Marvel fans are currently enjoying the studio’s first foray into episodic television in the MCU (having seen some forms of it on ABC and Netflix). WandaVision is captivating audiences with its weekly mystery, and that story is expected to funnel into the planned feature film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, directed by Sam Raimi. On the TV side, the MCU will transition into The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki, but also unveiled plans for shows centered around Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight and She-Hulk, to name a few.
Will any of these shows get additional seasons, though, or are they all designed like WandaVision, to tell a very specific story over a designated number of episodes and then be done? We were able to ask Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige this question today as part of a Disney+ panel at TCA, and he told us:
Yes, and it will be dictated by the story. We've already said that Lizzie Olsen will go from WandaVision into the new Doctor Strange film. So the fun of the MCU is obviously all over the crossover that we can do between series, [and] between films. We'll always vary based on the story. Sometimes it will go into a season two. Sometimes it will go into a feature and then back into a series. We've announced that Ms. Marvel, after her debut on Disney+, will be going into the second Captain Marvel film. [And] we are thinking of, and planning, second seasons for some of the upcoming series.
That makes sense. The MCU, as an interconnected universe, is layering its stories. WandaVision is setting up Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but is also expected to have an impact on Spider-Man: No Way Home. But there might not be a reason to go back into the Hex for a second season of that show. However, a character like Moon Knight could be more episodic with his adventures, and could easily map out three seasons of exploration.
Later in the conversation, Kevin Feige basically confirmed this approach when he said:
We are developing all of these shows the way we develop our movies. In other words, when we start with a movie, we hope there's a part two. We hope there's a part three. But we aren't factoring that into the part one. We are trying to make something that hooks people enough and that people enjoy enough and want to revisit enough that they want to see to see the story continue. That is the way we're proceeding on television, as well. I've been at Marvel far too long to say a definite no, or definite yes, to anything in regards to your question about another season of WandaVision. But there are shows that we are looking more… some of the shows that I mentioned that we were about to start filming, we are keeping in mind a structure that would lead into a season two and season three in a more direct way than, say, a show like, WandaVision, which clearly goes into a feature.
There you go. Second and third seasons are on the table and part of the planning process for Marvel Studios, but it will be dictated by story. WandaVision seems unlikely, because Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) is transitioning back to the big screen for the second Doctor Strange. But some MCU shows in the planning stages are being envisioned as multi-season shows.
Time will tell which ones get that distinction, and which ones do not.
