Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Marvel Animation

  • Marvel Animation’s Possible 2025 Slate Revealed

    Marvel Animation’s Possible 2025 Slate Revealed

    Following some reflection its television production methodology, Marvel Studios longtime Parliament member Brad Winderbaum, the studio’s Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation, oversaw some significant restructuring and rebranding that helped move developing and future projects away from the good old “it’s all connected” era. As part of the restructuring, Marvel Studios Disney Plus projects would be produced under all-new, all-different banners such as Marvel Spotlight, Marvel Animation and Marvel Television.

    The first projects produced under each of those banners debuted in 2024. As the first Marvel Spotlight project, Echo carried on the spirit of Stan Lee’s “tryout books” in bringing “more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen.” According to Disney, Spotlight projects “can focus on street-level stakes over larger MCU continuity” and, perhaps most importantly, ensure “viewers don’t have to watch any other Marvel series to understand the plot.” Shortly after Echo’s binge release, X-Men ’97, Marvel Animation’s first streaming project, hit Disney Plus and brought a tidal wave of positive vibes with it. And as Agatha All Along, the first project made under the Marvel Television banner, neses the end of its run, it continues to receive praise from fans and critics alike. In short, rebranding Year One was a success. And now it seems the Year Two slate is starting to take shape.

    There was a lot of pressure post-Avengers: Endgame on the public to feel obligated to watch absolutely everything in order to watch anything. Part of the rebranding was a signal to the general audience that we’re creating a lot of options, and you can follow your tastes within this brand. Some will be more comedic, some will be more dramatic, some will be animated, some will be live-action. Marvel is more than just one thing — it is actually many different genres that just happened to coexist in a single narrative.

    -Brad Winderbaum
    As part of an update to its All Access page, Disney has uploaded logos for several projects. Embedded in the files for some of those projects are potential release dates for some animated projects which indicate they are currently set to debut on Disney Plus in 2025.

    Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

    Tentative Premiere: January 25, 2025

    First announced as Spider-Man: Freshman Year on November 12th, 2021 on Disney Plus Day, the animated series was retitled Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man in December 2023.

    Originally described as a story that would follow “Peter Parker on his way to becoming Spider-Man in the MCU,” the project, created by Jeff Trammell, underwent some major changes. In 2022, Winderbaum clarified that the series is set elsewhere in the multiverse and not on the Sacred Timeline.

    It follows the pattern that you see in [Captain America:] Civil War. Down to Peter getting the broken Blu-ray player from the trash and he walks into his department for the famous moment where Tony Stark is waiting for him to offer him the stark internship and take him to Berlin. But because of things that happen in the multiverse because of new, random occurrences, it’s not Tony Stark who’s waiting for him there. It’s Norman Osborn and that sends his life in an unexpected trajectory that collides him with many unexpected characters in the Marvel universe.

    -Brad Winderbaum

    What If…? Season 3

    Tentative Premiere: TBD

    Originally considered for a late-2024 release, the third and final season of What If…? has seemingly been meant for a 2025 release for some time. In May 2024, Winderbaum indicated the project “might be the one that comes out next.”

    We’re actually close to completing that one, and it really feels like you’ve gone through this amazing emotional experience with Uatu, in a way that’s… What’s great about The Watcher is that he presents himself as uncaring, and cold, and just an observer, but he cares more than everybody [and] anybody. That is on full display in that third season.

    -Brad Winderbaum on Season 3 of What If…?

    At that time, both Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and Eyes of Wakanda were still part of the studio’s 2024 streaming slate, as revealed in late 2023.

    Eyes of Wakanda

    Tentative Premiere: August 6, 2025

    First revealed in December 2023, Eyes of Wakanda is an animated series that Winderbaum explained “fits right into our sacred MCU timeline continuity.”

    Throughout Wakandan history, brave warriors have been tasked to travel the world retrieving dangerous vibranium artifacts. This is their story.

    -Official Synopsis, Eyes of Wakanda

    Marvel Zombies

    Tentative Premiere: October 2025

    Announced as part of 2021’s Disney Plus Day, Marvel Zombies was originally thought to be headed for a 2024 release though the studio never gave any indication of its plans.

