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.
According to industry insider Daniel Richtman, following his appearance in Daredevil: Born Again, The Punisher will return to kill more people that need killing in his own Disney Plus streaming series.
It’s already been nearly five years since the second and final season of The Punisher debuted on Netflix and given the pace at which Marvel Television is now developing and producing streaming series, it may be another five before the next chapter in Frank’s story is told. With very few loose threads left hanging from the series’ two-season run on Netflix, it’ll be interesting to see which characters, if any, are brought back into the fold on D+ or if Marvel Television sets up Frank’s new story in Daredevil: Born Again and goes in an entirely different direction.
With the D+ premiere of Daredevil: Born Again creeping closer each day, fans of the Netflix Daredevil series are rejoicing over Marvel Studios’ decision to canonize the Defenders-verse projects. After an admitted period of being “a little bit cagey about what’s Sacred Timeline and what’s not“, the studio’s willingness to embrace the characters, stories and tone from Netflix’s Marvel series–a decision that was heavily influenced by stars Charlie Cox and Vincent D‘Onofrio–seems to have benefitted Daredevil: Born Again both creatively behind the scenes and with fans.
During our restart of all the creative on Daredevil: Born Again, all the creatives got together and said, “Look, this is how we’ve got to do it now.” So we are for sure only speaking about it in terms of being directly connected to the original Daredevil, and that’s a great thing. It brings in a lot of cool stories and all the collateral story that happened in those original three seasons. So we now get to start this Born Again situation with all of that history behind us and the outcome of all that history. So we’re all talking about Daredevil: Born Again in those terms now.
While fans of the Defenders-verse are feeling satisfied with the studio’s change of heart, fans of the MCU’s first TV series, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., are still waiting for those same warm fuzzies. After recently rethinking the way its streaming projects were branded and marketed, Marvel Studios has put a significant amount of space between itself and the previous “It’s All Connected” era in which Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. debuted.
According to Marvel’s head of streaming, television and animation, Brad Winderbaum, the decision was made to make the ever-expanding MCU more accessible to new fans. “There was a lot of pressure post-Avengers: Endgame on the public to feel obligated to watch absolutely everything in order to watch anything,” Winderbaum explained. “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.” And so far, Agents of S H.I.E.L.D. remains part of what the public should not feel obligated to watch.
While Winderbaum enthusiastically supported the canonization of the Netflix series, he’s been unable to give any of Marvel’s ABC series, including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the same support. “I want to go down this road with you, you know I do, but we’re just gonna take a deep breath for a second,” said Winderbaum in August 2024 when asked about the series place on the MCU’s Sacred Timeline. Four months later, the Marvel TV boss was no closer to canonizing the long-running series, saying “It’s exciting for me to think about how to square those ABC shows with the canon.” Now a new rumor making the rounds could indicate that Winderbaum has found a way to square things up…or that he’s decided to move even further away from adopting Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. into the Sacred Timeline.
According to the always industrious insider My Time to Shine Hello, Marvel Studios is developing a Ghost Rider streaming series. While there’s no mention of which of several comic book Ghost Riders would be the series’ lead, AoS fans will undoubtedly hold onto hope that the D+ series will feature Gabriel Luna’s Robbie Reyes, who debuted in Season 4 of the ABC melodrama.
I died, and there’s nothing, there’s just darkness. Then I heard a voice, asking me if I wanted a second chance, did I want to punish those who hurt my brother, did I want to avenge my own death. I answered yes, more than anything, yes. I was alive again, and you’re right, there was someone there when I came to. But it wasn’t a Good Samaritan. It was the Devil. Whatever was inside him, he passed it into me.
Should Marvel Television indeed be moving ahead with a Ghost Rider series, it could quietly serve as the final judgement on the Sacred Timeline canonicity of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., putting to rest one of the final lingering debates of a different era of Marvel entertainment.
It’s all connected. For a decade, that tagline defined the MCU to the extent that it used as the subtitle for the first Marvel Cinema Universe Guidebook. 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. However, as Marvel Studios moved into the Multiverse Saga and a new era of streaming their own series on Disney Plus, comfort turned into confusion with the rapid expansion of projects and characters.
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.
Marvel’s head of streaming, television and animation, Brad Winderbaum, on the studio’s rebranding, May 2024
Now that some time has passed, now that we actually see how well-integrated the stories are, I personally, Brad Winderbaum, will confidently say that they are part of the Sacred Timeline.
-Brad Winderbaum
And while Winderbaum gave his stamp of approval to the canonicity of the Netflix series, he dodged, ducked, dipped, dove and dodged the issue of another fan-favorite series from the mid-2010s: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. “I want to go down this road with you, you know I do, but we’re just gonna take a deep breath for a second,” said Winderbaum in an August 2024 interview with Screen Rant. Hardly a strong show of support for Phil Coulson and crew.
