There was much fanfare when it was announced that the world of the MCU was coming to streaming. We were all locked in our homes by order of governments and we wanted, needed, TV. Shares in Netflix soared, and everyone launched a streamer. Disney+ planned to leverage its massive IP brands to steamroll the competition, and Marvel was a crown jewel.
It didn’t go according to plan. It turned out that making television is hard, and streaming consumers have completely different wants and needs from cinema audiences.
The result was some massively expensive offshoots from the MCU with marquee stars, intricately woven into the wider universe, that didn’t quite land with audiences. WandaVision, Secret Invasion, and Falcon And The Winter Soldier all got a mixed reception. Hawkeye seemed to be the only one to buck the trend.
So they needed to change tack, and in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, direct from a Disney event, Marvel Television boss Brad Winderbaum said that their new approach was a lighter touch, with shows part of the MCU but not so intricately entwined and able to stand alone more effectively.
“Producing shows with marquee names, it made it really challenging to produce second seasons; the margins on TV are smaller. 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. You should be able to watch these shows on their own, without knowing the overall MCU story. But if it’s not connected, it’s severing what makes the MCU the MCU.”
He also pointed out that Ironheart and Wonder Man were products of the earlier approach. The largely successful Daredevil: Born Again is the first of the new breed of shows.
Bad news for Ironheart and Wonder Man, then. Feels like they will be one and done.