    We’ve done the whole thing. It was amazing. It was so much fun. And I love—there are a lot of cool characters in the ‘Marvel Zombies’ show. And Kamala is kind of the center of the show. They described it to me, it’s like, “She’s basically the Frodo of the story.” And I was like, “That’s amazing.”

    -Iman Vellani

    A four-episode, TV-MA series developed by Marvel Comics’ writer Zeb Wells, Marvel Zombies will feature Iman Vellani‘s Kamala Khan as well as zombified versions of Jimmy Woo, Kate Bishop, Shang-Chi, and more.

  • Surprise Marvel Animation Series Slips into 2025

    Surprise Marvel Animation Series Slips into 2025

    In March 2023, rumors began to swirl that Black Panther director Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media production company had begun developing an animated series for Marvel Studios. As Marvel Studios revamped their streaming slate and skipped out on SDCC ’23, the series, said at the time to be referred to as The Golden City, remained nothing but a rumor. However at a press event for Season 2 of What If…? held at the Walt Disney Studios Lot in December 2023, head of streaming, television and animation for Marvel Studios, Brad Winderbaum, revealed that the new series, titled Eyes of Wakanda, was set for a 2024 release on Disney Plus.

    Directed by Todd Harris, the series will follow “brave warriors” known as War Dogs, who “throughout Wakandan history have been tasked to travel the world retrieving dangerous vibranium artifacts.” Eyes of Wakanda, Winderbaum revealed, “fits right into our sacred MCU timeline continuity,” making it MCU canon. A leaked description of one episode of the series revealed that it would introduce an Iron Fist named Janora, an original character created just for the show, who would be working with a Wakanda named Basha. In 2022, we first shared information that indicated the studio was developing an animated series that would feature a character named “Jin”, described as a “Chinese warrior” and “perhaps the best-trained martial artist in the world.” According to that information, “Jin’s” story kicks off when another character named “Bosco” steals one of the series’ MacGuffin artifacts. Connect the dots and it sounds like Basha may head to K’un Lun to retrieve some type of Vibranium artifact and then find himself at odds with Janora.

    Despite being developed mostly in secret, Eyes of Wakanda quickly became a hot topic of discussion among fans but as 2024 went on with no word of a premiere date, concern over the project grew. Fans can rest easy now, however, as an update to Disney’s All Access page revealed that the series is now part of Marvel Studios’ 2025 slate with an expected release date of August 6th.

    Throughout Wakandan history, brave warriors have been tasked to travel the world retrieving dangerous vibranium artifacts. This is their story.

    -Official Synopsis, Eyes of Wakanda

    As seen in Black Panther, the history of Wakanda stretches back to 28,000 B.C. though the meteorite that brought Vibranium to Africa and the Atlantic Ocean fell from the sky much earlier in 2,500,000 B.C.. This provides Marvel Studios the opportunity to use the series, which consists of 4, 30-minute episodes, an opportunity to redefine its Sacred Timeline by telling stories whose primary settings predate any seen to date in the MCU.

  • One of Marvel Studios’ Highest-Rated Series Reportedly Facing a Major Season 2 Slowdown

    One of Marvel Studios’ Highest-Rated Series Reportedly Facing a Major Season 2 Slowdown

    After a rough 2023, Marvel Studios turned to the X-Men to help reclaim its position at pop culture’s top dog in 2024. Deadpool & Wolverine was always expected to do big business at the box office (and it did just that, currently sitting as the 5th highest-grossing MCU project of all time) but it was another X-Men project that provided a spark of renewed hope when the studio needed it most.

    While Deadpool & Wolverine landed as expected, Marvel Studios’ animated streaming series, X-Men ’97, delivered more than anyone could have hoped, immediately capturing its audience and holding onto it over its 10-episode run. The animated revival, dripping with nostalgia, showed fans just what stories about the band of mutant heroes can be and left fans on the edge with its season-finale cliffhanger. In the wake of the finale, the studio shared encouraging news that Season 2 wouldn’t be too far off but now, a new report brings some potential bad tidings on that front.

