Marvel reportedly cancels ANOTHER Disney Plus show; character’s future uncertain

Marvel Studios is continuing to figure out what it wants its next era to look like. It launched the Multiverse Saga with Phase Four while also using that opportunity to launch the Disney Plus branch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, introducing us to its first original TV shows as a result. It was incredibly successful in those early days, with hits such as the Emmy-winning WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If...?, and Hawkeye all dominating that first year. However, the franchise has seen some stumbles in the years since, both on the Disney Plus streaming service and at the box office.

This has forced Marvel to reshape its release strategy, prioritizing quality over quantity and refocusing on titles that the studio feels are guaranteed successes. They will also reportedly be looking at those earlier shows, perhaps even renewing some of them for new seasons while officially dropping the less-successful ones. As for some of the in-development projects, that is less clear.

A new report suggests that one of those projects might not get produced after all.

Marvel's Okoye series rumored to have been cancelled

According to Marvel insider Daniel Richtman, the planned Okoye series has been either put on hold at Marvel Studios or cancelled altogether. There was no explanation given as to why this might have been the case, but it's undoubtedly disheartening to hear nonetheless, especially as Okoye is such an important, beloved character in the MCU.

The show was expected to feature Danai Gurira reprising her role as the Dora Milaje general, giving her the spotlight after she did such a wonderful job in a supporting role throughout multiple MCU movies. The character made her on-screen debut in 2018 game-changer Black Panther before returning in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It would have been nice to see her get that spotlight as she is certainly worthy of it.

The spinoff was first reported to be happening by Deadline back in 2021, with the idea that it could be a prequel focusing on Okoye's origins. It was essentially confirmed by Danai Gurira in 2023 during an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert when she said Marvel told her she could "gently allude" to the possibility of it. There haven't been any updates on the show since.

Meanwhile, a new Wakanda-set series, the animated Eyes of Wakanda was announced after this one and it is set to premiere on Disney Plus sometime this year. While that's not necessarily a replacement in any way, it is rather puzzling that it has jumped ahead of the Okoye series and will actually make it onto screens. Let's hope it's just an indicator that we could see the live-action show join it on the streamer in the future.

Okoye was likely impacted by Marvel's new strategy

While Marvel has yet to confirm which shows will or won't be going forward, this disappointing update about the Okoye series is just another sign of the studio's new release strategy. Recent reports have suggested that Marvel is pivoting from the way it did things throughout Phases Four and Five, adopting a less-is-more approach going forward. And part of that strategy will reportedly include placing a focus on some of its previous shows, turning them into multiseason shows instead the original plan to do limited series.

It also sounds like this plan could include officially cancelling projects that weren't as successful, too. With recent reports suggesting that second seasons of Hawkeye and Moon Knight (and potentially Ms. Marvel, too) are on the horizon, there have also been rumblings that She-Hulk: Attorney At Law won't return for season 2, with star Tatiana Maslany suggesting that the big budget probably makes a second season unlikely. Meanwhile, there are rumors that Eternals, Captain Marvel, and Ant-Man sequels have been cancelled due to the underperformances of the previous movies in the franchises.

Could the Okoye series have been a direct result of Marvel's new plans, or has the reshuffling simply caused the studio to put the project on the backburner for now? Both are possible, but it is worth noting that this sounds like a similar situation to the reports that came out in regards to Eternals 2, with insiders reporting that it was once a priority for Marvel but now longer is, and thus is stuck somewhere between cancelled and on hold.

We'll have to wait and see what the future holds for Okoye, but whether she stars in her own show or not, she is expected to return to the MCU at some point. Black Panther 3 reportedly hasn't been greenlit yet, but it is expected to be one of the movies that Marvel does move ahead with. If the studio doesn't, however, we will likely see Okoye again in the upcoming Avengers movies.

If you're still holding out hope for the Okoye series, it's important to remember that there haven't been any official announcements made about its future right now, so it's best to hold any definitive thoughts until Marvel confirms whether it's happening or not. Maybe they just need time to figure out where it could go on the calendar. And on that note, we might get a bit more clarity at either San Diego Comic-Con in July or D23 in August, as Kevin Feige is expected to reveal more of the Multiverse Saga's calendar during both of those events.