Every Canceled MCU TV Series & Why They Didn’t Happen

On the one hand, there have been some excellent Marvel Cinematic Universe television series. On the other, the audience being inundated with them is a big part of why the MCU has lost some of its commercial luster the past few years. However, if things had consistently gone to plan, we could have had many more of these small-screen projects, both on network television and Disney+. And we’re now going to go through just how many of them were, at one point or another, on their way to fans, until some hiccup led to the death of their momentum. But this is for series that were cancelled. That means no miniseries. They weren’t cancelled, they ended. We also didn’t count Daredevil. It may have been cancelled on Netflix, but it still came back as Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+. Furthermore, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was given a final season; it wasn’t just unceremoniously cancelled.

As for the MCU TV series that are classified as miniseries, the list is WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Secret Invasion, Echo, Agatha All Along, Ironheart, Eyes of Wakanda, Marvel Zombies, and Wonder Man. Those all got the chance to tell their stories but, these shows, they never did.

15) Inhumans

Inhumans‘ reputation precedes it. It was built up to be this big MCU event, with its first two episodes even getting a theatrical IMAX premiere. Then, when people saw it, they thought it was a trainwreck.

There are things that work about it, like Anson Mount as Black Bolt and Serinda Swan as Medusa, but Inhumans did itself no favors by positioning itself as the MCU’s next big thing. It was far from, with an 11% on Rotten Tomatoes. The writing was on the wall from moment one. That said, we did end up getting Mount reprising his role in a memorable Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness scene.

14) Okoye and the Midnight Angels

We first meet the Midnight Angels in the 2022 movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. They’re blue armored Wakandan warriors whose loyalty primarily belongs to Okoye and, of course, the maker of their armor Shuri. But we were also supposed to see them in action in a Disney+ series.

This series, reportedly titled Okoye and the Midnight Angels, was announced in 2021, with the involvement of both Ryan Coogler and Okoye herself, Danai Gurira. Given production schedules it would have released after Wakanda Forever, but it was meant to serve as an origin story. However, by 2022 it was already announced by Marvel Studios executive Nate Moore that the forward momentum wasn’t strong, with Wakanda Forever and Ironheart being seen as larger priorities. In 2023, Moore clarified that the trepidation arose from taking away from the “cinematic experience” of the Black Panther movies by having its characters get their own spin-off series. In February 2025, it was announced that the series was officially dead in the water.

13) Ghost Rider

There was once a plan to create a branch of the MCU called Adventure into Fear. As the title of the wing implies, it would focus on horror-themed Marvel characters.

It even got off to a start with Helstrom on Hulu back in 2020 (more on that in a second). But then there was supposed to be a Ghost Rider show, with Gabriel Luna reprising his role after Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. There was then supposed to be another show, one likely focusing on Glyph, which ultimately led into a The Avengers or The Defenders-type crossover event show. But none of those latter two projects got off the ground because not even Ghost Rider could get off the ground, with behind-the-scenes creatives butting heads on just how to proceed. The deal was officially sealed when Marvel Television moved under the Marvel Studios banner in 2019.

12) Helstrom (Season 2)

The whole Adventure into Fear franchise did get started, but it was a short-lived start. And, while it is technically part of the MCU, Helstrom was intentionally designed to stand apart. That shows, because it feels entirely removed from the successful core formula.

Neither critics nor fans were at all enamored with Hulu’s Helstrom. The effects got some praise but even most of the primary performances were bashed, much less the strength of its narrative. Technically, Helstrom fell victim to Marvel’s corporate restructuring, but with reviews like it got it was never going to get a Season 2.

11) Marvel’s Agent Carter (Season 3)

While the first season of Marvel’s Agent Carter did quite well with critics and fans, Season 2 experienced a drop. Not a catastrophic drop, but a drop.

However, its reviews weren’t what got it the axe, it was really just a simple matter of poor ratings. The show was liked by those who watched it, but not many people watched it. Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter is one of the MCU’s best casting choices to date, and it says a lot that she has continued to have a presence here and there since the show’s 2015-2016 run. She also popped up in Avengers: Endgame, What If…?, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, playing Captain Carter in the latter two. And, if she doesn’t have at least a cameo in Avengers: Doomsday, suffice to say it would be a surprise

10) Jessica Jones (Season 4), Iron Fist (Season 3), Luke Cage (Season 3), and The Punisher (Season 3)

The fall of the Netflix Marvel shows can all simply be summarized. They fell because Disney+ rose.

Some were even far along the line when it came to their follow-ups. For instance, Luke Cage Season 3 had all of its episodes titled after Public Enemy songs (and if they had titles you can bet at least the gist of the season’s plot was mapped out) and Iron Fist Season 3 would have had Danny Rand in full control of his abilities, with focus also devoted to the best character of the series, Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick, who really should be brought back into the MCU fold).

9) A Nova Series

In February of last year, three MCU shows that seemed to have some momentum were put on pause. So, don’t count them out quite yet, but for now they don’t seem to be coming our way.