As one might expect, Winderbaum‘s comments weren’t warmly received by AoS fans; however, given his position at Marvel, he would certainly be the one to know…and four months later, it seems nothing has changed.
In a new interview with Screen Rant’s Joe Deckelmeier, Winderbaum was pressed once more about the canonicity of Marvel TV’s ABC shows and he hasn’t budged on his stance. When asked by Deckelmeier if Marvel TV’s Agent Carter, which ran for two seasons on ABC, was considered MCU canon, not only did Winderbaum refuse to confirm that it was but he also lumped it in with all of Marvel’s ABC shows.
“Well, I’ll tell you this, and put it to you like this. It’s exciting for me to think about how to square those ABC shows with the canon,” said Winderbaum, indicating that while he has thought about how to canonize Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter and Inhumans, he hasn’t figured out how to do so just yet.”That, to me, if you know me and the way my brain works, that is fun territory to imagine,” confirming that for now, imagination is the only place in which those series should be considered canon.
While that’s made quite clear on Disney Plus, where those shows, along with a few others, can be found in an “Agents and Inhumans” category rather than in the “Complete MCU Timeline” category, fans of the series still find plenty of ways to make the events of the shows tie into the ongoing story of MCU. And at the end of the day, that’s just fine and what being a fan is all about.
Six years after Kevin Feige claimed that the Human Rocket had “immediate potential” to pop up in the MCU, Marvel Studios finally seems to be ready for Richard Rider to join the fray…a few years from now. First developed as a film with Moon Knight writer Sabir Pirzada working on the script in 2022, Nova was transitioned to television a year later and put on hold while the studio began restructuring its streaming plans. With a new roadmap in place, things started moving on Nova again earlier this year with an eye on a 2025 start of production. With the new year right around the corner, a new report has revealed that Marvel is indeed ready to launch Nova and has brought a veteran TV writer on board to lead the charge.
According to Jeff “The In” Sneider, Ed Bernero, who has over 25 years of television experience, has agreed to become the showrunner of Marvel Television’s Nova. Bernero, who created the NBC crime drama Third Watch and wrote more than two dozen episodes of Criminal Minds, is also expected to serve as a writer on the streaming project.
News of Bernero’s deal comes hot on the heels of a report that Nova would introduce the classic Marvel Comics’ villain Annihilus and pit the Bug-Lord against a young team of Nova Corpsmen. Given Bernero‘s background, which also includes Crossing Lines, a crime drama that focuses on an elite team of special investigators, it seems reasonable to assume that while Rider will be the series’ central figure, the other Corps members will feature prominently in the action. With Bernero just now signing on, the studio will begin assembling a writers room and start the casting process.
As only the third project to feature a true showrunner since the studio’s restructuring, there’s not enough data to accurately predict a timeline of events; however, taking a look at the timeline fromTerry Matalas‘ taking over as showrunner of the upcoming Vision series in May 2024 to its expected February 2025 start of production, it’s safe to say cameras won’t roll on Nova until the second half of 2025. With Marvel Studios actively seeking to reduce its streaming output, that likely means the series won’t hit Disney Plus until 2027 and may actually be part of the studio’s post-Multiverse Saga plans.
The stan culture that has developed around Elizabeth Olsen‘s Wanda Maximoff and the impressive success of Agatha All Along should serve as strong indicators to the Marvel Parliament that there’s an interest in more stories set in the mystical corner of the MCU. Though strong performances by Olsen and Agatha star Kathryn Hahn are huge factors, audiences were just as enchanted by Joe Locke, Aubrey Plaza and Patti LuPone, whose performance earned her a Critics’ Choice Award nomination. In this instance, it’s not just big names but good stories to which fans are responding and it’s clear they want more.
With that in mind and HBO preparing to bring Harry Potter back to the pop culture forefront with a new streaming series set to debut in 2026, it sounds as though Disney may be preparing to take advantage of the buzz.
According to a report from MCU insider Daniel Richtman, Marvel Television is developing an adaptation of Marvel Comics’ Strange Academy for Disney Plus.
Created by Skottie Young and Humberto Ramos, Marvel Comics Strange Academy debuted in 2020 and focused on a new generation of magic users being trained in the mystic arts at a Hogwarts-esque school opened by Stephen Strange. Classes at Strange Academy were led by an array of Marvel mages including Doctor Voodoo, Wanda Maximoff, Wong, Magik and, yes, Agatha Harkness and covered a range of topics from astral projections to interdimensional geography to xenoanatomy.
