One of Disney+’s biggest hooks is that it will bring Marvel TV shows that will be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and even though they’re still in development, Disney+ is already avoiding Netflix’s biggest MCU mistakes. After the events in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and with Spider-Man: Far From Home closing the Infinity saga, the MCU is now preparing for a new era of content that includes not only films but also TV series, though these last ones won’t stream on Netflix anymore.
Back in 2013, Marvel announced a deal with Netflix to produce several interconnected series as part of the MCU. The first one was Daredevil, released in 2015, followed by Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. These characters got their chance to team up in The Defenders in 2017, with The Punisher (as a Daredevil spinoff) arriving later that year. Although their appearances in MCU films were teased a couple of times, none of these characters made the jump to the big screen, but they did acknowledge the continuity of the films and other TV series, such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Marvel/Netflix deal came to an end in 2018, starting with the cancellation of Iron Fist season 3, followed by Luke Cage and Daredevil. The Punisher had its second and final season in January 2019, and a few months later, Jessica Jones season 3 became the final Marvel show released on Netflix. Prior to the wave of cancellations, it was announced that Marvel Studios was developing several TV series focusing on “second-tier” characters from MCU films that weren’t getting standalone films, and these series were going to be released on Disney+. These new series are a new chance to further expand the MCU, and the studio is showing that they learned from their Marvel/Netflix mistakes.
Marvel’s Disney+ Shows Have Bigger Budgets And Shorter Seasons
If Marvel wants its Disney+ series to be on par with the films in the MCU, it will have to be up for investing as much as needed – something that didn’t really happen with Netflix’s series. Marvel’s initial deal with Netflix reportedly had a budget of $200 million for all five series (it’s unknown how it was distributed, though), while the budget for Disney+’s series is said to be higher than $100 million each. To put Disney+’s budget into perspective, Thor: Ragnarok had a budget of $180 million, and while these shows might not reach those numbers, they could go as high as $150 million, which is very impressive and completely understandable given that they’ll be part of the MCU.
Another big difference which connects with the budget situation is the number of episodes these series will have. All of Netflix’s Marvel shows had 13 episodes per season (with The Defenders having eight, as it was billed as a miniseries), while Disney is aiming for six-episode seasons. Shorter seasons and a (much) bigger budget are huge steps towards a better direction, as Marvel is no longer experimenting and is ready to fully include its TV series in its connected universe.
Disney+’s Shows Are Focusing On Familiar Characters
Although Marvel’s Netflix series were part of the MCU and acknowledged the events in the films, the studio was very careful when it came to incorporating them to the films. In 2015, former Head of Marvel Television, Jeph Loeb, said the series would start out as self-contained to get the audience acquainted with the characters before they all met on the big screen. Ultimately, the heroes at Netflix never got to meet the rest, even if the actions of the others affected their worlds on different levels. Disney took note and learned from this, choosing characters that the audience already know, care about, and that have much more to offer to the bigger picture.
Disney+ is bringing series centered around Sam Wilson/Falcon, Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Vision, Loki, and Hawkeye, along with newcomers Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk. Without counting the last three, all of them had important roles in the Infinity saga at some point, and some were (sadly) left aside so the films could focus more on other characters, mostly the original Avengers. Unlike Netflix, Disney won’t have to wait to see how the audience reacts to these characters because they already know them quite well, and they want to know what they will do in their own space, especially after the events in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Disney+’s Marvel Shows Are Part Of The MCU
More than just TV shows focusing on different characters from the films, these are a continuation of the MCU and will play an important role in the upcoming phases. As much as Marvel insists that Netflix’s shows were part of the MCU, truth is that you could never watch any of them and not miss absolutely anything. In short, they are not essential when understanding the history of the MCU, and they don’t actually affect the films in any way. Disney+’s series, on the other hand, will be important when piecing together the events in the next batch of films.
Kevin Feige has already warned fans that, in order to keep up with the MCU, they will need a Disney+ subscription, as the events from the shows will factor into future films. Case in point, Scarlet Witch is confirmed to appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, meaning that fans will have to keep up with WandaVision to better understand whatever happens in Doctor Strange’s second solo film. Everything will be truly connected from now on.
Kevin Feige Is Overseeing All Marvel Shows On Disney+
Marvel Television was overseen by Jeph Loeb and was separate from Marvel Studios – but that division is now over. In October 2019, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was announced as Marvel Entertainment’s Chief Creative Officer, meaning he will now oversee the creative direction of Marvel Television and Marvel Family Entertainment. Basically, he has control of Marvel films, TV, and comics. But even before that, all Marvel series on Disney+ were set to be produced by Marvel Studios instead of Marvel Television, so Feige was going to be involved either way.
Having Feige in control of the MCU as a whole means fans will not have to worry about the new shows being so different to the films that they don’t feel like part of the big Marvel connected universe, which was often the case with Netflix’s series. While getting TV series focused on supporting characters that truly deserved better (such as the Winter Soldier, who Marvel forgot is also a super soldier) is exciting, more so if they will affect the films in the MCU and vice versa, it’s yet to be seen if this move will prove to be successful. Marvel learned from Netflix’s mistakes and is doing its best to avoid them, but forcing fans to subscribe to a platform that might not even be available everywhere by the time the first series launches (and Phase 4 begins) could not go as they expect – but only time will tell.
Next: The Biggest MCU Phase 4 Reveals From Marvel’s Disney+ Special
