Of all the new Marvel TV shows coming our way across the next few years, Hulu’s Helstrom would have barely registered on most people’s radars. Yet, with 2020 being as it is, it’s suddenly caught out attention – and it should catch yours too.
Not only is it bringing the horror in a heavy way – a rarity for Marvel series – but it’s looking like it’ll have the freedom to operate in its own little sphere, possibly separate from the MCU. You can catch up on all the news from Helstrom, including its trailer at Comic-Con 2020, down below.
Aside from that standout slice of supernatural superhero adventures (easy for you to say), there are several new Marvel TV shows to keep an eye on. They’re a big deal too, with budgets and production values that could very well rival some of its MCU brothers from the big screen. It’s all here in our guide to Marvel’s upcoming TV shows.
Spoiler warning! The events of Avengers: Endgame are so important to the future of Marvel TV that numerous spoilers lie ahead.
New Marvel TV show release dates and schedule
There are now quite a few new Marvel TV shows to get a handle on. With that in mind, we've recapped every upcoming release date on the small screen though be aware: these are subject to change.
- Agents of Shield season 7 – Currently airing (ends August 19, 2020)
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – TBC (previously Fall 2020)
- Helstrom – October 16
- WandaVision – December 2020
- Helstrom – TBA 2020
- Loki – Spring 2021
- What… If? – Summer 2021
- Hawkeye – Fall 2021
- M.O.D.O.K – TBA
- Moon Knight – TBA
- Ms. Marvel – TBA
- She-Hulk - TBA
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is the first of the new Marvel TV shows debuting on Disney Plus, but we're not sure exactly when. Previously, there was a ‘Fall 2020’ window but Variety now reports that it's been delayed indefinitely.
What we do now have is the first look at the series, thanks to a Super Bowl Marvel spot. Take a look at the trailer now, which also shows off a very quick rear-end-focused look at U.S. Agent, played by Wyatt Russell. That’s not America’s Ass.
Yep, as the name – and trailer – may have hinted at: Anthony Mackie and Sebastan Stan are back as Falcon and Bucky ‘Winter Soldier’ Barnes respectively. They’ll be joined by the aforementioned Russell, as well as a returning Baron Zemo (Daniel Bruhl). Further filling out the cast is another familiar face: Emily VanCamp is back as Sharon Carter.
Marvel and Disney are taking their new MCU spin-offs on Disney Plus very seriously indeed. Just to prove it, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige told Variety: “These episodes will intersect with the movies in a very big way, It’s a totally new form of storytelling that we get to play with and explore.” Having also confirmed that there’ll be “ramifications” for other TV shows and movies, and that “post-Endgame the MCU will be extremely different” – something made abundantly clear by Spider-Man: Far From Home. It looks like the next generation of new Marvel TV shows aren’t simply going to be cynical cash-ins.
“I think it's time for Bucky to go out there and have an identity outside of the circumstances that we've met him through,” Stan said at an unnamed comic convention (as reported by Comicbook.com), while Mackie said at SDCC that he wants to find out "what makes The Winter Soldier tick… and what ticks him off.” Whatever happens, if the show echoes the espionage-heavy tone of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, they won’t have any complaints from us.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier could even be home to the genesis of the X-Men. Kinda. A recent set photo clearly shows the flag of Madripoor, a fictional country best known for playing a significant role in a handful of X-Men comics down the years.
Stan, meanwhile, has opened up about the upcoming MCU series in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. You're going to like what he says.
"What I loved about [Falcon and the Winter Soldier] was that, tonally, it was very much in the same world that Captain America: The Winter Soldier was, which was one of my favorite experiences that I’ve ever had, period," Stan said. "So, in a sense, it was grounded and very much in the world as we know it. But, it’s also really jam-packed with a lot of massive, massive action scenes mixed with deep focus on character."
He warns, however, that filming hasn't finished as of April. With the movie and TV industries both shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there's a more-than-likely chance that the series will arrive at the tail-end of Fall. We'll keep you updated as soon as we hear more.
WandaVision
Like the upcoming Black Widow movie, this new Marvel TV show is one to file in the “Hang on a sec, aren’t they dead?” column.
Focusing on Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch and Paul Bettany’s Vision, the Disney Plus series, which has a new release window of December 2020, will revisit the boy-meets-girl story that was doomed in the most unlikely of circumstances – y’know, when the boy had a stone with the power to destroy the universe forcibly removed from his forehead in Avengers: Infinity War. That.
WandaVision’s premise, though, is wholly unique to not just the MCU but perhaps in all of television. As the trailer (which you can see in the Falcon and Winter Soldier section above) shows, Wanda will be pulling out all the surreal sitcom stops to keep her loved one by her side. Is it a set-up of her own making? Well, she’s pregnant in one scene and married in another. This domestic bliss, while all happy and homely at first glance, could soon tear apart at the seams, especially if Wanda if sub-consciously calling the shots.
