It seemed inevitable that Disney‘s plans for a streaming service would end up creating yet more opportunities for their current big-screen properties to reach out even further. With a plan to launch it in late 2019, they will be in direct competition with other platforms such as hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime and so need compelling reasons for potential viewers to pony up for a new one.There’s already talk of a prestige and high-budgeted Star Wars series to fill in / exploit some of the cinematic gaps. It now appears that the ongoing Marvel/Disney partnership includes plans for a Loki television series and also a Scarlet Witch venture.
Though television spin-offs are nothing new, it’s usually a case that the big-screen heroes are limited to cameos (think Samuel L. Jackson in Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD) or that the tv version recasts a role entirely (all of the DC/CW shows). Marvel have made serious inroads into connecting many of their properties and such is the faith in these projects that original stars Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen look set to reprise their existing title roles. (That is, of course, presuming that – SPOILER! – Loki recovers from another premature death early in the current Avengers outing or that the show is a prequel).
Neither Marvel nor Disney have officially announced the projects as yet – industry site Variety broke the story – but it looks as if both shows could run to between six and eight episodes each with Kevin Feige continuing to play an oversight role as they develop. Though there’s an initiative and a compelling financial reason to bring more of their content to this new service, it looks as if the existing Marvel projects currently with other providers (ie: the collaborations with Netflix such as Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist) will remain as they are rather than shifting to the Disney platform any time soon. Indeed, news has also been released that Marvel and ABC (Home of SHIELD) will keep their relationship going with a possible female super-team project for the broadcaster next year.
