Marvel Studios decides to move forward with future shows in a more traditional television format

The next Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again is one of Marvel’s most anticipated television projects. There have been other shows based on the MCU that fans have enjoyed, but this series comes after a three-season run of a show based on the same character, played by the same actor, that aired years ago on Netflix. So, hype aside, this new series has a lot to live up to.

All of this came into consideration last June during the writers’ strike, when studio executives gathered to take a pause and reflect on how the series was doing. Less than half of the series’ 18 episodes had been filmed, but it was enough for Marvel executives, including the chief Kevin Feigeto review the footage and make a clear assessment: the show wasn’t working.

Then, at the end of September, Marvel quietly let go of the lead writers Chris Ord AND Matt Corman and also released the directors for the remainder of the season as part of a significant creative reboot of the series. The Hollywood Reporter writes that the studio is now looking for new writers and directors for the project, which will star Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer turned superhero.

The approach the studio took in making these Marvel shows for Disney+ from 2021 was very similar to the cinematic one, in that instead of hiring showrunners, they instead depended on film executives to handle the series, as well as relying on postproduction and reshoots to fix what wasn’t working.

But as shows came and went, much of the viewership waned, and satisfaction with the stories also waned, prompting a major shift at the studio to make TV shows in a more traditional way.

Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of streaming, television and animation, explained to THR: “We’re trying to marry Marvel culture with traditional television culture. The question boils down to: ‘How can we tell stories on television that honor what’s so great about the source material?'”

Marvel plans to keep some scenes and episodes from the show that were filmed, while eliminating the overall procedural feel that previous writers relied on. More serialized elements will be added, with Corman and Ord becoming executive producers on the two-season series.

As it moves forward, Marvel is making real changes in how it makes TV. Now he plans to hire showrunners. Gao’s postproduction work on She-Hulk helped Marvel realize that it would be beneficial for its shows to have a creative throughline from start to finish.

The studio also plans to have full-time television executives, rather than having executives straddle television and film, and is revamping its development process. Showrunners will write pilots and show bibles. The days when Marvel made an entire series, from She-Hulk TO Secret invasionthen examine what works and what doesn’t, they’re finished.

That’s it Loki, which returned on October 5 and marked the first second season of a Marvel series (out of nine TV shows to date), the studio plans to lean into the idea of ​​multi-season serialized TV, moving away from the limited series format that he defined it. . Marvel wants to create shows that last several seasons, where characters can take time to develop relationships with the audience rather than feeling like they’re there as setup for a big crossover event.

Some of his upcoming shows, in fact, promise to be more personal stories. EchoDebuting in January, it’s a grounded crime story with few visuals, centering on deaf Native American antihero Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox). The Wonder Mana show that was put on hiatus due to a writers’ and actors’ strike, is meant to be a behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood and a character study of Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a superhero who has a supporting role as an actor and stuntman.

What do you think of the changes taking place at Marvel’s TV studios?