Last year, Marvel Studios announced they were closing the Marvel Television Division which Jeph Loeb ran. They are folding it into the broader Marvel Studios development under Kevin Feige. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Runaways and Cloak & Dagger will end their runs before Marvel launches The Falcon and Winter Soldier and WandaVision on Disney+.
During her Television Critics Association executive session, ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke said the network is eager to work with Feige to develop Marvel shows to take the place of the network’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
“We love our partners at Marvel and are sad to see S.H.I.E.L.D. go,” Burke said. “It’s been a big part of our history. Looking forward to working with Kevin Feige and the new incarnation of Marvel.”
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. launched Marvel’s foray into live-action television. ABC also ran Marvel’s Agent Carter and Marvel’s Inhumans. Following Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Following Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel Television produced the five Netflix shows and the team up Marvel’s The Defenders, Runaways for Hulu and Cloak & Dagger for Freeform, all under Loeb.
The Kevin Feige era of Marvel Television could be a Phase Two, to borrow the terminology from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“We’re just in the very beginning of conversations with him now about what the ABC Marvel show might look like,” Burke said. “Right now Marvel’s focus has been on the pilot for Disney+ as it should be.”
Speaking with reporters following up with Burke after the panel, /Film asked if those conversations had reached a point of discussion which characters might be available for ABC shows. Burke said no. It sounds like she meant “very beginning of conversations” literally, like possibly she and Feige met at an event and had a conversation. There haven’t been official talks for an ABC Marvel series because Marvel has been busy developing Disney+ shows.
Marvel Television also announced four animated series on Hulu, of which Disney now owns a majority stake too. Those shows are still in the works too.
ABC’s Marvel shows were set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and occasionally had crossovers from the movie’s stars. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) appeared on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Of course Hailey Atwell reprised her role from Captain America: The First Avenger and Clark Gregg came from the Marvel Phase One films.
The Netflix shows kept their distance from the movie’s characters although they did reference the Battle of New York. The Hulu and Freeform series were more standalone. It’s pure speculation, but with Feige overseeing everything, it seems possible for him to plan more integration of the movies and TV series. He gave Avengers Falcon, Winter Soldier, Wanda and Vision their very own shows.
We’ll have more Marvel Television news here on /Film as it breaks.
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