Marvel Television To Fold Into Marvel Studios

Soon, it will be Marvel Television no more!
Or, at least, Marvel Television — the division of Marvel Entertainment behind shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Cloak & Dagger — will no longer operate as it has for the last decade. According to The Hollywood Reporter, its operations will transfer to Marvel Studios, which will retain the services of Karim Zreik, senior vice president of current programming and production, and his team. Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb, who has been expected to step down, will stay onboard during the transition. Dozens of other Marvel Television staffers, though, will be let go.
Currently, the division is only supporting two live-action programs. S.H.I.E.L.D. — which will air its already produced seventh and final season this summer on ABC — and Hulu’s forthcoming Helstrom series based on Marvel Comics’s Son of Satan. On the animated front, a deal with Hulu is still in place for four animated series (Howard the Duck, M.O.D.O.K., Hit-Monkey, and Tigra and Dazzler) with an animated special called The Offenders uniting the titles characters of each series. Recently, though, the writing staff of Tigra and Dazzler was let go, suggesting trouble still looms even as Marvel Television sunsets.
The division also produced Marvel’s kids and family animated programs like Marvel Rising and the recent Spider-Man. Sadly, family entertainment chief Cort Lane is also expected to leave the company sometime in January, according to Variety.
Marvel Television’s fate seemed obvious to anyone watching the trends over the last year. Nearly all of its live action series were cancelled within months of each other and ideas perfectly suited for them, like She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel, were co-opted by Marvel Studios for their ambitious television plans on Disney+. Then came word of Loeb’s expected departure and Kevin Feige’s elevation to Chief Creative Officer at Marvel. With all storytelling efforts transferring to his office, it seemed there was little room left for Marvel Television as a division.
While sad, it seems uniting all of Marvel’s film and television efforts in one office will create the connectivity Loeb promised when S.H.I.E.L.D. first hit the air. It’s just a shame he, and most of his team, will not be a part of it.