When Marvel Studios began its foray into television with 2021’s WandaVision, it seemed that streaming would become the latest medium that the Marvel Cinematic Universe would conquer.
Starring Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, WandaVision was lauded by critics and fans alike for its character development, storytelling, and celebration of television history.
Source: Marvel
Two short years later, Marvel is overhauling how it makes television. Following the troubled productions of Secret Invasion and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, both of which received mixed reviews from critics, Marvel has decided that it is time for a change.
Photo: Marvel
Instead of creating Marvel streaming shows like films, where story problems are fixed in post-production, Marvel will now make its streaming shows like they are in fact television series. After disregarding the concepts of show bibles and showrunners for years, Marvel has seen the light.
WandaVision Should Have Set The Blueprint
Reflecting back on the dawn of Marvel Studios television, WandaVision director Matt Shakman gave some insight into how Marvel’s inaugural streaming show avoided the pitfalls of its predecessor.
Photo: Marvel
“WandaVision was its own special thing,” the director told Yahoo Entertainment. “It was a combination of Marvel scope, and celebrating the best of television.”
When asked about the current turmoil surrounding Marvel’s streaming series, Shakman pointed out the difference between WandaVision and other series.
Photo: Marvel
“I’m not sure about Daredevil — I haven’t been involved in that at all. I only know my experience with WandaVision. I made that with Justin Hermes Jac Schaeffer and we had a great time. It was a limited series, and we knew it wouldn’t have a second season from the get-go. It was always going to just be the story of Wanda in Westview.”
Shakman Was The Only Director
As opposed to the subsequent Marvel streaming series, WandaVision also benefited from the fact that Shakman was the series’s only director.
That gave WandaVision the kind of continuity and creative oversight that Marvel is looking to create with showrunners on future series.
“Because we were doing something over six hours, and I was the only director, we could really pick and choose where we wanted to make the most of a sequence and where we could save some money to get through things quicker,” Shakman continues. “We did it globally across the whole project, and there are real benefits to that. But I don’t know about [Marvel’s] future, and I don’t know what benefits they’ll gain from changing their structure.”
“A Love Letter To Television”
Finally, WandaVision’s premise, where a grief-stricken Wanda uses her powers to create a reality that resembles her favorite television shows, gave the series an advantage when working within the TV medium.
Image Credit: Marvel Studios/Disney+
“It was really a love letter to television,” Shakman explains. “And with each episode, were bringing back the quaint notion of gathering around the television at an appointed hour. So it had its own unique opportunities there.”
If Marvel wants to be successful, it should look to WandaVision as an example of the path forward. Shakman and Jac Schaeffer have given Marvel the blueprint.
Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond-Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon! Also, thanks for reading!
