Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Champions

  • New Report Reveals Marvel Studios Post-Secret Wars Streaming Slate

    New Report Reveals Marvel Studios Post-Secret Wars Streaming Slate

    As the calendar rolls over to 2026, Marvel Studios prepares to begin production on the final projects of its Multiverse Saga. Both Season 3 of Daredevil: Born Again and Avengers: Secret Wars are expected to kick off principal photography in either the late first quarter or early second quarter of the year, ahead of their 2027 releases. That leaves a lot of time in the second half of the year for the studio to get to work on whatever it is they’re going to call the next saga and while that might be unclear at present, the first several projects of it are far more defined.

    What I can say is, it’s just inherently interesting and complex material. The core idea of what X-Men is involves complexity.

    –X-Men director Jake Schreier

    Though it’s reportedly undergoing a rewrite, Marvel has already begun working on X-Men, according to director Jake Schreier. Casting for the youth-focused reboot was reportedly set to get underway in late 2025 and the film is expected to be one of the four Marvel Studios projects to hit theaters in 2028.

    Black Panther 3 is also on track for a 2028 release and a sequel to The Fantastic Four: First Steps will likely land there as well. In addition, Thor, Doctor Strange and Shang-Chi sequels could be on the docket in 2028 and beyond, as well as the studio’s long-awaited Blade reboot or the Midnight Sons ensemble film or Ryan Reynolds X-Men team-up film. As ordered as the theatrical side of the slate seems to be, streaming appears a bit more chaotic.

    Outside of a potential fourth season of Daredevil: Born Again and third seasons of X-Men ’97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Marvel Television’s post-Secret Wars slate is pretty undefined. However, a new report might provide a potential outline for what’s to come over the next several years.

    According to Daniel Richtman, Marvel Television is developing a Jessica Jones project and its long-developing Champions project alongside the recently revived Strange Academy for the new saga. Additionally, a Ghost Rider project is said to be underway, though Richtman didn’t indicate which branch of the studio would be working on it.

    In the case of Ghost Rider, rumors have ranged from the studio having lined up The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus to portray Johnny Blaze to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actor Gabriel Luna jumping to the MCU to reprise the role of Robbie Reyes to Nicholas Cage making a cameo appearance as the character in Deadpool & Wolverine. To date, of course, there’s been nary a Ghost Rider to be found but that may change soon if Marvel’s head of streaming, television and animation, Brad Winderbaum, gets his way. “I would wanna do the Danny Ketch era of Ghost Rider,” revealed Winderbaum in 2024 interview. “I think there are a lot of people who would be here for some Ghost Rider.”

    There’s a lot of stuff that I’ve felt there was room to explore, and Brad and I talked about it and I am not going to say any of it, because we’re going to be doing it.

    -Krysten Ritter

    After appearing at NYCC 2025, Jessica Jones star Krysten Ritter revealed that she and Marvel Television top dog had been discussing the potential for Jones-centric projects, which Winderbaum teased may be “coming sooner than you think.”

    With Strange Academy reportedly now looking for a new writer and the studio locked in on the core cast of Champions, which was at one point being developed by Shrinking writer Rachna Fruchbom, those projects do indeed seem to be good bets to hit D+ between 2028 and 2032, which is currently how far out Kevin Feige claims to have planned the new saga.

  • Apple TV+’s ‘Shrinking’ Writer Reportedly Developing Long-Rumored Marvel Studios Streaming Project

    Apple TV+’s ‘Shrinking’ Writer Reportedly Developing Long-Rumored Marvel Studios Streaming Project

    For quite some time now, Marvel Studios has been working on bringing a team of young heroes to the MCU. Beginning with WandaVision and continuing on through other projects such as but not limited to Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Agatha All Along, that next generation of heroes has begun to fight its own battles. Then, in 2023’s The Marvels, the studio took its first step in uniting those characters when Kamala Khan did her best Nick Fury impression, sneaking into Kate Bishop’s apartment in an effort to recruit her to an as-yet-unnamed team.

    For quite a while, it seemed as though that team was destined to be the Young Avengers; however, in November 2024, a report indicated that with many of the characters rumored to be part of Kamala and Kate’s team not being very young at all, Marvel Television was looking to develop the project as Champions. Now, according to a new report, the studio has locked down a showrunner to develop the project for Disney Plus.

    According to Nexus Point News, Rachna Fruchbom has agreed to a deal with Marvel develop Champions as showrunner and executive producer.

    Fruchbom wrote 28 episodes of the ABC comedy Fresh Off the Boat before moving on to And Just Like That and, more recently, Shrinking, the Apple TV+ documentary series that follows a group of octogenarian men before, during and after they take the “Polar Bear Plunge.”

    While the source is sound, it comes on the heels of the studio halting development on a trio of shows including Nova, which had a showrunner and had even been rumored to begin production later this year. So despite reports that the studio has locked in on its core cast for Champions (Iman Vellani and Hailee Steinfeld, Joe Locke, Dominique Thorne, Kathryn Newton and Xochitl Gomez), it’s worth remembering that Marvel Televison headman Brad Winderbaum has repeatedly explained that the studio is developing far more projects than they will actually produce and that things can change quickly. That said, Champions has been rumored to be on the studio’s 2026 production docket with an eye on releasing it after the completion of the Multiverse Saga.