The report calls to mind a nearly two-year old rumor that indicated Marvel Studios was developing the IP with Benedict Wong and Xochitl Gomez as co-leads. Given the recent restructuring behind the scenes at Marvel Studios, it’s likely that whatever plans may have initially been in place for Strange Academy have changed. Additionally, it’s always worth repeating that Marvel Studios’ Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation, Brad Winderbaum, has cautioned fans that a project being in development does not mean it will ever be realized on screen.
On December 22nd, the third and final season of Marvel Animation’s What If…? will get underway on Disney Plus. As was the case with Season 2, Marvel will debut one new episode a day with the series finale dropping on December 29th. Ahead of the season debuting next week, Marvel Studios has released an episode guide complete with the titles of the final eight episodes. And as you might expect, some are a little unexpected!
While quite a few of the episodes have been prominently featured in the marketing for the series, quite a bit more can be gleaned about their premises now that titles have been revealed. For example, it’s been known for quite some time that an episode would feature Mech Avengers taking on Kaiju; however, knowing that they will also take on the Hulk certainly spices up the episode a bit.
Episode 4, “What If…Howard the Duck Got Hitched”, will almost certainly be a follow up to Season 1’s “What If…Thor Were an Only Child?” which saw the Master of Quack-Fu fall in love with Darcy Lewis. An absurd idea, to be sure, but you know the old saying: first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Byrdie in a baby carriage.
Though it seems as though 2021’s Eternals may never get a proper theatrical or streaming sequel, Episode 5, “What If…The Emergence Destroyed the Earth?”, will at least acknowledge the project and remind everyone it exists before Tiamut pops back up in Captain America: Brave New World.
Featured heavily but without context in trailers and promo spots for Season 3 was Episode 6, featuring Hailee Steinfeld‘s Kate Bishop and Simu Liu‘s Shang-Chi. Inspired, it would seem, by the 2015 Secret Wars title, 1872, “What If…1872?” will explore the Old West similar to the way that Season 2’s “What If…The Avengers Assembled in 1602?” did with familiar characters in an unusual setting.
Finally, as has been the case over the first two seasons, it is likely that Episode 7, “What If…The Watcher Disappeared?” will dovetail into Episode 8, “What If…What If?”. And though we’d hesitate to go too far out on a limb, it’s likely that over the course of those two final episodes, Captain Carter’s ongoing What If…? story will be picked back up and taken to its denouement.
The final eight episodes of What If…? begin on Disney Plus on December 22nd!
Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye provided the first deep dive into the MCU’s corner of street-level crime, introducing fans to Wilson Fisk and his Tracksuit Mafia. Despite his best efforts to not get involved, Clint Barton, the Avenging Archer, ultimately teamed up with Kate Bishop to take down the Tracksuits while Maya Lopez tried to put down the Kingpin. While Maya’s and Fisk’s stories continued in Echo which will lead to Fisk’s next appearance in Daredevil: Born Again, neither of the Hawkeyes have had any further adventures. However, evidence that may soon change is starting to accumulate.
Earlier this year, buzz surrounded a rumor that the studio was moving ahead with a second season of Hawkeye that would see the heroes up against the odds while pinned down in a single location. That buzz died down until a recent report by Marvel Studios insider Daniel Richtman indicated that production on Season 2 of the series was set to start in Fall 2025 with an eye on having it ready for streaming as early as 2026. While neither the studio nor trades have addressed the possibility of another season, the recent home media release of Season 1 may have tipped Marvel’s hand.
While marketing the first season’s physical media release, Marvel Studios is referring to Season 1 as the “complete first season.” While that may seem relatively minor, Disney has marketed other series such as WandaVision and Lucasfilm’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, neither of which are expected to have sophomore seasons, as “The Complete Series “
While it’s certainly not definitive proof that a Season 2 of Hawkeye will head into production, it does mean the studio hasn’t closed the door on the further adventures of Clint and Kate.
So, I can say that up until this point, we’ve been a little bit cagey about what’s Sacred Timeline and what’s not. That was born, frankly, out of a period at the studio where we were like “we have to stick the landing with Avengers.” It was another part of the company developing the Netflix stuff; we were aware of what they were doing, they were aware of what we were doing, but it was a lot.. it was a lot to balance anyway. But now that some time has passed, now that we actually see how well-integrated the stories are, I personally, Brad Winderbaum, will confidently say that they are part of the Sacred Timeline.
