3 hours Ago By Brian Davids
Marvel Studios’ head of streaming has a lot to be proud of this year. From the critical and audience acclaim of and to Disney+’s first profitable fiscal quarter (Q3), Winderbaum looks to carry that momentum into 2025. But first he’s bidding adieu to one of the studio’s foundational series, .
The animated anthology has no shortage of what-if stories that it could explore, but capping the A.C. Bradley-created show has more to do with the needs of the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“ has always tied into the greater MCU and the Multiverse Saga. And for reasons that will become clear in the next couple of years, this was the right time to culminate the series from a story perspective,” Winderbaum tells . One of the key takeaways that Winderbaum has discovered since Marvel Studios started releasing television shows on Disney+ in 2021 is that they don’t always have to create something that’s everything to everyone.
“The most important thing we can do as a studio is tell stories that resonate with people,” Winderbaum says. “I don’t know that every show has to try to be a giant -scale event that’s a four-quadrant series, that every single person shows up for in a big emotional way. If we can do that for anybody, for one fan, then we’ve done our job.
” Looking ahead, Marvel Television begins 2025 with what might be its most anticipated series to date, as March marks the return of Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil in . (Earlier this year, Winderbaum the simplified way in which Marvel Studios declared all of Netflix’s former Marvel series to be MCU canon.) The longtime executive also sheds light on what to expect from their multiple new animated series.
“ is just a fun ride. It’s a cartoon about Peter Parker in high school and his friends and the high stakes world of vigilantism in New York, while you’re trying to make ends meet and keep your friend group together,” Winderbaum shares. “ is a very, very grounded street-level violent story with a lot to say about the world we live in.
is a story about conquest and national identity, in a way, through this four-part adventure. is this sprawling adventure story using the whole world as its backdrop.” Below, during a recent conversation with , Winderbaum also addresses the future of non- Netflix characters, such as Jessica Henwick’s Colleen Wing, as well as what’s next for ’s fan-favorite character, Kamala Khan/ .
Well, I can’t go into great detail, but just like the first season came out after the Sacred Timeline blossomed into multiple alternate realities at the end of season one, has always tied into the greater MCU and the Multiverse Saga. And for reasons that will become clear in the next couple of years, this was the right time to culminate the series from a story perspective. It wasn’t designed that way.
We were just spitballing stories like we always do in the writers’ room. Obviously, Sebastian Stan’s depiction as Bucky is one of the most iconic characters in the MCU, and I love David Harbour. The way he’s embodied Red Guardian is just so entertaining.
He’s so charismatic, and he just jumps off the screen, so seeing those characters together just felt like a natural fit. They both have these Russian origins, and the what-if scenario — “What if you stop the death of Tony and Maria Stark?” — was just a fun story to play in. Honestly, it’s serendipitous that it’s coming out right before , as is the Mech Avengers episode with Anthony Mackie’s Captain America [before ].
That’s something we’ve wanted to put on screen, and based on the timeline of how long it takes to make animation versus a movie, you have to add an extra year onto animation, really. So it just happens that [these two ? episodes] are lining up perfectly for those two [2025] films. The most important thing we can do as a studio is tell stories that resonate with people.
I don’t know that every show has to try to be a giant -scale event that’s a four-quadrant series, that every single person shows up for in a big emotional way. What’s important is that shows up in an emotional way, that we can tell stories that speak to portion of our fan base and bring them the elation they experienced in the theater when they saw . If we can do that for anybody, for one fan, then we’ve done our job.
That will allow these shows to be discovered and for the word of mouth to grow, so that more people can discover them. It’s all one shared universe, so you never know where characters are going to pop up next. It’s a huge opportunity to have officially folded those stories into our canon.
Whether or not they were always part of the canon, it’s now official, and we can play with those toys in our toy box. There are surprises around the band that I won’t get into, but for fans of the Netflix shows, we’ve got a very exciting show on the horizon in . I remember walking into the comic store as a kid.
I was a Marvel fan and I collected Marvel comics, and there was a huge array of books available to me. There was heightened fantasy with . There was soap opera with social commentary in .
There were adventure stories in and . And Marvel has always meant many things. Marvel is not one thing.
There are many stories to tell that are in different genres and have different tones and speak to different segments of the fandom. So that’s something we’re trying to create in our television slate, certainly, but in our slate overall. is just a fun ride.
It’s a cartoon about Peter Parker in high school and his friends and the high stakes world of vigilantism in New York, while you’re trying to make ends meet and keep your friend group together. is a very, very grounded street-level violent story with a lot to say about the world we live in. is a story about conquest and national identity, in a way, through this four-part adventure.
is this sprawling adventure story that uses the whole world as its backdrop. Every one of these shows has a different tone and a different type of story in a different genre. And just like the comics, it speaks to the breadth of the Marvel brand.
I love Iman. She’s incredible. I love that character.
I will tell you that she’s certainly a big part of the MCU to me. is a really important show to us, and without going into great detail, because I don’t want to spoil anything, she is top of mind. So it’s going to be exciting to see where she pops up next.
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