    Source: Nexus Point News

  • Marvel’s Hidden Champion

    Marvel’s Hidden Champion

    While no official announcement has been made, enough rumors and reports concerning Marvel Studios long-gestating Young Avengers project are accumulating that it seems as though some sort of news should be imminent. Whether or not that happens, fans have been and will continue to be excited about the possibility of the studio assembling a team of young heroes even if it happens in a project titled Champions rather than Young Avengers.

    While the latest report indicated that telhr studio was closing in on landing a showrunner and had begun locking in the core cast of Champions, it would be foolish to assume that the six heroes identified in Daniel Richtman’s scoop won’t have company from some other young heroes. Though Kamala Khan, Kate Bishop, Billy Maximoff, America Chavez, Riri Williams and Cassie Lang would make a formidable team, there are plenty of other potential Champions-in-waiting.

    Given that the rumored roster of the team is a mash-up of comic book Champions and Young Avengers, it’s unlikely that EVERY character from either team who is either in the MCU already or believed to be on the way could possibly play a major role in what’s likely to be a six-to-ten episode series. And so while Eli Bradley, Amadeus Cho, Hulkling, Speed or even Viv Vision might make the team, they aren’t the only options out there. In fact, one potential recruit who supplies the team with something they desperately need may be hiding in the streets of Hell’s Kitchen.

    Though none of the events Netflix’s two-season run on Luke Cage had impacted the MCU so far, the decision by Marvel Studios to retcon all of the Defenders-verse series into the Sacred Timeline allows for them to ripple through the narrative fabric of the Multiverse Saga and beyond. And with the studio now bringing together a team of young heroes, it might be the right time to explore the legacy of one of Luke Cage‘s most compelling supporting characters.

    Over the course of two seasons, Theo Rossi‘s chillingly serene Shades stayed in the game while nearly every other baddie went by the wayside. Though no mention was made of it in the Netflix series, Shades comic book counterpart had a son, Victor Alvarez…and following a terrible tragedy, Victor gained some incredible power, man.  And while it might take some creativity on Marvel Television’s part, the perfect opportunity exists to bring Victor into the MCU and give the Champions their Power Man.

    In the comics, Victor was the sole survivor of an building explosion rigged by Bullseye. During the disaster, his father’s bioelectric visor shattered with pieces of it embedding themselves in Victor’s skin, giving him the unique ability to absorb chi from his environment and then manipulate the energy similarly to the way Danny Rand uses it in Iron Fist.

    Given the disparity between the MCU’s version of Shades and the one from the comics, a new origin story for Victor’s powers would be in order. However, it is very doable and tying a new hero to Luke Cage would be a step in the right direction in ultimately fully embracing it the way the studio has Daredevil and The Punisher. Though Victor Alvarez, aka Power Man, hasn’t racked up the same number of comic book appearances as the other characters rumored to be leading the team of Champions, he has been an Avenger and, for a time, a member of the comic book Champions. If his time isn’t now, it may never be.

  • Marvel Has Reportedly Locked In the Core Cast of ‘Champions’

    Marvel Has Reportedly Locked In the Core Cast of ‘Champions’

    As 2025 gets underway and Marvel Studios looks to begin production on two major pieces of the final phase of the Multiverse Saga in Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man 4, Kevin Feige and the Parliament must also continue to keep an eye on the future of the franchise. Though nobody is quite certain just what to expect from Avengers: Secret Wars in terms of the impact it will have on whatever the next Marvel saga is, rumors and reports of projects in development do provide some pieces of the puzzle.

    With Michael Lesslie hard at work on a script for the first Marvel Studios-produced X-Men film, it is safe to say the next saga will have its fair share of mutant heroes and villains. And while most of the focus might fall on whatever version of Charles Xavier’s uncanny team of heroes make their way into the MCU, another project featuring the MCU’s first mutant also looks to be gaining traction.

    According to Marvel insider Daniel Richtman, Marvel Studios’ D+ streaming series, Champions, is close to landing a showrunner and has begun locking in key cast members. Richtman reports that in addition to Iman Vellani and Hailee Steinfeld, who appeared together in a credit scene for The Marvels meant to tease Champions, Joe Locke, Dominique Thorne, Kathryn Newton and Xochitl Gomez have also joined the project. Though the report indicates that those six actors are the series’ leads, it does not indicate that other young heroes won’t join the project in supporting roles.

    Previously, Richtman reported that the search for a showrunner had begun and that the studio had an eye on beginning production on Champions in 2026 to have it ready for a post-Secret Wars release on D+. Given the studio’s desire to move to only two streaming projects per year, Champions likely would not be released until the second half of 2027 or even 2028. By that time, many of the actors playing the heroes would be closing in on turning 30 years old. That reportedly played a part in the decision to retitle the project, originally being developed as Young Avengers.