The future of Marvel's Disney Plus shows takes a jaw-dropping turn

Marvel Studios changed the game for its own franchise in 2021 when it launched its first Disney Plus series. WandaVision is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - a franchise that already had 23 films to its name at this stage - but it was the franchise's first streaming show. It brought the franchise wins it hadn't experienced before (including Emmys) and paved the way for more shows to follow, with the likes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If...?, and Hawkeye to come after it in the same year.

Now, it's hard to remember a time when there wasn't an MCU series or three to look forward to on Disney Plus each year. Each one spotlights a character that was either underutilized or just hadn't appeared in the movies yet, and they build out the universe in a much more detailed capacity than any of the movies could.

Even so, after a questionable year, the studio is reportedly taking a "less-is-more" approach, resulting in some reported cancellations that have left Marvel fans wondering if they will be moving away from its more innovative, riskier approaches to storytelling in the future (such as the Disney Plus shows and the Special Presentations).

Thankfully, that doesn't appear to be the case.

Marvel has "at least" five new live-action shows in development

According to veteran Marvel insider Daniel Richtman, Marvel Studios has "at least five" live-action series in development right now. Needless to say, that's a pretty exciting development as it confirms that the future of the Disney Plus shows remains intact for now.

While Marvel Studios had a lot of success with the Disney Plus MCU shows right out of the gate, the second year began to raise some questions about the sustainability of the format, with reports that shows such as Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, and 2023's Secret Invasion weren't as strong performers as the original class. Though Secret Invasion was negatively-received by fans, it was a miniseries which makes it easy to move on from, but reports suggested that She-Hulk would not be getting a second season because of how expensive it was. There are, however, reports of a potential renewal for Ms. Marvel.

That, of course, leads us to this report of five live-action shows that Marvel is rumored to be working on. The thing that makes it difficult to speculate on which shows Marvel could be working on is the fact that the report doesn't say whether they are completely new shows, new shows that we know are in production (or recently completed production), or second seasons of returning shows (which have been heavily rumored in recent months).

One of those shows is likely Vision Quest, the long-rumored and recently-confirmed WandaVision spinoff focusing on Paul Bettany's White Vision that will commence production in 2025 for a 2026 release. Another is probably the long-awaited Nova project, which is expected to arrive in 2027 (or maybe even 2028). It's also possible that Wonder Man could be one of them too, as production on that wrapped just recently. But "in development" and "post-production" are too different things, so it's entirely possible that it isn't one of those five shows.

Original Marvel shows Hawkeye and Moon Knight are now expected to get second seasons, with reports claiming that Marvel finally gave them the greenlight after overhauling its streaming show plan; opting to focus on long-running multi-season TV shows instead of a list of one-and-done miniseries. Ms. Marvel is also reportedly in contention for a second season too, as the studio is incredibly keen on bringing back Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan.

With that in mind, those could be the five projects right there if those rumored returning shows are involved in it. If we're talking five new shows, then that makes things even more interesting, as it suggests that Marvel is still invested in producing new original streaming shows set within the MCU. If that's the case, another rumored project is a Strange Academy series that could feature Wong leading a new generation of sorcerers.

Regardless of whether the shows are completely new projects or returning series, it's an incredibly exciting report for a Marvel fan to hear. It confirms that the studio is still sold on the prospect of producing shows for the MCU in spite of all these recent reports of cancellations and pulling back. The success of the likes of WandaVision and Loki shows there is value in that medium, and if Marvel continues to get it right, perhaps it could reach even greater heights going forward. And that is also extremely exciting.