James R | On 10, Jan 2019

Disney+’s rumoured Scarlet Witch series is officially a go, with the House of Mouse hiring a showrunner to pen the pilot.

Jac Schaeffer will exec-produce as well as write the series, which will debut on Disney’s upcoming subscription streaming service.

Schaeffer is no stranger to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: he’s also a writer on the looming Captain Marvel movie and also penned the script for Marvel’s Black Widow starring Scarlett Johansson. Jan also co-wrote The Hustle, starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson, and co-wrote Disney short film Olaf’s Frozen Adventure.

The series was one of a number of TV projects rumoured to be in the pipeline for Disney+, as Marvel looks to focus on supporting characters for small screen solo outings.

Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen are expected to star in the show, reprising their roles from the big screen, where their relationship has brought a romantic spark to the Avengers franchise. It joins the also-confirmed Loki series, that will see Tom Hiddleston bring his devious brother of Thor to Disney+.

Disney+’s series are being overseen by Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige, instead of Marvel TV chief Jeph Loeb, so you can expect them to tie into the film adventures, although they may unfold at any point in the overall MCU timeline.

 

Loki and Scarlet Witch series lined up for Disney’s streaming service

28th September 2018

New series featuring Loki and Scarlet Witch are being lined up for Disney’s upcoming streaming service.

Disney’s new subscription platform is a big deal for the House of Mouse, as it moves to take on Netflix with its own direct-to-consumer offering. A streaming service needs content to survive and, usurprisingly, while some remakes of Disney classics and a High School Musical series are in the pipeline, not to mention a Star Wars series, Disney is also using the clout of Marvel to bring in subscribers.

Marvel Studios is planning a miniseries each for Loki and Scarlet Witch, both supporting characters who have become fan favourites thanks to their portrayals by Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen. Marvel’s Kevin Feige will oversee the initiative, which will reportedly use limited runs of episodes to shine a spotlight on Marvel characters without their own solo feature films. Whether the actors in the big screen MCU will reprise their roles is not yet known, although the odds may well be in favour of Hiddleston and Olsen being retained, after Hiddleston has played Loki in five films and Olsen has appeared in four.

Thor’s cunning half-brother has enough charm and back-story to fuel his own stories, while Witch’s romantic entanglement with Vision (played by Paul Bettany in the films) has enough mythology and complexity of its own to power a standalone tale.

Marvel and Disney have not officially commented on the reports, which were confirmed by Deadline and Variety in recent weeks. Sources have said that budgets for the series are substantial, with Marvel’s film production team putting their resources behind them.

The miniseries would join an ongoing focus on short-form video at Marvel, from their now signature post-credit stings to the short films that have regularly been released as bonus features on DVD and Blu-ray titles.

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