Marvel's head of television, Jeph Loeb, has finally spoken out about the cancellation of Netflix's Marvel shows, while reassuring fans that more unannounced Marvel TV shows are definitely in the works for Disney Plus.
Many were devastated by the cancellation of Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Daredevil, and of course the team-up show The Defenders, all of which have ceased being renewed and will at some point be removed from the Netflix platform entirely.
According to Loeb, the decision also came as a bit of a surprise to Marvel.
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“We were blindsided and the things that were to come weren’t finished yet,” says Loeb, who added that the television arm wasn't sure what the future would hold for it. "It did look like maybe we were going to go out. Then suddenly, we were arising again like the Phoenix” (via Deadline).
With Disney launching its own streaming platform, Disney Plus, which will be a home for all sorts of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Fox, and even LucasFilm titles, you can be certain Marvel fans will be provided for – while the TV format offers avenues for smaller stories that wouldn't be told on the big screen.
Loeb wouldn't be drawn on details of what other Marvel TV shows were on their way, but made a clear distinction between the TV spinoffs of MCU characters coming to Disney Plus – like Hawkeye, Loki, and WandaVision – and Marvel Television's own projects.
"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 Plus, we just haven’t announced what we’re going to do there."
He also hinted at more "Street-Level heroes" in the vein of the Defenders, who are generally trying "just to save themselves, to save the neighborhood" rather than "save the universe".
What could these new Marvel TV shows be?
There's no shortage of characters to draw from in Marvel Comics' long history of publishing – starting back in 1939, under the banner of Timely Comics – and it's hard to tell who we might see.
We could well get some more supernatural heroes, given the plans for the vampire-hunter Blade, Ghost Rider, and Jared Leto's upcoming turn as Morbius the Living Vampire. On the lighter side, we could also see someone like Squirrel Girl – a young superhero able to, yes, communicate with squirrels – and is a character that the former editor-in-chief at Marvel, Joe Quesada has said he'd "always wanted" to do more with.
With Iron Man now removed from the MCU, too, it may be time to introduce a successor. As of 2015, the character of Riri Williams (published as Ironheart) is an African-American MIT student who makes a suit of armor in the style of Iron Man, who is recruited by Tony Stark to become a superhero – and could be an exciting introduction to either the MCU or a more college-focused TV series.
The recent acquisition of 21st-Century Fox also opens up plenty of avenues for The Fantastic Four or X-Men characters. It's likely we'll get reboots of both franchises in some form, though whether they'd be introduced into an already-bloated cinematic universe (where will mutants fit into things?), or given the Disney Plus treatment, is anyone's guess.
Via GamesRadar
