Disney+ Has a Future With The MCU, Says Kevin Feige

Kevin Feige says that the upcoming MCU spinoff series on Disney Plus will play a pivotal part in the future of the superhero franchise. Recently marking their 10th year in the business with 20 films released and a few more already on the docket, Marvel Studios is still looking to expand their brand with in-development spinoffs centering on heroes fans have already gotten to know on the big screen.

Not much is known regarding what exactly Marvel Studios is planning for these shows. But unlike the Marvel TV division - including both the ABC and Netflix branches - which are supposedly connected to the MCU stories told in films, Feige and his team will have total creative control over these projects. While there's no official lineup announced yet, early reports claimed that shows will focus on Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), and Vision (Paul Bettany), as well as Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and the Winter Soldier/White Wolf (Sebastian Stan).

While speaking with Variety's Playback podcast, Feige talked about what fans can expect with regard to the planned MCU spinoff series that'll be part of Dinsey Plus' original programming line-up when it debuts next year. While the producer extraordinaire didn't get into specifics, he said that the shows will play a pivotal part in building the franchise's mythos.

“When we announced ten movies and people asked ‘Well what about these other things?’ the previous stance would be ‘We only have a certain number of slots to make movies per year.’ That’s still true but we have another outlet that I think will be very unique and very special.”

“We are going to tell stories for the streaming service that we wouldn’t be able to tell in a theatrical experience — a longer-form narrative, that’s what comics are, it’s about as longform a narrative as exists. But also maintaining that theatrical experience, which is our bread and butter, and the lines around the block, if you’re lucky.”

It's still unclear where in the MCU timeline the upcoming Disney Plus spinoff series will fit, but considering that most projects center around heroes who've been dusted by Thanos' (Josh Brolin) deadly snap at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, many are convinced that these streaming miniseries will predate The Decimation. However, it's also important to note that while these heroes are believed to be dead, the events of Avengers: Endgame could very well bring them back to life, and allow Marvel Studios to move forward with their respective stories. Regardless, based on Feige's comments, it sounds like their adventures will very much be interwoven into the existing MCU lore that's being built on the big screen.

Considering that, it's possible that these spinoffs will tell tie-in stories that give further context to the overall narrative that the MCU is weaving through their movies. Like prelude comics, the shows could offer fans different perspectives on big event storylines. That's on top of allowing side characters who don't have their own headlining films to have their own time in the spotlight.