    According to Nexus Point News, Season 2 of X-Men ’97 is unlikely to hit Disney Plus before 2026, citing changes to the story following the firing of showrunner Beau DeMayo earlier this year.
    (L-R): Beast (voiced by George Buza), Roberto Da Costa (voiced by Gui Agustini), Jubilee (voiced by Holly Chou), Cyclops (voiced by Ray Chase), Jean Grey (voiced by Jennifer Hale), Morph (voiced by JP Karliak), and Wolverine (voiced by Cal Dodd) in Marvel Animation’s X-MEN ’97. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 MARVEL.

    Before his dismissal, DeMayo had completed work on the scripts for the sophomore season and had outlined a 5-season plan for the series which he teased involved the villain Onslaught and an adaptation of the revered Age of Apocalypse Marvel Comics crossover event. Ms. Marvel and What If…? scribe Matthew Chauncey landed the job as the new head writer of the series and while his duties were expected to begin with Season 3, NPN reports he is now rewriting DeMayo’s drafts for Season 2.

    Earlier this year, it was reported that Season 2 of X-Men ’97 was in post-production and eyeing a 2025 debut on D+. However, in May, Marvel TV and Animation head honcho Brad Winderbaum cautioned fans to exercise patience, saying the series was “still in animatic phase“, adding that “animation takes so long to make.” Should this new report hold true, it looks like fans will have to exhibit a bit more patience than they’d probably care to do.

    Source: Nexus Point News

  • Marvel Studios Reportedly Reanimating a Project Long Thought to Be Dead

    Marvel Studios Reportedly Reanimating a Project Long Thought to Be Dead

    Despite the not-insignificant drama now surrounding its creator, Marvel Animation’s What If…? Season 2 and X-Men ’97 provided the impulse to change the direction of Marvel Studios’ momentum in 2024. With more seasons of those two series in the works in addition to exciting new projects such as Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Eyes of Wakanda and Marvel Zombies, the future of animated projects at Marvel is already bright…and may be getting brighter, yet.

    According to insider Daniel RPK, Power Pack is back in development at Marvel Studios, this time as an animated streaming series. Gifted with powerful cosmic abilities obtained from a space horse named Whitey, Power Pack is a superhero team of pre-teen sibs who find themselves taking part in crazy cosmic adventures together. The superhero team was introduced into Marvel Comics in 1984 and while they’ve mostly stuck to their own corner of the universe, have shared the stage with the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the Avengers.

    Marvel has been trying to find a way to bring Power Pack to audiences for over two decades but has continued to put the superhero team on the back burner for various reasons. In 2000–long before the birth of the MCU–Marvel struck a deal with Artisan Entertainment to develop 15 properties for film or television series. Lead by Captain America and Thor, the deal also called for projects featuring Iron Fist, Black Panther, Deadpool, Longshot and Power Pack to be curated under Avi Arad.

    In 2017, Marvel Studios took back up the Power Pack torch and began development on the project under the watchful eye of Jonathan Schwartz, now the VP of Production & Development. By 2021, the project had been shelved as the MCU continued to grow and evolve. In an interview with Murphy’s Multiverse, Schwartz said of Power Pack, “It’s one of those things we look at and talk about every once in a while. We’ll probably get there eventually but it’s not something super active at the moment.” Should this new report prove true, it seems as though eventually is now.

  • D23: ‘What If…?’ to End with Season 3

    D23: ‘What If…?’ to End with Season 3

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    With the series ending, director and showrunner Bryan Andrews explained that he was comfortable going big. “We can take big swings,” said Andrews of the creative teams efforts for Season 3. To that end, the series is set to feature some wild new genres, including a Western, and expand its roster beyond the major characters who populated most of the show’s first two seasons.

    In addition to a Western, another of those “big swings” will see a new team of Avengers–featuring Sam Wilson, Moon Knight and Monica Rambeau, take on gamma monsters.

    Updating…

  • D23: Marvel Animation’s ‘What If…?’ Season 3 to Feature a New Roster of Heroes

    D23: Marvel Animation’s ‘What If…?’ Season 3 to Feature a New Roster of Heroes

    While the first two seasons of What If…? bopped all over the multiverse, the episodes by and large featured Marvel Studio’s core Avengers. It’s been explained that there were good reasons for the limited roster of characters and the promise was made that Season 3 would expand on said roster. If a look at the series during Marvel Animation’s D23 presentation is anything to go on, the promise has been kept.