The biggest of those was a show based on Nova, which had been announced all the way back in 2022 with Ms. Marvel and Moon Knight‘s Sabir Pirzada on board as writer. That didn’t go anywhere so, in late 2024, Criminal Minds executive producer Ed Bernero was brought on as writer and showrunner. This one could end up being a victim of Marvel’s shifting strategy as they seek to release fewer projects per year. But Nova’s a big character, so never say never to him popping up at some point.

8) A Terror Inc. Adaptation

Like the Nova show, a Terror Inc. adaptation also got its pause button pushed. Terror Inc. was pretty niche stuff, but it could have been a nice companion piece to the similarly spooky Werewolf by Night. At this point Marvel is looking to release sure things, and Terror Inc. wouldn’t have been a sure thing.

7) Cloak & Dagger (Season 3)

Cloak & Dagger showrunner Joe Pokaski intended for the series to run for five seasons. That didn’t happen, but there were plans for where Season 3 would go, including having Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson falling in love with one another, kissing, and getting new powers because of that.

Both seasons were well liked by critics and fans, but it was another case of there just not being enough fans. The pilot had .919 million viewers while the Season 1 finale had .423 million. Season 2 then kicked off with .477 and ended with .346. That’s simply not enough to keep a show alive on basic cable (Freeform, in this case). Olivia Holt’s star is on the rise, though, so it’s possible she and Aubrey Joseph pop up somewhere down the line.

6) The Eternals

The Eternals have had some very poor luck in the MCU. The irony is that Marvel had the right idea the first time. Eternals, the movie, failed in no small part due to the fact that there were just too many introductions for a single film.

Back in 2015, though, the ball started to get rolling on a show for ABC, with updates every now and then through 2017. However, by 2018, intended showrunner John Ridley said of the potential cancellation of his series: “Perhaps, if i was at Marvel I couldn’t say too much about Marvel. The answer to your question is no comment.” Of note is the fact that it wasn’t until 2024 that Ridley revealed the show was in fact supposed to be based on the Eternals.

5) A Female-Fronted Superhero Show

It’s a little mysterious as to just what this show, announced by Marvel Television senior vice president of original programming Karim Zreik, would have been. Primarily, it would have been female-focused and, in Zreik’s words, “Jessica Jones-esque.” It was intended to go on ABC, but it was another case of the network not moving forward on a pilot order.

4) A Strange Academy Adaptation

Like Nova and Terror Inc., Strange Academy fell because of Marvel’s shifting release strategy. And, especially like Terror Inc., it’s a niche Marvel Comics property.

However, this one would have had Jane the Virgin‘s Amy Rardin on board, and it would have focused on Benedict Wong’s Wong as the protagonist. If the budget were kept in a reasonable range, this one could have done well. Wong teaching a bunch of kids with magical powers? Could have been a nice project for the MCU’s younger fans.

3) New Warriors

Milana Vayntrub has been diligently stealing scenes for about 25 years ago, when she isn’t playing Lily Adams in AT&T commercials, that is. But she and her perfect casting as Squirrel Girl would have been just one thing that the New Warriors unaired pilot had in its corner. Calum Worthy is also a reliable on-screen presence as is Kate Comer.

As can be gleamed by the presence of Vayntrub and Comer, New Warriors would have been comedic in tone. Unfortunately, the pilot never ended up airing on Freeform as intended due to scheduling issues. Then, when it was given back to Marvel Television, they couldn’t find another suitable venue for it. Even still, Marvel has clearly recognized that they can’t do any better than Vayntrub for Squirrel girl, as she voiced the character in the TV movie Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors, an episode of Marvel Rising Ultimate Comic, seven episodes of Marvel Rising: Initiation, the video game Marvel Rivals, and six episodes of Marvel’s Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show. Fingers crossed she shows up in Avengers: Secret Wars.

2) Marvel’s Most Wanted

In April of 2015, towards the end of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s second season, it was announced that it was receiving a spin-off series with Adrianne Palicki reprising her role as Bobbi Morse and Nick Blood coming back as Lance Hunter. That would have been Marvel’s Most Wanted.

However, the very next month, it was then reported that it would not, in fact, be moving forward at ABC. ABC Entertainment president Paul Lee said it was because the two aforementioned characters were assets to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and that “We thought the right thing now is to leave them on S.H.I.E.L.D. because S.H.I.E.L.D.” was performing so well at that time. Then it got some wind under its sails again in 2016, but once again it didn’t move forward, though a pilot was shot.

1) Damage Control

As has been the case with a few other entries, Marvel cancelled Damage Control, but the organization has still found a way to become a part of the MCU in the wake of getting the axe. But it’s easy to see why they wanted to get this one on the small screen. It would have been a fitting bureaucracy-focused show on ABC, right alongside Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Damage Control was intended to air in 2016 and be comedic in tone, which stands in contrast to their buttoned up first appearance in Spider-Man: Homecoming. There’s no concrete reason why Damage Control moved forward at ABC, but one need only look at Marvel’s Most Wanted to see that the MCU was struggling to get content on network television. It wouldn’t be until Disney+ that Marvel was able to consistently get their original projects on small screens one after the other. In the end it’s better off that the organization is being used as it is now, not in what amounts to a sitcom format. That would not have lasted long.

Which of these Marvel shows would you have loved to see? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

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