Is Marvel Studios Pushing Out Marvel Television For Bigger-Budgeted, Cinematic-Looking Shows?
As Disney+ gets ready to launch its slew of Marvel-based television shows via Marvel Studios, the fate of Marvel Television is up in the air. Marvel Television was previously leading the TV-based Marvel entertainment, including now-canceled Netflix shows like Daredevil. But insiders are reporting that Kevin Feige's Marvel Studios is taking the reigns on the TV projects, especially those for Disney+. On top of that, Feige and company are planning bigger-budgeted shows that will strive to look as close to the Marvel Studios movies as possible.
Variety has a report that indicates the fate of Marvel Television is in question as Marvel Entertainment takes a bigger interest in TV and streaming-based titles. To be clear: Marvel Television isn't going away, and they have several live-action projects at various stages of development. But the Variety story sure makes it sound like Marvel Entertainment is going to be doing the heavy lifting. Per their report: All Marvel Studios shows are expected to be six to eight episodes per season, with budgets comparable to a Marvel film project, which "typically run between $100 and $150 million."
According to an individual with knowledge of the productions, Marvel Studios execs and Feige held meetings early on to discuss how to maintain the visual standard fans have come to expect from Marvel's films while still bringing their budgets more in line with other TV shows. Those budgets will still be on the high end of the spectrum.
Those budgets are much, much higher than the Marvel Television budgets, which indicates that Feige and company are striving to make the Disney+ Marvel shows stand out from what we've previously seen. This is certainly a good strategy to draw in more Disney+ subscribers, who will be getting their money's worth.
While Marvel Studios has been thriving, Marvel Television has hit a bumpy road. All of the Netflix shows ended up being canceled, and a plan for a Ghost Rider TV show recently fell apart. And while Marvel Television has live-action projects in development, the only title currently attached to a network is Helstrom, which will end up on Hulu – unless that, too, falls apart.
Variety adds that as Marvel Entertainment takes over on the live-action TV front, Marvel Television will likely set their sights on animated shows. Animated titles Howard the the Duck, MODOK, Hit-Monkey, and Tigra and Dazzler are all in the works for Hulu. The ultimate plan is to have all four of these animated shows crossover into an event series called The Offenders.