Will Marvel Studios Recommit to Live

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Will Marvel Studios Recommit to Live-Action TV Series During NYCC?

With things looking bleak, Marvel Studios has a chance to recommit to live-action MCU series during today’s NYCC 2026 panel. But will it?

Article Summary

• Marvel’s NYCC 2026 panel could reveal whether Marvel Studios will recommit to live-action MCU TV on Disney+.
• With VisionQuest ending a trilogy and Daredevil: Born Again closing in 2027, Marvel’s TV future looks thin.
• Rumors point to Marvel special presentations, Hawkeye, Werewolf by Night, or a darker MCU spinoff next.
• Bob Iger blamed Marvel’s streaming surge for diluted focus, even as Marvel Animation continues to thrive.

While there’s a lot to look forward to during the four days of New York Comic Con (NYCC), the panel that’s on our radar is happening later today: “Up Next From Marvel Television and Marvel Animation.” According to the overview, attendees will “join special guests for an inside look at Marvel Television and Marvel Animation’s most anticipated upcoming series on Disney+.” If you’ve been following what’s been going down with the live-action series side of the MCU, then you understand why this is a big one. We know Marvel Television and Marvel Animation’s Brad Winderbaum (or whoever ends up showing; no names are listed in the program) will be talking up the animation side. I’m sure we’ll have some folks from Paul Bettany-starring VisionQuest since it debuts six days after NYCC. We know that a number of folks from Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio-starring Daredevil: Born Againwill be on hand, since they’re set for photo/autograph sessions.

But what about the long-term? We know that VisionQuest is a one-and-done, the third and final chapter of the WandaVision–Agatha All Along trilogy. Along those lines, we also know that Daredevil: Born Again is wrapping up in March 2027 with its third season. Basically, the live-action series side of the MCU will be RIP by the end of April or the middle of May. After that? Nothing. During today’s panel, we’re looking to see if there’s going to be a recommitment to live-action series or if this is just the new reality: films, animated series, and the occasional live-action project (most likely meant to directly service an upcoming film). There are rumblings out there, but it’s tough to say what’s legit and what’s wishful thinking. Could we be looking at more “Special Presentation” specials? Maybe a spinoff from “Born Again” focusing on other Netflix-Marvel characters? There was talk that Werewolf by Night could get a second “special presentation,” and Jeremy Renner‘s been hinting about a Hawkeye return of some type. And then there was talk of a series spotlighting a pair of characters investigating the darker side of the MCU (aat one point, referred to as “Zodiac”).

Marvel Studios: Making TV/Streaming Shows MCU Scapegoats

During a July 2023 interview with CNBC, then-Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger made it clear that changes were on the way to the number of films and shows Marvel Studios would be producing moving forward. “You pull back not just to focus, but also as part of our cost containment initiative. Spending less on what we make, and making less,” Iger shared, offering Marvel’s move into original streaming content as an example. A year later, Iger would have a number to share during the company’s quarterly earnings call: “We’re slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two, or a maximum of three.”

Speaking with David Faber for CNBC’s Squawk Box during Idaho’s Sun Valley Conference, Iger didn’t mince words when he offered who he thought was to blame for Marvel Studios’ woes. “There have been some disappointments. We would have liked some of our more recent releases to perform better. It’s reflective not as a problem from a personnel perspective, but I think in our zeal to basically grow our content significantly to serve mostly our streaming offerings, we ended up taxing our people way beyond — in terms of their time and their focus — way beyond where they had been,” Iger said. “Marvel’s a great example of that. They had not been in the TV business at any significant level. Not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of television series, and frankly, it diluted focus and attention. That is, I think, more of the cause than anything.”

But in October 2023, Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of streaming, television & animation, who was bumped up to Head of Marvel Television, Animation, Comics & Franchise earlier this year after more major across-the-board changes and cuts at Disney, offered us some hope. “We’re trying to marry the Marvel culture with the traditional television culture,” he shared. “It comes down to, ‘How can we tell stories in television that honor what’s so great about the source material?'” That would include embracing the idea of showrunners, having television executives overseeing shows (not film executives), a return to having a “pilot season,” and a commitment to shows having multi-season runs.

Since that time… have things gotten better? Yes, Marvel Animation is killing it with animated projects like X-Men ’97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. But on the live-action side, what’s really left? We’ve got a third season of Daredevil: Born Again, but we will never think of that as a real Marvel Studios series. It was a Netflix series that kicked so much ass that Marvel Studios had no choice but to bring it back – especially after early efforts to “MCU-ize” the magic that Cox and D’Onofrio helped create resulted in a good chunk of the first season being scrapped or retooled. And guess who was brought in to help right the ship? Yup, the folks behind the Netflix series.

Just so we’re clear, I’m not saying that streaming series didn’t play a role in the bigger-picture issues that Marvel Studios has suffered from – but it’s also not a smoking gun. A run of lackluster and creatively questionable films didn’t exactly help matters. Let’s not forget “The Great Streaming Wars,” when every studio believed that the grass was greener on Netflix’s side, so they took their shot at the king – and made some questionable calls along the way. In the end, Netflix would still keep the crown, leaving everyone else to lick their wounds and roll out a number of brutal cost-cutting measures. And then there are those who believe Marvel Studios’ MCU suffered from not rebooting after Avengers: Endgame, requiring viewers to do more MCU homework to understand what’s going on before checking out a new film or show. Whatever the case, it will be interesting to see what’s said (and not said) during today’s NYCC panel.

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