Disney planning standalone Loki, Scarlet Witch shows with Hiddleston, Olsen

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Disney is going all out on their upcoming streaming service, adding content that could be worthy of theater distribution. There’s STAR WARS shows in the works, live-action movies with A-list talent (LADY AND THE TRAMP) and more, all aimed at competing with other major streamers like Netflix and Amazon. Their lineup has just gotten even bolder, as the word is now out that Disney has plans for TV shows around two high-profile Marvel Cinematic Universe characters (despite the fact said characters are no longer breathing in the movies).

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Variety reports Disney and Marvel are developing shows around none other than Loki and Scarlet Witch, with original actors Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen set to reprise their roles. These shows will be made under the Marvel Studios banner, which handles the making of the movies, with Marvel genius Kevin Feige being heavily involved in the development. Other shows like the Marvel/Netflix series DAREDEVIL and JESSICA JONES and ABC’s AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D are under Marvel TV, which is headed by Jeph Loeb, who reports to Marvel Entertainment, while Feige reports straight to Disney.

While characters like Iron Man, Captain America and Thor are top-tier and can handle their own movies, the goal of the shows is to give the second-tier characters (which also includes the likes of Falcon/Sam Wilson, Vision, Mantis and more) a chance to shine. These series will not be of the length of other shows – which often run about 10-13 episodes – and will instead run at a lean six-eight episodes. That’s more than enough to send these characters on a fun adventure and have them back to the Avengers in time for supper…and the next big movie.

The idea is to give Netflix and Amazon a run for their money by delivering content that is much grander in scope than what these other streaming services can provide. One way of achieving this goal is to make the service cheaper than its competitors while putting even more money into the shows. These Marvel shows, as well as the ones from the SW universe, will reportedly cost way more than what other companies put into their content, featuring bigger production values. For instance, the SW show is expected to cost around $100 million, but even though that may seem like a lot, Netflix is also starting to spend that kind of money of big content, spending billions each year on their own shows and movies.

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This plan for new shows around other characters couldn't come at a better time, as the current run of Marvel TV shows out there is starting to lose steam. Shows like JONES and LUKE CAGE are not as popular post-DEFENDERS, and even a season two of DEFENDERS 2 is no longer on the docket. Meanwhile, shows like THE RUNAWAYS and CLOAK AND DAGGER, though having an audience, have never had the same level of popularity as the Netflix shows. Then there are the major network shows, and AGENTS is about to come to an end with its final season. Then there was the INHUMANS debacle, and it would be for the best for us to just not think about all that. 

Neither Marvel and Disney have commented on the issue, but this seems like a legit plan. In fact, it’s a brilliant plan. There are plenty of characters in these movies that audiences want to see more of,  but giving them their own movie seems like a bit much. Scarlet Witch and Loki are two prime examples, so giving them their own show is the perfect way to expand their story while the bigger characters get the big screen. Of course, many of these characters – if not all of them – were killed off in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR but, shocker, Marvel may have a plan to bring them all back in AVENGERS 4.

AVENGERS 4 hits theaters in 2019, while the Disney streaming service is set to launch later that year.