While we’re not entirely sure of just how far-reaching the snowball effect from Marvel Studios‘ decision to abandon Daredevil: Born Again in its current iteration to start over will prove to be in either the short or long-term, it’s becoming clear very quickly that the franchise’s entire small screen arm is in flux.
Abandoning the approach to have defined the cinematic universe’s small screen storytelling ever since WandaVision, Kevin Feige has realized that trying to upend the established rules of television isn’t working, with showrunners and pilots now set to be par for the course whenever a new series is announced.
Of course, the question remains as to what happens to the ones already announced – and in some cases partially cast – that aren’t even close to beginning production, with the latest developments not looking very encouraging. Joanna Robinson – author of new book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios – appeared on The Watch podcast, where she intimated that Wonder Man is effectively dead in its current iteration, along with WandaVision spin-off Vision Quest.
Marvel was always going to slow down its focus on quantity over quality, but Wonder Man had already started shooting with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Ben Kingsley, and reportedly Ed Harris before the strikes shut it down. Of course, nothing can be taken as fact until the company passes comment itself, but maybe the smart move would be for the MCU to turn its hypothetical pilots into Special Presentations if they don’t end up being ordered to series.