    According to various outlets in attendance at the presentation, What If…? Season 3 will feature Shang-Chi, Moon Knight, Ironheart and the White Vision among its cast of characters.

    https://twitter.com/Seantaj/status/1822360907411849524

    Updating…

  • What to Expect from Marvel Studios at D23

    What to Expect from Marvel Studios at D23

    Just two weeks after Marvel Studios made a splash at SDCC ’24 by announcing Robert Downey Jr. and the Russos were returning to the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday, Kevin Feige will be back on stage with more to share at D23. Marvel will have two chances to wow D23 attendees this weekend with a portion of Disney’s Entertainment Showcase carved out for their live-action slate and a separate panel dedicated to Marvel Animation.

    Before the festivities get started, let’s take a look at what’s likely to go down in Anaheim.

    Marvel Animation Sneak Peek (Saturday-12:45 PM PDT/3:45 PM EDT)

    On Saturday afternoon, the newly formed Marvel Animation studio will have its first D23 solo panel. There’s not much guesswork to be done here in terms of what to expect because Disney already paid it out on the official D23 website.

    Eyes of Wakanda and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man were included on the studio’s 2024 slate as shared by Disney in late 2023 and there’s still plenty of time for both projects to steam, especially since Eyes of Wakanda only consists of four episodes. Teaser trailers will almost certainly be debuted for both and will likely also make their way online.

    Given the success of X-Men ’97, the hour-long panel will certainly feature a heavy dose of news on Season 2. With the second season already well into production, a teaser isn’t out of the question nor is a release date. Like Season 2 of X-Men ’97, Season 3 of What If…? is deep into production if not already complete. “What If…? Season Three is — that might be the one that comes out next, in terms of animation,” said Marvel exec Brad Winderbaum in May 2024. The studio already rolled out a teaser for Season 3 following Season 2’s streaming finale, so there’s no reason to think they won’t AT LEAST show that to the audience.

    We’re actually close to completing that one, and it really feels like you’ve gone through this amazing emotional experience with Uatu, in a way that’s… What’s great about The Watcher is that he presents himself as uncaring, and cold, and just an observer, but he cares more than everybody [and] anybody. That is on full display in that third season.

    -Brad Winderbaum on What If…? Season 3

    Outside of what’s promised in the description, only Marvel Zombies is known to be far enough down the road to be included in the panel; however, more than any other type of project, animated projects are far, far easier to keep under wraps so it’s entirely in the realm of possibilities that the folks at Marvel Animation have some tricks up their sleeve for their first big panel.

    Disney Entertainment Showcase (Friday-7 PM PDT/10 PM EDT)

    Friday night’s Entertainment Showcase is a two-hour-long presentation that will feature projects from across all of Disney’s major studios. That means Pixar, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios will all join Marvel Studios in showcasing their upcoming theatrical and streaming slates. So while Kevin Feige won’t have an hour to himself like he did in San Diego, he’ll have a big chunk of time and since it’s Disney’s event, he’ll actually have as much time as he wants (in 2022 the two-hour panel took longer than two hours). Marvel Television will take the spotlight, especially after not being included in Feige’s hour-long SDCC panel but that doesn’t mean there might not be some update on the film slate. Here’s what to expect:

    Agatha All Along

    Kathryn Hahn‘s WandaVision spinoff is on deck for the studio and no insider information is necessary to know that Agatha All Along will be a focal point of Marvel’s portion of the panel. With the two-episode premiere just six weeks away, a new trailer for the streaming series is due. It’s likely a good chunk of the cast will be on hand to bow, wave and, more importantly, do the press line following the panel.

    In Agatha All Along, the infamous Agatha Harkness finds herself down and out of power after a suspicious goth Teen helps break her free from a distorted spell. Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what they’re missing. Together, Agatha and this mysterious Teen pull together a desperate coven, and set off down, down, down The Road…

    -Official Synopsis, Agatha All Along

    Daredevil: Born Again

    Charlie Cox has already confirmed that he’ll be in Anaheim to promote Daredevil: Born Again and it would be shocking if co-star Vincent D’Onofrio weren’t there alongside him. With the 9-episode streaming series set to premiere in March 2025 and with production having wrapped several months ago, there’s certainly a trailer ready to roll. The question here is whether or not it’s a D23 exclusive for those in attendance or it the studio will release it to the public. Given the hype around the show, it would make quite a bit of sense to let it out into the wild but Disney isn’t always in the business of making sense.