Wilson Bethel was among the key contributors to the Netflix series who was brought back into the fold to reprise his role as Benjamin Pointdexter, aka Bullseye. From the looks of photos from the New York City set of Daredevil: Born Again, the all-new, all-different Bullseye will cause chaos at some point in the first season of the Marvel TV streaming series. Perhaps taking a page from his character, Bethel recently caused quite a stir with comments about the amount of time that will have passed in the MCU between the final season of Daredevil and Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again.
In an interview with Collider, Bethel discussed the challenges of picking back up with a character five years after last inhabiting him. As he continued on, he also claimed that the same five-year gap will apply to the series, meaning Daredevil: Born Again would begin five years after the conclusion of Season 3 of Daredevil.
“So there’s kind of like this funny thing stepping back after five years where Born Again will pick up with that amount of time having transpired. The show doesn’t pick up the day after we last saw it. It picks up five years later. And so in theory, these are characters who have all lived five years of life and all of the twists and turns that you take in the meantime. So whether or not even those stories are necessarily on screen, there’s just that little extra bit of life in there, which I think is… as an actor, it gives you an opportunity to bring whatever your own journey has been in that time and they get sort of a little longer in the tooth.”
-Wilson Bethel
That claim by Bethel has proven problematic for hardcore fans. Though the events of Netflix’s Daredevil series were not included in the MCU Official Timeline book, the best approximation is that they took place in universe in 2017. A five-year jump forward from then would set Daredevil: Born Again, or at least part of it, in 2022. Setting it in 2022 would mean that part of the series would take place during the Blip, which is a theory that has been discussed before. With Charlie Cox‘s first MCU appearance as Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home was set in 2024 and his appearance as Daredevil in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law was set in 2025, it is possible that the studio set portions of Daredevil: Born Again between 2017 and 2024. However, it’s also clear that part of the new Marvel Television series takes place after the events of Echo which is clearly set after Hawkeye which was set definitively in 2024. Chaos.
Of course, it’s entirely possible that Bethel misspoke or was mistaken; however, it’s certainly worth considering that Daredevil: Born Again may cover quite a bit of territory and not be set solely in the MCU’s present day. With the March 4, 2025 release date creeping up on us, it won’t be long until we know for sure!
Lucasfilm’s upcoming Star Wars streaming series, Skeleton Crew, sets out to do something that’s rarely been done in nearly 50 years of storytelling set in a galaxy far, far away: chronicle an adventure from the perspective of a child. Outside of the exploration of Anakin Skywalker’s youth in Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace, live-action Star Wars projects have always been about adults. Given that The Creator has said that he developed Star Wars FOR kids, it’s especially strange that more projects haven’t featured them.
It was supposed to be a kid’s movie for 12-year-olds that were going through puberty, who don’t know what they’re doing, and are asking all the big questions: “What should I be worried about? What’s important in life?” And Star Wars has all those things in there. They’re buried in there but you definitely get it, especially if you’re young.
-George Lucas
According to star Jude Law, part of the charm of the eight-episode series is seeing the four young leads exploring that “Star Wars environment.” Skeleton Crew co-creators Jon Watts and Christopher Ford have built out a corner of the Star Wars galaxy that star Law calls “a fun place to be” as well as “thrilling and very, very unique” while also honoring the projects that came before. And it sounds as though before the series finale hits, part of the homage to George Lucas‘ original work is a heavy dose of surprising revelations.
In an interview with Collider, Law teased that his character, Jod Na Nawood, is a bit of a mystery and one that Watts and Ford were in no hurry to unravel. In fact, according to Law, the true nature of his character isn’t revealed until the penultimate episode, which he calls his favorite.
“I’ve only seen them through once, so that’s quite a hard question for me,” said Law when asked by Collider which episode he enjoyed the most. “I think it’s [Episode] 7 because so much comes to a head, and you find out an awful lot very quickly about my character.”
“It’s not that it’s all about me, but, by doing that, it pushes the relationship with the kids to a whole new level,” said Law of impact the reveal of his character’s true identity will have.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew follows the journey of four kids who make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home—and meeting unlikely allies and enemies—will be agreater adventure than they ever imagined.
-Official Synopsis for Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Set during the same New Republic time period as The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, it’s still unclear just how big of an impact Skeleton Crew will have on the overarching narrative those projects share. Whether the events of the project will lead to a second season or will have a major impact on Dave Filoni‘s New Republic era film isn’t clear at this point; however, Law is confident that fans will like what they see when the series debuts on December 2nd.
“They’ll want more. That’s what they’ll say,” said Law of his expectations of how fans will receive the series. “They’ll say, ‘When can I get more of this?’ I think they’ll be confounded, and kind of, I hope, a little bit upset. But it’s also obviously got a kind of Star Wars glorious ending to it, too. But there are layers. A lot happens and a lot is revealed.”
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