It took five years, but Marvel Studios has finally figured out television. With Wonder Man‘s cancellation, the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Disney+ will look a lot like the Netflix era, only better.
A new MCU era on Disney+ is starting now that Wonder Man is canceled
When Marvel Studios expanded to television, its initial approach to the format was treating each series as a movie. This meant that they featured movie stars, had movie budgets, and were essentially a movie chopped into six-to-eight episodes.
It’s an approach that worked until it didn’t. While the shows were well-received for the most part, their viewership numbers did not justify their supersized budgets (some cost over $200 million). Marvel quickly learned that, with its recent output — Echo, Daredevil: Born Again, Agatha All Along, and even Wonder Man — costing far less than its first Disney+ titles.
However, with Disney+ and Marvel reversing their Season 2 renewal for Wonder Man, there are zero live-action MCU shows currently in development or production. Both VisionQuest and Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 are in post-production, ahead of their October 2026 and March 2027 releases.
It’s not hard to read between the lines and realize that Marvel is about to make a huge change regarding its Disney+ output.
Outside of animation, fans should not expect any more shows featuring heroes with blockbuster superpowers. Even Wonder Man, which reportedly had one of the lowest budgets for a Marvel Studios series, still featured some pretty major special effects shots. He’s a character that would work best in a blockbuster movie. The same goes for other Disney+ heroes like Scarlet Witch, Vision, She-Hulk, Ironheart, and pretty much any hero with a major CG component.
It’s unclear right now whether Daredevil: Born Again will be done after its third season. So far, it’s the only one of Marvel’s Disney+ shows to return annually with new episodes.
Daredevil is also the type of hero that Marvel should be making shows around. He’s street-level with a skill set that can be achieved primarily through stuntwork and practical effects.
Wonder Man may have been canceled to better set the stage for the next era of the MCU on Disney+. The era of blockbuster superpowers on Disney+ is over. The future will be a lot like Netflix’s Defenders Saga. Street-level shows with heroes that won’t break the budget, but can still deliver crowd-pleasing moments and return annually with new episodes.
If the future of the MCU on Disney+ is just Daredevil and Heroes for Hire, that may be for the best. Save Ironheart, She-Hulk, and Wonder Man for the big screen.