    Longtime rivals Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) try to leave behind their darker alter-egos to serve the people of New York only to have their pasts catch up to them.

    Synopsis, Daredevil: Born Again

    Ironheart

    First announced at Disney’s 2020 Investor Day, Ironheart has been in the can for a couple of years and still has no release window. Marvel Studios actually rolled out a first look at the project during Disney’s 2022 Entertainment Showcase at D23 and it looked like a lot of fun! At the time, Feige explained that the focus on “dark arts vs. technology” would be the “unique calling card” of the series which will pit Dominique Thorne‘s Riri Williams–introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever–against Anthony Ramos‘s Parker Robbins, aka The Hood. “Parker believes truly that what he is doing is good,” Ramos shared at 2022’s D23. “He loves his people. I’m over-trying to dance around the plot because I can’t give you all the deets! Parker kicks ass. I don’t know if I can say that, but I said it already.” An in-person exclusive trailer is all but a sure thing and it wouldn’t be asking too much for Feige to reveal a release window for the series which had been targeting a September 2025 launch.

    Charming teenage super genius Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) returns from MIT to her hometown of Chicago in her iron suit and begins to unravel threads that bring danger and adventure to her doorstep.

    -Synopsis, Ironheart

    Wonder Man

    Despite having completed production earlier this year, some fans still doubt that Wonder Man truly exists. While Marvel Studios exec Stephen Broussard confirmed its existence earlier this year, Wonder Man has never been mentioned by Feige at any conventions so a simple logo reveal and release window would be great; however, given it’s been wrapped for some time, it’s quite possible a sizzle reel or teaser could be shown to those in attendance.

    [Wonder Man will] be definitely influenced by the comics. One of the things that we’re excited about it is that it’s going to feel very unique. It’s not going to feel like anything you’ve quite seen in the MCU before. And the kind of stories we can tell on Disney+, which has been fun. Like streaming, serialized storytelling is a totally different muscle. So, we’re having a blast making that one.

    –Stephen Broussard on Marvel Television’s Wonder Man

    Vision

    Likely to join Wonder Man on Disney Plus in 2026, the Paul Bettany-led WandaVision spinoff was recently confirmed by Feige. It is expected to start production this Fall, so a title treatment and a release window are about all we might get unless Bettany is on hand to do a little song and dance.

    Future Streaming Projects

    Five streaming series is probably about all the studio will have time to discuss during its portion of the panel. However, if the studio is ready to move ahead with the second season of Hawkeye, having Jeremy Renner step on stage to announce it would certainly bring down the house. Rumors have the sophomore season headed to D+ for Christmas 2026 which means it’s certainly not “too early” to confirm it’s in the works. With the Nova series not a top priority and Bob Iger‘s mandate to cut down on content now fully integrated into the way Marvel Studios does business, further announcement seem highly unlikely.

    Theatrical Slate

    Disney loves marching out cast members during their big fan event. In 2022, the casts of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and their two 2023 releases, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels all took the stage at D23. In addition, Feige used the big stage to announce the cast of what was then Captain America: New World Order, including the big surprise reveal that Tim Blake Nelson was returning to the MCU as Samuel Sterns.

    The core cast of Thunderbolts was also trotted out on the stage by Feige with some fun concept art displayed on the big screen behind them. What’s of interest here is that both Cap 4 and Thunderbolts were first announced at SDCC ’22 but Marvel saved the big cast reveals for D23. The One Above All may make the same move here, using the closing moments of his time on stage to bring out the full casts of any or all of the studio’s upcoming projects such as The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Avengers: Doomsday and/or Avengers: Secret Wars. It’s also reasonable to think that Feige might make mention of the two 2026 Marvel Studios films that remain untitled.

    Murphy’s Multiverse will be providing full coverage and recaps of both panels this weekend so count on us to deliver all the news you need!

