would be fun and the idea of Ryan Reynolds playing off of Milana Vayntrub (and vice versa) is priceless. In any event, it would be foolish for Disney not to take advantage of the fan demand for a Squirrel Girl project of some kind, with or without Deadpool.