Marvel Studios' first foray into streaming was with series like WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Essentially sequels to Avengers: Endgame, they set up major new status quo for their respective leads, but made it so that filmgoers needed to watch what was on Disney+ to fully understand the movies.
As more shows landed on streaming, it became increasingly difficult to keep up, and the quality started to decline. Daredevil: Born Again marked a turning point, both in terms of how it was handled creatively and Marvel Studios' overall approach to television.
It was recently reported that the plan now is to develop traditional multi-season series, not an endless number of titles revolving around big-name characters from the silver screen. Wonder Man and Ironheart were developed before the shift, and new details about the former have been revealed by The Hollywood Reporter.
The trade spoke to Marvel Television boss Brad Winderbaum at the Disney Upfronts and learned that it will consist of 8 30-minute episodes. It's also said that Marvel Studios will take a "wait and see approach" when it comes to potential second seasons for that and Ironheart (if they're hits, both could be ushered into this new era of storytelling).
"Producing shows with marquee names, it made it really challenging to produce second seasons; the margins on TV are smaller," Winderbaum told the trade. "Looking to the future, does it mean that we won’t have big Avengers names? No. They may not be the titular character of the show, but they can still make appearances."
"You should be able to watch these shows on their own, without knowing the overall MCU story," he added. "But if it’s not connected, it’s severing what makes the MCU the MCU."
It sounds like the bigger name characters can make cameo appearances in future shows, but won't necessarily be put front and centre if there are plans for them in theatrical releases. Hopefully, this means the heroes we meet on streaming can make the leap to the silver screen; that seems less likely given some of the confusion created during the Multiverse Saga.
We'll have to see what happens over the next few years. As of now, Marvel Television has yet to reveal whether any other series will join Daredevil: Born Again season 2 in 2026 and 2027 currently remains a mystery to us.
As always, stay tuned for updates as we have them.