When Marvel Comics began
expanding from its superhero comic-book publishing roots into an overall media
company, it became Marvel Entertainment with specific divisions for production
of other media, particularly since 1998. Marvel Television was formed in 2010
to oversee TV adaptations of Marvel properties. It came to prominence by
developing television tie-ins to films from the MCU franchise of Marvel Studios
such as “Agents of SHIELD,” and then for the Netflix collaborations that
produced “Daredevil” and “Jessica Jones” among others. But with the beginning
of TV-level productions by Marvel Studios for Disney+, Marvel Television has
been sidelined until word came out that this division has been folded into
Marvel Studios.
As The Hollywood Reporter tells it, Marvel Television has ceased being
a distinct entity division of Marvel Entertainment after it was folded into
Marvel Studios as of Tuesday, December 10. In fact, this started all the way
back in October, when Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige was appointed as the
Chief Creative Officer of Marvel overall, giving him oversight on the creative
direction of Marvel Comics, TV and animation, the film studio, and others.
Marvel Television under Jeph Loeb was actually transferred to Marvel Studios’
control along with Marvel Animation during that period of time.
What this means is that no new TV
productions will be created under the Marvel Television banner, although a
number of already in-development programming, such as a variety of animated
series for Hulu along with the live-action “Helstrom,” will proceed apace.
There is however no guarantee that these content will actually be completed for
streaming. Loeb himself, expected to step down as head of Marvel TV by
Thanksgiving, would likely be exiting Marvel Entertainment entirely.
Originally just another division
under Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Studios under Kevin Feige became a priority
arm of the company with the success of the first MCU films. When Disney
acquired the entirety of Marvel, they in 2015 spun off Marvel Studios into a
distinct subsidiary under Walt Disney Studios, giving it greater autonomy in
adapting Marvel characters to film apart from the rest of Marvel Entertainment.
While Marvel Television tried to work in synergy with Studios in connecting
certain shows to the MCU setting, creative differences eventually set them
apart.
The folded units of Marvel Television
now under Marvel Studios could be used to develop more TV adaptations that may
not necessarily be exclusives for Disney+ streaming. In the meantime, the last
still-running Marvel TV series are just about to finish their final seasons,
namely Hulu’s “Runaways” with season 3 starting Friday, December 3, and ABC’s “Agents
of SHIELD” which with season 7 this 2020.
0 comments:
Post a Comment