For many years, the MCU positioned itself as a bulletproof franchise. Regardless of the character that debuted on screen, it was already customary for the franchise to receive excellent reviews from specialists, a great reception from the audience, and spectacular box office or audience figures (for its television series). Unfortunately, the current reality is very different. Marvel movies and series stopped being an event and have become productions full of skepticism for everyone involved and their viewers. Now, a new report seems to confirm what many feared. Marvel’s model for dominating television (specifically Disney Plus) with its series has been a failure, and changes are needed.
In accordance with The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel will face a massive restructuring process in the production of its series. Everything indicates that Daredevil: Born Again It will be the first project to benefit from the new measures. Once the production of said series was stopped due to the writers’ strikes, Kevin Feige and other Marvel executives dedicated themselves to reviewing the material already filmed. The consensus was almost unanimous: they were not happy with the result.
In order to avoid another project that disappoints critics and audiences (as happened with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and secret invasion), Marvel will use new logistics for the production of its series. One that adheres more to the traditional way of making television. Fortunately for fans, the transformation in Marvel’s work will allow for better quality series to be delivered and will prevent the MCU from continuing its decline in quality.
How do we get here?
With each new series, especially in the last year, Marvel has faced continuous controversies. Unfortunately, many of these arise from behind-the-scenes work. Although Moon Knight received generally positive reviews, Its realization was not particularly rosy: Jeremy Slater, the show’s creator and screenwriter, resigned and Mohamed Diab took his place.
With She-Hulk: Defender of heroes history repeated itself. Jessica Gao developed and wrote the scripts, but was removed from production once director Kat Coiro came on board. She was responsible for overseeing post production.
In addition to being poorly received by the followers of the company led by Kevin Feige, secret invasion He also faced an admittedly chaotic production. After working on the scripts for more than a year, writer Kyle Bradstreet (Mr. Robot) was fired from the project. Marvel executives were looking to give the series a new direction. New scriptwriters and directors joined the production, and everything seemed normal in it.
However, time began to catch up with them and some actors got off the boat due to other commitments. By September 2022, much of the secret invasion It was no longer in the project. There were already new producers, production assistants and directors. In addition, the producer of the first three episodes also left the series. Chris Gary became, in a way, the interim leader, but it is rumored that he will leave Marvel once his contract is up.
What changes will Marvel make in the development of its series?
- Creating pilot episodes: Within television production, it is common for an episode to be recorded so that the producers and executives responsible for the project can assess its possible success. Based on the result of the pilot, it is easier to make a decision about the future of the series and correct some errors detected. At Marvel they did not film the pilot and spent millions of dollars filming the series at once. According to the source, the existence of a pilot episode will be mandatory.
- The figure of showrunner: All television series need a person to actively participate in the development of the story. That person is called showrunner. This can also work in the production and writing of the scripts, since it generally knows the plot of the project. The MCU series did not hire showrunners, they depended on film industry executives to oversee the series, but they did not have full knowledge of the story. Now, each future project will have a figure as a leader to have a defined vision. The showrunners They will write pilot episodes and a production bible.
- Constant supervision: If something goes wrong during the production of a series, the most logical thing would be for it to be resolved immediately. In the case of the script, it is common to do rewrites or find some alternative so as not to damage the story. But since there is no figure of a showrunner, it was common for Marvel series not to stop filming. Any errors or flaws in the story were resolved until the post-production stage, something that also happens with the MCU films.
From now on, the studio’s intention is to avoid these problems and let the Marvel series flow like all those made on other networks. It also seeks to leave aside limited series and promote the creation of stories that can be told in several seasons, as happens with Loki.
You may also like: Loki – Why is season 2 vital for the future of Marvel and Disney?
In the case of producers there will also be news. Instead of supervising productions aimed at the big screen and television, there will be executives in charge only of the television division. They will dedicate their work only to the series section.
“We’re trying to bridge Marvel culture with traditional television culture. It all comes down to ‘how can we tell stories on television that honor everything that’s great about the source material?’ We need executives who focus on streaming, who focus on television. They are two very different ways of producing. “We want people who watch the shows because they love the characters regardless of whether their stories lead to other projects, if they are going to be in a movie, or if it is about preparing a new Avengers movie,” says Brad Winderbaum, leader of Marvel’s division focused on streaming, television and animation.
Are you satisfied with the changes in the Marvel Studios series? What projects would have benefited from a better structure in their development?
Juan Jose Cruz I am one of those who always defended Robert Pattinson as Batman and can see the same movie in the cinema up to 7 times. My guilty taste? Low-budget horror films.