Raising Dion

Did You Know?

• Principal photography for season 1 began in late July 2018 in Georgia, including Chattahoochee Hills and Fairburn.
• Season 2 was watched for over 108.75 million hours in its first 26 days on Netflix.
• The show received five nominations at the 1st Children's and Family Emmy Awards but did not win any.

Premise

Nicole Warren raises her son Dion after the death of her husband Mark. When Dion begins displaying superhero-like abilities, Nicole must keep his gifts secret with help from Mark's best friend Pat and protect Dion from those who would exploit him. Two years later, Dion and his friends Esperanza and Johnathon act as juvenile peace-keepers. The Crooked Energy possesses Brayden, a child from Alabama, and plants a disease in a sinkhole that infects Nicole, with the infection proving fatal and highly contagious.

Cast and characters

Ja'Siah Young plays Dion Warren, Nicole's young superpowered son. Alisha Wainwright portrays Nicole Warren, a widowed mother managing her son's abilities after her husband's death. Jazmyn Simon appears as Kat Neese, Nicole's older sister and a surgeon. Sammi Haney plays Esperanza Jimenez, Dion's classmate and best friend who has osteogenesis imperfecta.

Jason Ritter is Pat Rollins, an engineer at BIONA, Mark's best friend and Dion's godfather. Griffin Robert Faulkner portrays Brayden Mills. Ali Ahn plays Suzanne Wu, a scientist and CEO of BIONA. Michael B. Jordan appears as Mark Warren, a scientist and Dion's father who was given superpowers by an aurora event in Iceland and is trapped as a spirit.

Gavin Munn plays Jonathan King, Dion's classmate and bully-turned-friend. Skyler Elyse Philpot is Steffi, a popular skater kid. Donald Paul plays Mr. Anthony Fry, Dion's science teacher. Matt Lewis is Mr. Campbell, the school principal.

Marc Menchaca portrays Walter Mills, a superpowered farmer absorbed into the Crooked Man. Moriah Brown plays Willa. Cade Tropeano is Dubious Boy. Diana Chiritescu plays Jill Noonan.

Kylen Davis is Malik, Nicole's teenage neighbor. Dana Gourrier plays Tessa, Malik's mother. J. Harrison Ghee appears as Kwame. Deirdre Lovejoy plays Charlotte Tuck, a woman saved by Mark.

Josh Ventura portrays David Marsh, the new vice president of operations at BIONA. Rome Flynn plays Tevin Wakefield, Dion's trainer with powers and Nicole's love interest. Aubriana Davis is Janelle Carr, a 15-year-old with trouble controlling her powers. Michael Anthony plays Gary Stafford, a security guard. Tracey Bonner plays Simone Carr, Janelle's mother.

Production

Netflix gave the production a straight-to-series order for a nine-episode first season on October 5, 2017. The series is based on the comic book by Dennis Liu, who also directed a short film based on it. Carol Barbee adapted the screenplay and serves as showrunner. Executive producers include Liu, Barbee, Michael B. Jordan, Charles D. King, Kim Roth, Poppy Hanks, Kenny Goodman, and Michael Green.

Production companies involved are Outlier Society Productions and MACRO. The series premiered on October 4, 2019. Netflix renewed it for an eight-episode second season on January 2, 2020, released on February 1, 2022. The series was canceled in April 2022.

Casting announcements included Michael B. Jordan in a supporting role, and Jason Ritter, Jazmyn Simon, Alisha Wainwright, and Ja'Siah Young as series regulars in June 2018. Principal photography began in late July 2018 in Georgia, including Chattahoochee Hills, Fairburn, and Midtown Atlanta. Filming for the second season ran from January 25, 2021, to May 25, 2021.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 29 critics gave the show a thumbs-up, averaging 6.8/10. The site’s take: the family drama and superhero elements don’t fully mesh, but strong acting and a sense of wonder keep it going, hinting it could become great with more polish. Metacritic gave it a 61 out of 100 from 7 reviews, meaning generally favorable notices. Netflix reported that season two racked up over 108.75 million viewing hours in its first 26 days.