There was a time not so long ago that the future of Marvel Television looked quite bleak. At the time, the Burbank-based television studio had a dozen series with a slew of broadcast platforms and then suddenly, one by one, the shows started disappearing quicker than rent money. In a matter of weeks, Netflix pulled the plug on their entire slate of Marvel shows, cutting the offerings from Marvel Television in half. Then sometime after that, Fox sent The Gifted to the chopping block.
Videos by ComicBook.com
At one point, the television outfit was down to three series, not counting Legion‘s third and final season on FX later this year. But as quick as Marvel was hemorrhaging television series, Jeph Loeb and company were hard at work seeking out creators to help pitch new shows to potential partners and what once seemed all doom and gloom now had the slightest glimmer of hope.
First, came the announcement of an adult-oriented animated universe rooted on Hulu featuring characters that likely would never get live-action attention from Marvel Television or its big brother in Marvel Studios. With that deal, a whopping four shows were ordered by the Disney-owned streaming platform — MODOK, Hit-Monkey, Howard the Duck, and Tigra & Dazzler. And just like that, Marvel Television was slowly starting to get back to business.
Then came the announcement that Hulu had also ordered a pair of Marvel-centric live-action properties in Ghost Rider and Helstrom, again focusing on a set of unique characters that’d bring another flavor to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Those two shows alone could end up resulting in a VengeanceVerse of its own, but that’s explained elsewhere.
It was as if Loeb himself was looking down upon the naysayers and with a smile, gathered what Z-list characters he could find to assemble his own Infinity Gauntlet before snapping an all-new universe of shows back into existence. Call us crazy, but it just might work.
You see, Marvel Studios has found tremendous success in betting on the unrecognized characters to build their franchises and as you can tell by the box office receipts, it has paid off dividends. Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the production house’s most popular franchises and they’ve increasingly put more emphasis in the unknown, setting themselves up to introduce properties like The Eternals and Shang-Chi over the next few years.
The old adage tells us that the proof is in the pudding, and Marvel Television could end up making something incredible as if it were a phoenix rising from its ashes. Believe it or not, the odds actually might be in their favor.
The highly anticipated merger between Disney and Fox was widely known around these circles as the deal that’d finally return the live-action rights of those characters under the X-Men and Fantastic Four brands to Marvel Studios. While that deal will certainly lead to Wolverine, Cyclops, and Dr. Doom joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe before too long, it also came with plenty of opportunities for Marvel Television.
Outside of those characters “coming back home,” Disney suddenly now owned more channels than they used to; the House of Mouse now owned an overwhelming majority of Hulu. The latter has already paid off big time for Loeb and his team and they haven’t scratched the surface with the other offerings. With Legion ending this year, one would think that the channel and its sister channel in FXX would be another prime location for the former Netflix Marvel programming.
Legion isn’t really any less tame than Daredevil, Luke Cage, or any other part of the former Defendersverse on Netflix. Coincidentally enough, many of those characters can likely be used starting later next year — right around the time Marvel’s new slate of television shows are just getting off the ground.
And all this isn’t even taking into account the existing relationship Marvel Television has with ABC or Freeform. The former continually finds itself in support of Agents of SHIELD, ordering a seventh season for the show well before the sixth season even hit the airwaves while the latter is home to one of the most critically-acclaimed television series the House of Idea has ever produced. Again, two more channels the group has plenty of experience in dealing with.
There’s no denying the past six months have been rough for the team at Marvel Television but luckily, the stars have aligned just right for Loeb and company to make the best of the opportunities thrown at their feet. It may be the eternal optimist in me, but there has been more than enough indication the team is hopeful moving forward — after all, they do always say it’s darkest before the dawn.
What other shows do you hope Marvel Television pursues eventually? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt to talk all things MCU!
Agents of SHIELD Season Six currently airs new episodes every Friday night while the second season of Cloak & Dagger wraps with its finale this Thursday.
