The television division of Marvel Entertainment is a confusing entity; they are tangent to Marvel Studios, who makes all of those Avengers movies you like, in that they make a number of shows (allegedly) set in the same universe. On the other hand, Marvel Television is under a completely separate corporate umbrella: they are under Marvel proper, while Marvel Studios, led by Kevin Feige, are under Walt Disney Studios.
The relationship between Marvel Television and Marvel Studios has gotten even stranger, with Feige and co. set to make their own shows for streaming service Disney+ as a part of their Phase 4. Marvel Studios won’t be alone, says Marvel Television president and bad wig enthusiast Jeph Loeb, who told Deadline that his company is working on their own shows too.
Loeb spoke to Deadline about the overall future of Marvel Television, which has been marked by a number of new shifts and unexpected developments. To summarize for the umpteenth time, Marvel-Netflix has ceased to be, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will end on its own accord in season 7, new live-action shows (including Ghost Rider) and animated shows (including Howard the Duck) are hitting Hulu, Runaways and Cloak & Dagger will get a crossover, and the non-MCU Legion on FX just ended its run.
You can probably call them all B-list heroes, especially comparing that to the Marvel Studios Phase 4 line-up of Disney+ shows, which includes Hawkeye, Loki, WandaVision, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. When asked about those shows, Loeb simply stated:
Well, first of all, I have to make something very clear, which is those are shows that are created and run and the responsibility of the motion picture studio. Secondly, Marvel Television will be doing shows with Disney+, we just haven’t announced what we’re going to do there.
Deadline then pressed about what those shows are, to which he replied: “When we’re ready.” At least people can stop speculating that Marvel Studios has more pull with their Disney parents than their television counterparts. I’d have to wonder how different the shows from both studios will look compared to each other—I get the sense that Feige and Marvel Studios will want to make their shows look as close to the movies as possible, while Marvel Television operates with a different budget and production philosophy.
The question that remains is what Marvel Television thinks would be a good fit specifically for Disney+. Their mature fare will end up on the now-Disney-owned Hulu, while shows with more general appear will remain on ABC, and Cloak & Dagger has found its young adult footing in Freeform. It’s all confusing politics, but it should hopefully make some sense by the time Loeb and his band of TV people are ready to unveil the curtain on things.
Whatever the case may be, it all better include an Agent Carter revival, dammit.
