Marvel Television Will Need To Walk a Tightrope Going Forward
With the debut of Daredevil: Born Again earlier this year, a new era of Marvel Television unfolded before our eyes.
When the Marvel Cinematic Universe branched into streaming, the studio produced limited series that were essentially structured like extended films. While early efforts like WandaVision, Loki, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier were met with praise, it soon became clear that Marvel’s approach wasn’t sustainable in the long run.
As Disney shifted its streaming strategy, prioritizing profitability over subscriber count, the days of spending $200 million on an individual Marvel series were clearly numbered.
Image: Marvel
Perhaps more importantly, however, Marvel had spread itself too thin. Disney+ series such as She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Secret Invasion were not only immensely expensive but also failed to live up to fans’ expectations. Additionally, the Marvel films began to suffer.
Something had to change.
A Change in Strategy
Eventually, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Marvel agreed that the studio needed to overhaul how it made television. Instead of treating the MCU streaming shows like movies divided into different parts, Marvel decided to follow the traditional structure of television.
Photo: Getty Images
To this end, they set out to create stories that could be serialized over multiple seasons and began to use showrunners and show bibles.
The first fruit of these new efforts was Daredevil: Born Again, which underwent a creative overhaul halfway through production.
When the show finally debuted, it introduced audiences to a self-contained Marvel world, with installments that felt more like episodes of a television show than segments of a movie.
Now, Marvel has their template.
The Path Forward
While the next two Marvel Disney+ shows to debut, Ironheart and Wonder Man, were created before the studio’s television overhaul, it is clear that a new era of Marvel television is upon us.
Photo: Empire
The question is how closely the upcoming shows will be tied into the broader MCU?
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel’s Head of Streaming, Brad Winderbaum, discussed the studio’s plans. While he confirmed that Marvel’s television objectives have changed, he also revealed that they are not afraid to use their stars.
Photo: The Hollywood Reporter
“Looking to the future, does it mean that we won’t have big Avengers names? No. They may not be the titular character of the show, but they can still make appearances.”
A Balancing Act
The goal for Marvel moving forward, then, is to create shows that work as singular entities, but are not divorced from the rest of the MCU. It will be a narrow road to follow.
“You should be able to watch these shows on their own, without knowing the overall MCU story,” admitted Winderbaum. “But if it’s not connected, it’s severing what makes the MCU the MCU.”
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