How Is Marvel Changing Its Approach to TV?
The most common knock on all things Marvel for the last few years is that keeping up with all the TV shows and movies feels like homework. There have been dozens of movies and tens of TV shows, all of which seem to have a character or storyline that crosses over, and you'll be at a disadvantage as an audience member if you haven't seen everything. Well, Marvel has heard you. And they want it to be easier. At the Disney Upfronts, Marvel Television's Brad Winderbaum told THR, "The most important thing we can do as a studio is tell stories that resonate with people.” Winderbaum continued, “I don’t know that every show has to try to be a giant Endgame-scale event that’s a four-quadrant series, that every single person shows up for in a big emotional way. If we can do that for anybody, for one fan, then we’ve done our job.”This is partially based on not making a show homework, and on budget. It was getting expensive making these deals that covered a ton of characters and had to be tied into certain universes. Winderbaum said, “Producing shows with marquee names, it made it really challenging to produce second seasons; the margins on TV are smaller. 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. But if it’s not connected, it’s severing what makes the MCU the MCU.”I think what made me most excited in this interview was his point of view on what the future of Marvel looked like. Winderbaum emphasized the need to stay fresh and current. He said, "I remember walking into the comic store as a kid. I was a Marvel fan, and I collected Marvel comics, and there was a huge array of books available to me. There was heightened fantasy with Thor. There was soap opera with social commentary in X-Men. There were adventure stories in The Avengers and Iron Man. And Marvel has always meant many things. Marvel is not one thing. There are many stories to tell that are in different genres and have different tones and speak to different segments of the fandom. So that’s something we’re trying to create in our television slate, certainly, but in our slate overall."To me, the way to make comic book properties exciting again is to take away the homework and large and just let people find the titles that speak to them and to engage with those titles, without the worry of needing to watch ten others to get it. Are you excited about where Marvel is going? Let us know in the comments.
The most common knock on all things Marvel for the last few years is that keeping up with all the TV shows and movies feels like homework.
There have been dozens of movies and tens of TV shows, all of which seem to have a character or storyline that crosses over, and you'll be at a disadvantage as an audience member if you haven't seen everything.
Well, Marvel has heard you. And they want it to be easier.
At the Disney Upfronts, Marvel Television's Brad Winderbaum told THR, "The most important thing we can do as a studio is tell stories that resonate with people.” Winderbaum continued, “I don’t know that every show has to try to be a giant Endgame-scale event that’s a four-quadrant series, that every single person shows up for in a big emotional way. If we can do that for anybody, for one fan, then we’ve done our job.”
This is partially based on not making a show homework, and on budget. It was getting expensive making these deals that covered a ton of characters and had to be tied into certain universes.
Winderbaum said, “Producing shows with marquee names, it made it really challenging to produce second seasons; the margins on TV are smaller. 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. But if it’s not connected, it’s severing what makes the MCU the MCU.”
I think what made me most excited in this interview was his point of view on what the future of Marvel looked like.
Winderbaum emphasized the need to stay fresh and current.
He said, "I remember walking into the comic store as a kid. I was a Marvel fan, and I collected Marvel comics, and there was a huge array of books available to me. There was heightened fantasy with Thor. There was soap opera with social commentary in X-Men. There were adventure stories in The Avengers and Iron Man. And Marvel has always meant many things. Marvel is not one thing. There are many stories to tell that are in different genres and have different tones and speak to different segments of the fandom. So that’s something we’re trying to create in our television slate, certainly, but in our slate overall."
To me, the way to make comic book properties exciting again is to take away the homework and large and just let people find the titles that speak to them and to engage with those titles, without the worry of needing to watch ten others to get it.
Are you excited about where Marvel is going?
Let us know in the comments.
