Marvel TV is winding down. Two months after the division was moved under Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios, the TV-arm of Marvel is ending all of its development plans.
Marvel TV will complete all of its projects that are currently in development, which include the final season of ABC’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” that will air next summer, but will not continue beyond that. Those also include the four animated series that are currently in development at Hulu, as well as the live-action “Helstrom.”
The integration of Marvel TV under Marvel Studios will include layoffs as a result, both in the immediate future and long term, once development on all current Marvel TV shows is completed. The move effectively shutters the division as it will be absorbed by Marvel Studios — though the Marvel TV name may still continue.
Marvel TV staff, including Karim Zreik, senior vice president of current programming and production and members of his team, will join the Marvel Studios group. Zreik will head up current projects in production. Jeph Loeb, who is exiting as head of Marvel TV in the coming weeks, will remain available during the transition. Marvel Studios is planning its own foray into the small screen with eight different shows for Disney+. Those include “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier,” “WandaVision,” “Loki” and “Hawkeye,” which all star characters from the hugely popular Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Earlier this year, Marvel TV signed a large, multi-series animated deal with Hulu, and then a separate agreement with the Disney-owned streamer for a pair of live-action series in “Helstrom” and “Ghost Rider.” Plans for “Ghost Rider” were eventually shelved. The third and final season of “The Runaways” premieres on Hulu this Friday.
Loeb spearheaded the initial expansion of the MCU into television with “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and “Agent Carter.” Marvel TV had an expansive slate on Netflix that included “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” “Iron Fist,” “Luke Cage,” “The Punisher” and the team-up series, “The Defenders.” But with Disney launching its own streaming competitor, the two sides ended their four-year creative partnership earlier this year.