When Marvel Studios' The Falcon and the Winter Soldier swoops onto Disney+ on March 19, it will mark the beginning of the series' six-episode journey.
Hold up. The show is only six episodes? Kevin Feige, get in here and explain yourself this instant! According to Feige, who addressed concerns about the show's length today at Marvel's first TCA, it's a matter of budget.
“Anthony Mackie and Sebastien Stan are spectacular actors which we felt we had to explore their stories and their backstories or personal stories enough as Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes. So it was always the thought we’d like to learn more about both of them. In the little interactions, they had with each other in Winter Soldier and Civil War…as friends of a mutual best friend in Captain America. We thought we’d have a fun dynamic, if we ever had that opportunity, we’d watch a whole show with the two of them and Disney+ gives us that opportunity," Feige shared at the presentation.
“Six hours is what we landed on as the best way to tell our story. Six hours, whether it’s six episodes or nine shorter episodes like Wandavision. The shows aren’t inexpensive, so the per-episode cost is very high, and to get that bar I was talking about,” added the Marvel Head Honcho.
In addition to explaining away Marvel's position concerning The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Feige also confirmed that there's no planned second season of WandaVision. When the Marvel Studios series comes to an end on March 5, the final episode will tie the series directly to the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Rumors related to how WandaVision will end are still being bandied about, though many fans believe that Mephisto has been canoodling with Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) to make Wanda and Vision's lives miserable for the past several weeks.
Personally, I'm hoping there's a bit more to it than that, as I feel like we've known about every major reveal in WandaVision before it happens. Like Vision at a Westview talent show, I hope Marvel still has a few rabbits in their hat.