Conversations around the MCU have been worrying, but apparently, it is not just fan and critic speculation about its inconsistencies. Internal issues from Marvel Studios and its crews for its TV shows have led to a complete overhaul by examining its sky-high budgets and lack of showrunners. The studio joined its big screen spectacles to streaming on Disney Plus in 2021 with WandaVision and since has introduced new characters or given the spotlight to Loki.
Marvel TV Shows Will Start Hiring Showrunners… Like Every Other Show
Marvel tried making its TV shows the way it made its movies, according to a lengthy report from The Hollywood Reporter. Traditionally, a showrunner would write a pilot and have a bible, which is a throughline of the show from start to end. Marvel Studios ran it with its film executives making most decisions with massive $150+ million budgets and would fix issues in post-production. Now, it will make TV in the traditional way, not the Marvel way.
The studio has had consistently high views on Disney Plus but has faced production-related and audience-related issues. WandaVision and Loki have been applauded for creativity and quality. Others have had mixed results, like Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk, as both had fans but faced criticism and unfortunate review bombing with racist and misogynistic reviews. Some shows, like Secret Invasion, were blasted for lack of quality, largely due to the direction and writing of its plot.
Many of the Marvel TV shows have had frustrated crews, leading to people leaving projects. Moon Knight lost its writer and creator, Jeremy Slater, then director Mohamed Diab, to take over. Jessica Gao, the lead writer and creative behind She-Hulk, was pushed away during production to have director Kat Coira run the show. Once it hit post-production, Gao acted almost like a showrunner by overseeing the series in post, a rarity for any Marvel series.
Future projects also have problems ahead. Daredevil: Born Again was set to be a legal procedural, forgoing the violence and action of the beloved Netflix series. After shooting half the series before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes shut down production, executives like Kevin Feige reviewed the footage to find themselves unsatisfied. Writers and directors of the show were let go to reboot it with some scenes shot to be kept for the final product.
Beyond showrunners, Marvel TV shows will make other adjustments. TV executives will be hired instead of relying on film executives with a lack of experience with the medium. It will rely less on fixing things in post-production, which will be helped by a showrunner having a series bible and writing a pilot before greenlighting a whole series and shooting it whole without much prep.
