It now sounds like Marvel’s Nova and Strange Academy might not ever happen as MCU shows on Disney+.
We first heard word that Marvel paused development on the shows back in February.
Disney’s New Low-Budget MCU Strategy
As I went over at the time, they were killed because of the failure of the woke MCU content on Disney+.
Since nobody watched those shows—which cost billions of dollars—Disney made the call to drastically cut MCU budgets and content on Disney+ (same with Star Wars). Hence, we got Daredevil: Born Again, which also nobody watched. But it’s a cheaply made show that will have multiple seasons. That’s Disney’s new approach to the MCU on streaming. Only the bottom-of-the-barrel fans are watching, so what you’re getting is the bottom of the barrel of the MCU. It has a low audience, which means a low budget.
Disney is even throwing The Mandalorian Season 4 in theaters because they know nobody watched Season 3, so they have nothing to lose and maybe can make some money back.
Nova was described as Battlestar Galactica meets Star Trek. The start of Infinity War set things up. It was supposed to be set in space. Yeah, super expensive. Likewise, Strange Academy was going to be about young MCU magic users. Cha-ching. Those special effects aren’t cheap.
Brad Winderbaum Confirms Marvel’s Shift to Cheaper MCU Shows
The latest comes from the head of Marvel TV and Animation, Brad Winderbaum. He was asked by the Agents of Fandom YouTube channel if MCU shows that were paused could continue in animated form.
Winderbaum explained the situation, and reading between the lines, it’s clear: going forward, MCU shows will have lower budgets, but the trade-off is they’ll be designed to run for multiple seasons.
They’re no longer spending $200+ million on shows like She-Hulk and Secret Invasion, which flopped (let’s hire creatives who hate comics!). It’s a shame, because the real reason those shows failed is that they were written and produced so poorly. Now, a potential big hit like Nova—and the fans—have to suffer and pay the price. Imagine a $200 million Nova series? Wow.
Marvel’s Original Disney+ Plan: Limited Series and Crossovers
Talking with the YouTuber, Winderbaum laid out how Marvel originally structured its Disney+ projects, saying the approach was designed around limited series and crossover potential rather than long-running shows (you can bet if they got the views, they would have had second seasons like Loki):
I mean anything’s possible. I think it’s really a question of how much content fits on the slate. We launched a lot of shows in a short period of time, and I think many of them could have had a second season, a third season. But the system wasn’t really set up that way. It was set up to create limited series and have characters cross back and forth between the features.
Marvel Adopts a Traditional Development Cycle
He added that Marvel has now shifted toward a more traditional development cycle, where multiple projects are worked on but only a few actually move forward (again, higher prices shows canceled, meaning more low-budget series):
There are characters on the live action side I would love to explore in future shows. We have some ideas cooking right now that I think will be really exciting to see come to fruition. We’ve embraced a traditional development cycle. You mentioned a show like Nova—we developed Nova. You mentioned Strange Academy—we developed that. We developed a few shows, and some of them get redeveloped, some of them get paused for a little bit to be revisited later.
Daredevil, X-Men ‘97, and Spider-Man Lead Marvel’s Ongoing Strategy
Winderbaum pointed to series like Daredevil: Born Again as examples of how Marvel plans to release lower-budget, multi-season shows, with the same strategy applied to X-Men ‘97 and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (animation is cheaper):
Not everything is going to be produced. We’re like a normal studio, developing more than we make and only putting forward what we think is the best stuff and the stuff that can sustain for multiple seasons. Daredevil: Born Again is an annual release every March, for as long as people enjoy the show. Same thing with X-Men ‘97 and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
More Marvel Zombies
Oh, Marvel Zombies starring a character nobody also watches? Yeah, that can continue:
“In the case of Zombies, I mean, Zombies is like a big epic event, and like I said, we want to make more.”
The MCU on Disney+ Has Become a Low-Budget Content Mill
At the end of the day, Disney and Marvel have shifted the MCU on streaming into a low-budget content mill.
Instead of ambitious projects like Nova or Strange Academy, fans are left with cheap filler shows nobody asked for. It’s another sign of how far the MCU has fallen—and why audiences keep tuning out. #RIPMCU continues.
