Just as the studio’s movies are going from strength to strength, the amount of Marvel TV shows on our screens is increasing all the time. In particular, streaming services like Netflix and Hulu have been met with much success with the likes of Daredevil, The Defenders and the recent Runaways.
For ABC, however, the success has been more mixed. Though Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has reached a healthy five seasons, we know that it’s only made it this far due to Marvel pushing for it to stay on the air. Agent Carter, on the other hand, only managed two seasons before cancellation while Inhumans was arguably the biggest flop the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever had.
Following that, it’s not too surprising that ABC won’t be giving us any new Marvel series this year, as network president Channing Dungey had this to say to the executives gathered at the Television Critics’ Association:
“We developed a couple things this season that we don’t think are going to end up going forward, so we’re going to look really carefully about what we do next.”
It’s clear that ABC is not all that pleased with the Marvel projects they’ve handled so far. For one, Dungey’s statement all but confirms that Inhumans won’t be landing itself a second season. That said, the president did leave the door open somewhat by saying that no formal decision on the show’s future had been made.
As for the projects Dungey mentions that aren’t going forward, we likely know what they are. A couple of years ago, ABC ordered a pilot for a S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff titled Most Wanted, which never went to full series. Oscar-winning writer John Ridley was also working on an unknown show for a while before the plug was eventually pulled.
More recently, we learned that the network was developing a Jessica Jones-style female-led series. It’s unknown whether this has been cancelled as well, or just been pushed back to 2019, but we imagine that ABC is in no rush to get it out the door. In other words, if you’re looking for your Marvel fix on TV, you may have to pay up for one of the aforementioned streaming services.
