There is a new day dawning for
television programming based on characters from Marvel Comics, even as several
existing series have ended, are coming to a close, or never went beyond
development. This is due to the empowering vision of Kevin Feige, head of Marvel
Studios which created the MCU franchise, and now Chief Creative Officer of the
whole Marvel Entertainment umbrella under Disney. While the focus of Marvel
Studios outside of the MCU movies so far is on more franchise tie-in shows streaming
for Disney+, they apparently have not ignored TV networks completely, as Feige
is reported to have a new ABC series planned.
According to Comic Book Resources, there have been recent talks between Kevin
Feige and Karey Burke of ABC Entertainment regarding the possibility of
bringing a new show featuring Marvel characters on the network. This is
significant considering ABC’s primary Marvel series, “Agents of SHIELD,” is
coming to a close with its upcoming seventh season. Furthermore, a new deal
will need to be formed between Marvel and ABC considering “SHIELD” was a Marvel
Television production, and that arm of Marvel Entertainment was absorbed into
Marvel Studios late last year, shortly after Feige was named Marvel CCO.
Burke notes that Marvel has been
great partners with ABC over the years, and that the network is sad to see “Agents
of SHIELD” concluding soon. "We’re looking forward to working with Kevin
Feige and we’re at the very beginning of conversations with him now about what
a Marvel and ABC show might look like,” he says, though he also adds that it
was understandable that the studio focus on the original exclusive content it will
premiere on Disney+ first. It also has to keep the films going, with the MCU
proper on its fourth phase and “Black Widow” premiering this year on May 1.
Formed in 2010 with Jeph Loeb as
executive VP, Marvel Television produced TV shows for several networks and
streaming services. Some of these series were either tied to the MCU franchise
(such as those on ABC and Netflix) while others were tangentially connected to
the “X-Men” films from 20th Century Fox. Marvel TV also oversaw the various
animated productions of Marvel Animation, which aired mostly on Disney Channel
or XD.
While talks between Kevin Feige
and ABC continue on what new Marvel series might grace that network after the
end of “Agents of SHIELD,” the stable of Marvel Television shows co-produced by
Netflix (with referential MCU ties) might soon have their rights reverting to
Marvel Studios following an exclusivity period with Netflix that would end two
years after the series ended or was cancelled. The first of these “Iron Fist,”
got axed after two seasons in October 2018, and will apparently become free
this year.
0 comments:
Post a Comment