Marvel Studios may have cancelled its old way of making television, but the studio is reportedly still open to producing second seasons of the old guard of shows - two in particular, it seems. If you've been keeping up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you'll know that the Disney Plus shows have become an imperative part of that franchise, continuing on the stories of the characters involved in it, all while introducing some new major players too.
However, not all of the shows have been as successful as that first batch. Although WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If...?, and Hawkeye opened the doors for a new era for the MCU, some of the subsequent shows have struggled with extensively large budgets and poor critical reviews. It all forced Marvel to change its approach to making TV, operating more like a traditional TV network instead of a movie studio commissioning multi-part movies.
That being said, in the midst of all the Daredevil: Born Agains and Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Mans, the studio still might bring back some of the programming from its original era... that is, if they're successful enough to warrant second seasons.
Marvel will wait and see how Ironheart and Wonder Man perform before deciding their fates
Marvel Studios has officially changed how it does television, writing pilots in order to see if the shows it greenlights are feasible. If they are, they could return for more seasons down the line, as Marvel Television wants to produce more long-running, seasonal TV shows instead of standalone miniseries. Daredevil: Born Again was the first of this new wave of live-action shows as its first season streamed on Disney Plus earlier this year, taking inspiration from the previous Daredevil series and setting up a second season that will stream next year. That's what Marvel TV looks like now.
Even now, 2025 will remain a transitional year for Marvel TV as the studio's next two shows are carried over from the previous miniseries-focused days. Ironheart arrives this summer - three years after it was filmed - while Wonder Man arrives in December. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel will take "a wait-and-see approach on whether those titles get second seasons".
Needless to say, that's extremely exciting for future fans of both projects as it means that they won't be automatic casualties of the switchover in the studio's approach to television. Yes, they were envisioned as standalone miniseries, but it sounds like both could feasibly return for second seasons if they prove to be successful for the streamer. This is reminiscent of Agatha All Along; the first show produced under the new Marvel Television banner, it was one of the remaining titles from the previous creative strategy that made full use of the fact that it was a TV series - not a movie. The positive response, strong ratings, and open-ending, however, suggest that it could easily be repackaged into a first season of an ongoing series.
It's also worth noting that Hawkeye falls into this category too as Marvel is actively pursuing a second season of it, despite it being an original miniseries with a pretty definitive ending. That would make it the exception to the studio's new rule of not having Avengers-level stars on TV anymore, but given that the first season was very successful and the show is grounded enough to logically pull off another season of, it makes sense that the studio is interested. Whether it actually happens or not remains to be seen, as star Jeremy Renner declined to return after being offered half of his season 1 salary.
Taking all of that into account, it seems as if Ironheart and Wonder Man have the opportunity to jump from one era of Marvel Television to another. Provided their budgets are lower and their viewing figures high, then both could be up for a second season. And given that both would fit into the studio's new approach of not featuring the major heroes at the forefront of a show, then they might just be able to make second seasons happen.
Ironheart premieres on Disney Plus on June 24, 2025. Wonder Man arrives in December.