Marvel Television at NYCC: Promises of an Improved Future
- Matthew Colandrea
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
Since 2021, Marvel Studios has released 16 television series on Disney+, with only 2 of these having more than one season. To call many of these a series is a stretch, as many functioned as four-hour movies sliced into six parts. Marvel originally received audience acclaim with series like “WandaVision.” However, as time went on, Marvel Studios morphed into a Marvel machine, churning out content for content's sake. Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios, openly admitted, “We always had more characters than we could possibly make because we weren’t going to make a movie a month. Suddenly, there’s a mandate to make more. And we go, ‘Well, we do have more.’” Recently, at their panel at New York Comic Con, hosted by Brandon Davis, head of Marvel Television, Brad Winderbaum, highlighted a year focused on returning their content to being formatted as real shows, and following up on what worked.
The panel began with a first look at “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” season two. The first season of the animated series, released earlier this year, followed Peter Parker (Hudson Thames) from a universe parallel to the MCU as he realized how to use his powers while under the guidance of Norman Osborn (Coleman Domingo). The show was released to critical and audience acclaim, and was widely praised for being a fresh but faithful interpretation of Spider-Man, and setting up many new possibilities. The new trailer confirmed audience hopes, as it showed new stories for fan favorites introduced in the first season, such as Doc Ock and Daredevil, while also introducing new plot points like the symbiote suit, one of the most iconic Spider-Man storylines.
The animation section continued with executive producers for “X-Men ‘97,” a continuation of the animated series from the 90s, discussing what it means to return after working on the original series. They emphasized the privilege of having these characters and stories continue to resonate for so long, and the joy of being able to continue a story that had previously been cancelled while they had further plans. The trailer announced the return of the villain Apocalypse from the original series. It also showcased the return of Wolverine, Cyclops, Magneto, and many other classic X-Men, following up on the cliffhanger of season one, where they were strung across the past, present, and future.
Moving into the live-action shows, Davis introduced the trailer for the second season of “Daredevil: Born Again.” The series is a spiritual successor to the Netflix series, and the first season of the show went through developmental turmoil. After half of the show had been shot, there was a complete creative overhaul, spurred on by the leads, Charlie Cox, who plays Daredevil, and Vincent D'Onofrio, who plays Kingpin, his antagonist. Marvel brought on Dario Scarpanade as the showrunner and Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead to direct the remaining episodes. The resulting product was very messy, with the first, eighth, and ninth episodes standing above all the others, as these were the episodes shot entirely post-overhaul. However, the new trailer promised a continuation of the quality of the post-overhaul content. It featured many stunning action sequences with striking lighting and impressive choreography, the return of beloved characters such as Jessica Jones (Kristen Ritter) and Karen Page (Deborah Allen Woll), and a compelling story of a Daredevil on the run, struggling to fight against a Kingpin who controls all of New York City as mayor. The trailer was even played a second time after Cox and Ritter came out and talked to the audience, and received the same cheers as when it was first shown.
More importantly, throughout the panel, Marvel announced plans for “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”, “X-Men ‘97”, and “Daredevil: Born Again” to continue beyond their second seasons, with “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” having yearly seasons. This is a major departure from their format of releasing mini-series and then never following up on them, which presented major issues for audiences throughout the last five years of the MCU. Characters like Moon Knight, Kate Bishop, and John Walker have been introduced in shows and have either never been seen again or have only resurfaced after several years. It has created a distrust and distance with the audience when characters vanish, and the audience cannot tell whether a show is worth investing in. The renewed commitment to focus on continuing a few important shows with fan-favorite characters returns the shows to being a real series. They now have the opportunity to evolve and build a connection with the audience, rather than presenting a one-off story.
The panel continued with the trailer for “Wonder Man,” introduced by the stars Yahya Abdul-Manteen and Ben Kingsley. “Wonder Man” will be about an aspiring actor, Simon Williams, within the MCU as he stars in a reboot of an old in-universe superhero movie franchise called Wonder Man. The trailer promised a meta look at the reboot and superhero culture that plagues modern Hollywood. It looked like a unique exploration coming from inside one of the people creating the superhero culture, and only after the release of the show will it be seen whether Marvel makes fun of itself and then continues to do these same things, or if the existence of this show is evidence that they are learning how to evolve and raise the bar.
Both the “Daredevil: Born Again” and “Wonder Man” casts also emphasized another major change to Marvel productions in the last two years: an emphasis on shooting on location. It is no secret that Marvel has been overzealous with their use of green screens over the last several years, and it has led to crunches for VFX artists who struggle to keep up with the sheer volume of content Marvel puts out. However, “Daredevil: Born Again” was shot around the streets of New York City, and “Wonder Man” was shot throughout Los Angeles. This demonstrates a change in Marvel’s attitude towards these productions, as they return to classic filmmaking techniques and give directors the time to film on location.
The panel ended with Paul Bettany coming out with Brad Winderbaum to discuss the show “Vision Quest,” which will follow his character Vision, who has regained all the emotions prior to his death, and now rebuilt, does not know how to feel. The trailer also highlighted a return of James Spader as Ultron, the first appearance of Ruardih Mollica as a grown-up version of Vision’s son, Tommy, and the emotional conflict Vision will face as he tries to learn how to feel again. Winderbaum emphasized the show as a conclusion to a trilogy of shows: “WandaVision,” “Agatha All Along,” and “Vision Quest.” This reinforced the idea that Marvel is now focused on continuing stories that connect with audiences rather than pushing out hours of content that are never continued.
The Marvel Television and Animation Panel showed promise that the studio has learned from its mistakes over the last few years and has plans to improve its output. From hiring showrunners to committing to continuing shows beyond a single season, to focusing on filming on location as most shows do, there is a drastic difference in approach from the early 2020s. Whether or not this all works remains to be seen; however, the slate shown at NYCC indicates an uptick in quality and real television shows for 2026 and beyond.
Matthew Colandrea is a freshman at Columbia College studying Theatre. He loves comics, film, and music.