Marvel Television has paused development on three projects: "Nova," "Strange Academy", and "Terror, Inc."
Sources said that these projects were never officially greenlit, and may still come to fruition at some point. The studio has simply shifted its priorities at the moment.
The decision is also reflective of a new model for producing television that’s emerged at Marvel in recent years.
Marvel initially approached series development in much the same way it handled features: a slate was announced, and what was teased was more or less what got made.
A couple of years ago, senior leadership decided to retool the development process, as they were also revamping their new Daredevil series, Born Again.
Marvel’s new approach to TV development is more traditional, with many more projects being developed than will ultimately be made, and showrunners being brought in to oversee each. Shifting to a more typical greenlight process made sense, as the studio looked to maintain audience engagement amid new realities facing the industry.
In addition to the prospect of superhero fatigue and content oversaturation, there was the reality of a market contraction, which led the studio to pull back significantly on the amount of projects released each year.
Marvel has spoken publicly about the overhaul of its development strategy, as in a Screen Rant interview published last August with Brad Winderbaum, Marvel Studios’ Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation.
“We’re developing more than we make now, so we’re actually have a few different things brewing that we might see through to at least a pilot script to see if we want to make it,” said Winderbaum. “But, there’s a lot of opportunity out there, it’s hard to choose favorites… We’re really being careful about what we choose to do next.”
Originally, Marvel turned to Sabir Pirzada to pen an adaptation of "Nova", as we revealed in 2022. Boasting multiple aliases — the original and most famous being Richard Rider — Nova is a character created by Marv Wolfman and John Romita Sr., a cosmic-powered hero and last survivor of the intergalactic military and police force known as the Nova Corps, who wields the Nova Force to protect the universe.
The character first appeared in Nova #1 in 1976. Marvel was active on the project as recently as this past December, announcing then that Criminal Minds alum Ed Bernero had been hired as the writer and showrunner for the series, replacing Pirzada.
If Nova was the most concrete of the three projects put on pause, "Strange Academy", and "Terror, Inc." were also rumored for some time to be in development as a series for Disney+.
"Strange Academy" would have been an adaptation of the eponymous comic book series, created by Skottie Young and artist Humberto Ramos, which debuted in March 2020.
Set in New Orleans, it centers on a school founded by Doctor Strange to educate young individuals with magical abilities.
The show was expected to focus on Wong, portrayed by Benedict Wong, and his leadership of the school. Amy Rardin, who wrote on Echo, was working on the show.
Launched in 1992, the comic book series "Terror, Inc." centers on an antihero by the name of Terror, who possesses the ability to incorporate the body parts of others into his form, gaining their memories and abilities.
Created by Dan Chichester, Margaret Clark, and Klaus Janson, the character first appeared under the name Shreck in St. George #2 in August 1988 before being reintroduced as Terror in the 1992 series. No word on who was involved with development.
Up next for Marvel Television is "Daredevil: Born Again" on March 4.
Elsewhere, live-action series coming up for release this year include "Ironheart", on June 24, and "Wonder Man", which is expected to debut this December.
On the film side, the studio launched "Captain America: Brave New World" on Valentine’s Day and has so far seen the film pull in over $204M globally. "Thunderbolts" is next up on May 2, with "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" following on July 25.
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