The showrunner for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Malcolm Spellman, was interviewed by Amon Warmann on the Fade to Black Podcast this week. Even though he shied away from several topics not to spill anything on Marvel Studios’ plans, there were still a few curious soundbites to highlight. When asked about the rumor floating around that a “lost” storyline might have been cut from the show because it mirrored the current COVID-19 pandemic a bit too closely, Spellman gave the following statement:
I’ve been told to stop saying that [refering to the “lost” storyline]. I loved it and it had nothing to do with the pandemic. (…) I want to see if we can get some of the writers to do a book run on it because I think Kevin [Feige] does it. I’ve been told to stop talking about it.
This would indicate that the “lost” storyline might not be lost for long. Given Spellman loved it so much, it might get the traction to get adapted in comic form. Since it ended up being cut entirely from the show, it will still feel like a fresh idea and not a simple rehash of old material. The reference to Kevin Feige is also noteworthy since he was named Chief Creative Officer for Marvel Comics back in October 2019. It gave him a larger role in deciding which storylines make it to the comics.
Another takeaway from that quote is how Spellman negates that the storyline was cut due to the pandemic or potentially related to it. The idea first started when it was revealed that the limited liability company created for the series was titled Pandemic Productions. Now, it seems that the only real impact COVID-19 had on the show was purely in terms of safety precautions and limitations on their shooting locations. It seems it had little to do with the actual story being told. He also hints at this in the interview by revealing they initially had eight episodes mapped out before cutting out the “flab” as he called it. It’ll be interesting to see if this mysterious storyline makes a return in comic form sometime in the future.
Source: CNBC, Fade to Black Podcast
