Could We See Even More Marvel TV On ABC?

By Nick Tylwalk | Jan 14, 2015

So far, Marvel’s presence on network TV can’t be called anything close to the kind of unqualified success the company has had with its movies. Perhaps still suffering a hangover of sorts from its slow start last season, the reaction of the general public to Agents of SHIELD can politely be described as lukewarm. Agent Carter is more of a critical darling, but it hasn’t been tearing it up in the ratings either.

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Still, ABC doesn’t seem too upset about how the Marvel shows are doing. ABC entertainment president Paul Lee recently told Entertainment Weekly he was pleased with the DVR numbers and creative strength of both series, and that Agent Carter could even return down the road after its current seven-episode run is finished.

And that’s not all, Lee even said ABC would be open to more Marvel in its lineup.

"We have ambitions for Marvel in the future. We love Marvel."

It’s an interesting stance, simply because the network is only dipping its toes into the super hero pool. Agents of SHIELD (until the Season 2 midseason finale, anyway!) and Agent Carter both deal with normal people caught up in the world of heroes, they don’t star Marvel’s costumed characters themselves. One assumes ABC will be keeping a close eye on how Marvel’s Netflix series fare this year; success there could influence the network to step up its super hero game.

It’s also foolish not to note that ABC and Marvel are both owned by Disney, so surely the House of Mouse could just lean on its television arm to put more Marvel on the air, right? Not according to Lee.

"Nope …. This is us. We drive this."

Here’s the thing: as prominent as super heroes are in pop culture right now, there might be a low ceiling on what they can accomplish on TV, but there’s a high floor too. As long as Marvel keeps linking everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe together — something it’s done masterfully so far — some fans are always going to want to see what’s going on. That’s not going to stop in the near future, and there’s no doubt ABC is aware of that.

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