  • It’s Not All Connected: Marvel Exec Clarifies the Studio’s Recent Rebranding

    It’s Not All Connected: Marvel Exec Clarifies the Studio’s Recent Rebranding

    “Mr. Stark, you’ve become part of a bigger universe; you just don’t know it yet.” When Fury, Nicholas J. dropped that bomb on Tony Stark in the MCU’s first-ever post-credit scene in 2008’s Iron Man, the Marvel Cinematic Universe took flight. Over the next decade, the MCU expanded in ways nobody could have ever predicted. Through an onslaught of Easter eggs, cameos, name drops and references, the largest interconnected cinematic universe in Hollywood history became so popular that Anthony Mackie‘s Sam Wilson could show up in Ant-Man and everyone in the audience knew who he was….hell, they knew who Ant-Man was! So ingrained in the experience of the MCU was that connectivity that in 2018, Marvel published an MCU guidebook titled “It’s All Connected.” Fans fawned over every fragment of connectivity, theorizing which character might show up where and how each post-credit scene might set up the next big thing. Doctor Strange! Reed Richards! Mephisto! But then, a funny thing happened on the way to the Multiverse.

    With the dawn of Disney Plus, the rate of expansion of the MCU increased. New, unfamiliar characters were introduced, causing a sense of disorder and uncertainty among fans. Entropic chaos ensued. Once the strength of the franchise, the MCU’s connectivity–along with a few less-than-successful projects–quickly threatened to cripple it. As Bob Iger returned to Disney, Marvel’s top creatives began to formulate a response to the dilemma and by the time Echo debuted on Hulu and Disney Plus in January 2024 and fans were introduced to the Marvel Spotlight banner, the studio’s solution began to become clear: the MCU would no longer be all connected but rather, through a series of moves behind the scenes, become à la carte.

    Marvel Studios is now–at least in part–reborn. As the studio forges ahead through its uneven Multiverse Saga, fans will find themselves on more of a choose your own adventure journey that Marvel hopes will help keep attracting new viewers. Following Echo, X-Men ’97 became the first production to debut under the new Marvel Animation banner. This Fall, Agatha All Along will mark the debut of the resurrected Marvel Television banner. The hope, according to Marvel’s head of streaming, television and animation, Brad Winderbaum, “is to “signal to the general audience that we’re creating a lot of options, and you can follow your tastes within this brand.”

    There was a lot of pressure post-‘Avengers: Endgame’ on the public to feel obligated to watch absolutely everything in order to watch anything. Part of the rebranding was a signal to the general audience that we’re creating a lot of options, and you can follow your tastes within this brand. Some will be more comedic, some will be more dramatic, some will be animated, some will be live-action. Marvel is more than just one thing — it is actually many different genres that just happened to coexist in a single narrative.

    -Brad Winderbaum

    Even as the Mutliverse Saga moves ahead, the rebranding does not create different universes within the MCU. That would be messier and increase confusion. Instead, as Winderbaum points out, “the characters still live and breathe in the same universe, but the interconnectivity is not so rigid that you need to watch Project A to understand Project B.” In that sense, the experience, says Winderbaum, should become more akin to that enjoyed by comic book readers who can pick up a Captain America comic without worrying about what’s going on in the most recent run of The Avengers. “The hope is that, like the comics, you can just pop in anywhere and have a satisfying experience. We’re trying to dispel the idea that you need to do any kind of setup work to watch anything else.”

    Iger’s return to Disney also came with a mandate that some of the larger studios–Marvel included–pull back a bit on the quantity of their streaming output. According to Winderbaum, that’s something that Marvel Studios had already begun working on. So, in addition to the reduced pressure to watch everything because “it’s all connected”, there’s also a reduction in content which should add up to an increase in quality and, hopefully, a better experience for the audience. “We were already, as of two years ago, adapting our process from being, you know, fill the service as fast as possible no matter what, to a more considered approach,” said Winderbaum. “I really like the idea of two shows a year, especially because we are developing more than we make. We used to treat the shows like the features where we’re gonna make a show and that’s it, we’re going to hit a release date, hell or high water. Well, it’s hard to do for a two hour feature, it’s even harder to do for, six, seven, eight, nine hours. So now we have a more traditional approach.” And so while the studio may have a lot of projects in the pipeline–like the LONG-GESTATING Nova series–there’s no guarantee that they’ll hit D+ soon, if ever; only that if and when they do, they’ll have been carefully curated.

