For a long time, Marvel Comics has allowed what we see on screen to influence what happens on the page. The idea is to make it so that fans of the MCU will better recognise these characters when they pick up the comics, but it isn't something most readers want.
Take the TVA comic that was released in 2024. It featured characters like Sylvie, Miss Minutes, and O.B., and paired them up with Variants of Spider-Gwen and Captain Carter. However, it created a huge amount of confusion—especially when the Scarlet Witch was revealed to be locked up in the TVA—about whether it was an MCU tie-in. It wasn't, and the MCU-ification of the TVA landed with a thud.
At New York Comic Con yesterday, new Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Stephen Wacker promised a new approach to storytelling, and it's one that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is fully on board with.
Telling attendees (via AIPT) that the MCU's success has created the impression that synergy is needed between the comics and movies, Wacker stated, "That is backwards."
During his first meeting with Feige, Wacker was told that it's not the job of comics to follow the movies, and the executive even attended a Marvel Comics summit yesterday to share his belief that what's on the page should be 15 years ahead of what's on screen. The EIC added that the comics are better when they lead, not when they follow.
Wacker also promised a fundamental change in how Marvel Comics approaches storytelling in general moving forward:
"We cannot be the company that just protects trademarks for the greatest characters in comics history, or just adapts them for movies and TV shows. I want us to be the company that does something for you that’s unexpected, that you can then go hand-sell. I want readers to argue and debate Marvel stories."
"I want retailers excited about the Marvel boxes showing up from PRH. I want critics surprised by Marvel. I want competitors challenged by Marvel. I want kids discovering Marvel. And I want the rest of the entertainment business looking at our comics and thinking, ‘Crap, we need to catch up.’ That’s the Marvel comics that I and the new team want to build."