Of course, Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany return in the post-Endgame adventure. WandaVision will also star Teyonah Parris as an all-grown-up version of Monica Rambeau (who later becomes Photon in the comics) from Captain Marvel.
Hinting at the show's direction at SDCC, Kevin Feige says: “It’s unlike anything we’ve ever done before.” It will also serve as a lead-in to another big Marvel Phase 4 project, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Olsen may reprise her role as Wanda Maximoff there, too.
Speaking of which (witch?), Wanda is going to be developed far more than she ever was on the silver screen. Olsen told a buzzing Hall H crowd at SDCC: "We’re gonna have a lot of fun. We’re gonna get weird, it’s gonna get deep, and have lots of surprises. We’re finally going to understand Wanda Maximoff.”
How weird? Check out this new WandaVision poster, highlighting a slice of 1950s domestic bliss tinged with all the surreal sitcom trappings of Too Many Cooks. We're sold.
Jac Schaeffer, one of the writers of Captain Marvel, is on board as showrunner, says the Hollywood Reporter, while Feige has described the series as “something unexpected and surprising, as well as something we can only do in a long-form series.” Marvel’s currency is now so high that it’s earned the right to experiment, so expect the MCU to visit places it's never been before with WandaVision.
Unlike Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision is looking likely to hit its December release. Paul Bettany has reportedly pulled out of the Tampa Bay Comic Convention (via Screen Rant) because he's set to be back filming WandaVision in July.
Loki
Loki has the potential to be the biggest of all of Disney Plus' MCU shows, seeing as the trickster god is by some distance the highest profile character making the move to television. And just when you thought this new Marvel TV show had to be a prequel series detailing the God of Mischief’s history as a thorn in his brother’s side, Avengers: Endgame changed the rules again. Having been unceremoniously executed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, Loki’s earlier incarnation found a Tesseract-shaped escape route during Captain America, Iron Man and Ant-Man’s trip back to the timeline of the first Avengers movie.
Back in February 2019, the Hollywood Reporter said that the new show will see Loki (Tom Hiddleston reprising his role from the movies) “popping up throughout human history as an unlikely influencer on historical events” – a fact seemingly confirmed by Kevin Feige’s appearance at a Disney investor event (reported by SlashFilm), where a photo in the background clearly shows Loki in a ’70s city, as Jaws is playing at the cinema.
However, Feige said at SDCC 2019 that the Loki TV show will take place after Endgame. Of course, with the multiverse timey-wimey stuff still up in the air (and the interesting choice of logo which could hint at four different Loki eras), who knows what tricks the God of Mischief has up his sleeve?
Tom Hiddleston has also confirmed that the show will approach two major questions: Loki's death, and what happens to the Tesseract. There might even be a female Loki on the cards, as Sophia Di Martino has reportedly been cast in a lead role.
Just a few seconds of Loki footage has been revealed, though we've noticed that the letters on Loki's prison jumpsuit, TVA, stands for Time Variance Authority. In the comics, they're judge, jury, and executioner on all things time travel-related. If Loki is in their sights, it's only because he's been messing up the timestreams in his own smarmy way.
However this plays out, Loki adventuring through time and space being a bit naughty sounds like a TV show we want to watch. It's arriving in Spring 2021.
Hawkeye
Hawkeye is the last of the current batch of new Marvel TV shows from this stage of the MCU to be released. Arriving in Fall 2021, the Hawkeye series will launch on Disney Plus and will see Clint Barton training up Kate Bishop to be his replacement. Not much else is known, not even who will be playing Bishop, though Hailee Steinfeld was attached to the role at one point.
Recently, the Hawkeye directors have also been announced. THR states that Bert and Bertie and Rhys Thomas will be helming some episodes.
What If?
The MCU is set to make its first leaps into animation, alternative history and the anthology series with Disney+’s What If?, launching in Summer 2021. If the comics are anything to go by, we'll be getting a series featuring a left-turn down the road less travelled when it comes to iconic MCU moments. Indiewire reports that the first episode will show what would happen if Peggy Carter had been turned into a super soldier instead of Steve Rogers, while comic book story “what if Loki had found the hammer of Thor?” will reportedly form the basis of one episode.
The cast is, well, incredible: Michael B. Jordan, Sebastian Stan, Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Hayley Atwell, Chadwick Boseman, Karen Gillan, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Neal McDonough, Dominic Cooper, Sean Gunn, Nicole Portman, Stanley Tucci, Taika Waititi, Toby Jones, Djimon Honsou, Michael Rooker, and Jeff Goldblum all return as their MCU characters, while Jeffrey Wright will voice The Watcher.
The chance to see an alternative view of the Marvel movie timeline sounds intriguing and fun – though the version of MCU history where Tony Stark never escaped from captivity in Afghanistan may be rather brief... We do, however, have our first look at one of the What If stories, thanks to Disney Plus showing concept art of Captain America as a zombie and a look at a scenario where Peggy Carter became Captain Britain.