    Ultimately, the rebranding changes absolutely nothing for your average MCU superfan. The banner that hits the screen for a few seconds won’t stop the completist from watching everything and criticizing the VFX; however, the strategy behind the rebranding isn’t aimed at those fans but rather at drawing new viewers in without overwhelming them. For a studio that hopes they have a whole lot more stories to tell, that’s the only way to stay in the game for the long haul.

    Source: Variety

  • Marvel Exec Reveals All-New Information about the Studio’s Animated Series ‘Eyes of Wakanda’

    Marvel Exec Reveals All-New Information about the Studio’s Animated Series ‘Eyes of Wakanda’

    Marvel Animation has already had a banner year in 2024 and it’s only just gotten started. The 10-episode run of X-Men ’97 might ultimately be one of Marvel Studios’ best projects and fans are already salivating over the potential direction of Season 2. While it’ll be some time before the sophomore season streams on D+, two more projects from the new Marvel Animation banner are due out this year.

    Late this year, the first season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will debut on D+ but before that, the four-episode series Eyes of Wakanda will hit the streamer. Kept a secret until the December 2023 red carpet debut of What If…? Season 2, the series produced by Ryan Coogler‘s Proximity Media has still yet to have much officially revealed by Marvel. However, in a recent interview, Executive Producer and Marvel Studios Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation Brad Winderbaum gave fans a bit of info to tide them over.

    “This is the history of Wakanda as told through the War Dogs,” revealed Winderbaum, referencing Wakanda’s global intelligence network whose number has included Nakia, Zuri and Prince N’Jobu. This tidbit from Winderbaum fleshes out the show’s previously revealed premise that it would follow “brave warriors” from “throughout Wakandan history have been tasked to travel the world retrieving dangerous vibranium artifacts.”

    Winderbaum also reiterated that “Eyes of Wakanda is an MCU show,” after having previously revealed that the series “fits right into our sacred MCU timeline continuity.“ That provides a lot of opportunity for Marvel Animation to define or redefine periods of the MCU’s history that are currently unknown including the potential inclusion of an Iron Fist from the hidden city of K’un-Lun. If all that sounds good to you, Winderbaum is in agreement. “Todd Harris is the creator,” he said of the new show before adding that it’s “just such a cool show” and “some of the best animation we’ve ever done.” While there’s still no indication when in 2024 Eyes of Wakanda will debut on Disney Plus, the show does sound like it has the makings of another hit for Marvel Animation.

  • Marvel Studios’ TV Boss Updates the Status of ‘What If…?’ Season 3

    Marvel Studios’ TV Boss Updates the Status of ‘What If…?’ Season 3

    Following the conclusion of the first season of X-Men ’97, Marvel Studios is riding high and once again feeling the love from fans to which they’d grown accustomed. With two more projects from the studio’s newly created Marvel Animation banner due out in 2024, fans have plenty of new content ahead; however, there’s also work being done on future seasons of not only X-Men ’97 but also the studio’s first canonical animated series, What If…?.

    The second season of What If…? was warmly received by fans and largely declared an improvement over the studio’s first effort. A first look at Season 3 teased not only that the studio had plans to include several characters who so far had been off limits but also had already done quite a bit of work on it causing fans to wonder how quickly the studio might be able to push it out. In an interview with Comic Book, Executive Producer and Marvel Studios Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation Brad Winderbaum shed some light on the studio’s progress with the project.

    “What If…? Season Three is — that might be the one that comes out next, in terms of animation,” said Winderbaum, before calling the project “the culmination of a trilogy.” While that’s hardly a definitive statement, it’s interesting to hear it described that way as it could indicate the third season will be the last.

    Though Winderbaum did stop short of revealing exactly when Season 3 could hit Disney Plus, it does sound as though it could be sooner rather than later. “We’re actually close to completing that one, and it really feels like you’ve gone through this amazing emotional experience with Uatu, in a way that’s… What’s great about The Watcher is that he presents himself as uncaring, and cold, and just an observer, but he cares more than everybody [and] anybody. That is on full display in that third season.”

    Could What If…? Season 3 find its way on to Marvel Studios’ 2025 streaming slate? It certainly seems possible at this point and if that is the plan, fans could learn all about it during Marvel’s presentation at D23 this August.

    Source: Comic Book