She Hulk, Moon Knight, and Ms. Marvel
Why are these all bundled together? Well, frankly, we don't know a great deal about the TV shows that will introduce these trio of characters to the MCU just yet. Other than a logo for each show and the fact that they're coming to Disney Plus in the next few years (and then some), Marvel has been reluctant to share much more.
Rick and Morty writer Jessica Gao has been brought in to write She-Hulk, while each of the three characters will also appear in future MCU movies. Mark Ruffalo has even spoken of being in talks for a She-Hulk appearance. Other than that? Watch this space.
Helstrom
Hulu's horror show will focus on Daimon and Ana Helstrom, the children of a “mysterious and powerful serial killer” who may just have connections to, well, hell. “Marvel’s known for all the heart, humour, and action they put into every series, but this time around we’re adding some scares to that mix,” boasts showrunner Paul Zbyszewski. “I think we’ve found a compelling way to dissect some of our deepest fears through the experiences of our two lead characters.”
Sounds spooky. Helstrom is out on October 16, with the first trailer detailing the conflict the Helstroms have to deal with, not least of all their mother, played by Elizabeth Marvel.
Marvel (the actress, not the studio), has teased the show's darker elements, comparing it to another Marvel favourite: "I think it's, I wouldn't say it's too scary or scarier than a lot of the territory explored in, you know, something like Daredevil or a lot of shows and movies that are out there can get dark, but it's just different," Marvel told ComicBook
Hulu animated shows
On Hulu, there were originally four new Marvel TV shows, ones devoted to M.O.D.O.K. (aka Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing), Hit-Monkey, and Tigra & Dazzler. The plan was for them to all come together to form a supergroup called – wait for it – The Offenders.
However, Howard the Duck and Tigra & Dazzler have been cancelled, while little has been heard about Hit-Monkey. There is some good news, though, in the shape of M.O.D.O.K, which has a cast in place: Patton Oswalt is set to play M.O.D.O.K, while Aimee Garcia plays his wife, Jodie. Parks & Rec's Ben Schwartz and Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Melissa Fumero will play their son and daughter respectively.
The synopsis for the show, via Marvel, makes it sound like one of the more unique series currently in the works: "Ousted as A.I.M.’s leader, while also dealing with his crumbling marriage and family life, the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing is set to confront his greatest challenge yet: a midlife crisis!"
Agents of Shield season 7
Agents of Shield’s seventh (and final) season is currently airing on ABC. With the ending in sight, Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb has opened up about the show’s final run, telling Deadline this is "the best kind of creative situation." Agent Coulson actor Clark Gregg has teased the final run of episodes, saying in an interview with Collider, "What I love about what our writers did, was that they went, 'Okay, then let’s have the most fun possible. Let’s go full sci-fi with space demons and an evil alter-ego for Coulson. And then, in the last season, we’ll go popping through different decades, and we’ll make the most out of what those decades represent, in style and tone. And we’ll put our very diverse cast in different time periods, where diversity is a challenge for people, and really make the most out of that and have fun with it.' We’re going out with a, we have nothing to prove to anybody but ourselves, bang."
The gang currently find themselves in 1930s America and, as time travel has permeated much of Agents of Shield (and now the MCU), expect the team to try and find their way back home to the present, with the LMD Coulson in tow.
Sony's Spider-Man shows
This one is still in the early stages, yet could be among the most exciting of all the new Marvel TV shows, the Disney Plus offerings included. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller are working on a couple of projects. That includes “a handful of live-action shows using Sony’s Marvel characters, of which there are like 900 characters” according to Miller (via Deadline). “We’re figuring out a way to develop the shows so that each are their own unique experience but also related.”
Among the characters that Sony definitely have access to are the stable of Spider-Man heroes and villains that roam everywhere from New York City and beyond. An interconnected web of shows spinning out of Lord and Miller’s undoubtedly great track record with licensed characters (let’s not talk about Solo) could mean that Sony has the next mini-MCU on its hands. No release date for any of the shows yet, however.
Elsewhere, Sony Pictures chairman Tony Vinciquerra has confirmed that there are "five or six" Spider-Man shows currently in the works. Phew. That's a lot of Spidey.
Will Netflix's Marvel shows ever make a return?
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it doesn’t look like Netflix’s Marvel shows will be making a comeback, at least not on Netflix. With Jessica Jones being cancelled, that marked the end of MCU-related shows on the streaming service, with Luke Cage, The Punisher, Daredevil, and Iron Fist having already been canned.
Will these characters have a future elsewhere? Head of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, says (via Slash Film). “I don’t know. There were a lot of great characters that were on those Netflix series and I think there is a period of time, it’ll be a while, before we use any of them based on what the contracts were, so I’m not sure,” before adding, “Answering that question is a spoiler.” Never say never – even if Feige is in peak tease mode.
Charlie Cox, who played The Man Without Fear on the Daredevil series expected a fourth season.
"You know, I turned down jobs, 'cause I thought we were shooting and we were getting ready for it," he told ComicBook.com.
Ouch.