Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb is reportedly leaving the company in the wake of Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige taking control of Marvel TV and comics. When Marvel Entertainment was originally acquired by Disney in 2009, all divisions - film, TV and comics - were under CEO Ike Perlmutter. But in 2015, Marvel Studios split off, with studio chief Feige answering directly to Walt Disney Studios heads Alan Horn and Alan Bergman, while the TV arm stayed under Perlmutter’s purview. The internal politics of the company played out on screen in the form of the Marvel Cinematic Universe expanding to television under the guidance of Loeb, but with Feige’s film side only once referencing the TV shows.
In the last year or so, Marvel TV’s live-action slate has diminished quite a bit, with Netflix cancelling all six of its MCU shows. The ABC series Inhumans and Agent Carter were already cancelled, and with Agents of SHIELD ending, the only remaining live-action Marvel TV shows are Runaways on Hulu and Cloak and Dagger on Freeform - but their futures are currently unknown. With Marvel Studios branching out into television production, with a whole slate of Marvel TV series set to air on Disney+ in the coming years, it seemed Feige’s Marvel Studios TV shows would replace Loeb’s live-action offerings eventually. Now it appears Loeb is on his way out entirely.
In a new Variety report on what Feige’s promotion to control Marvel TV and comics in addition to Marvel Studios means for Perlmutter’s reign at Marvel, the trade includes a brief mention that Loeb is leaving Marvel Television. According to Variety’s sources, Loeb will depart as head of Marvel TV in the coming weeks, and is looking for an overall TV deal at a new company. Loeb joined Marvel TV in 2010 and grew the entertainment branch into what it is today. THR is additionally reporting that Loeb will exit Marvel TV, providing further detail that it will be formally announced sometime before Thanksgiving. Further, Loeb has been planning his departure since before Feige’s promotion was announced.
The news of Loeb’s departure comes on the heels not only of Feige’s promotion to Chief Creative Officer of Marvel, but of the report that Marvel TV as fans knew it is done. That report came before news of Feige’s new role overseeing all of Marvel film, TV and comics, and stated Marvel Television would only retain control over animated programs. That was seemingly in line with what was being reported in terms of Marvel TV’s upcoming offerings, which includes a slate of animated Hulu TV shows like Howard the Duck. Those remain in development and are planned to team-up for an animated crossover.
However, the Disney-owned Hulu recently cancelled development of a live-action Ghost Rider series, with Helstrom the only live-action show in the works at the moment. It’s unclear what effect Feige’s new role and Loeb’s departure will have on Helstrom and the ongoing Runaways and Cloak and Dagger. It seems incredibly likely that all current live-action Marvel TV shows will be cancelled or otherwise ended, in order to make way for Feige’s official push into television. That said, it’s also possible Feige could opt to either merge properties like the Runaways into the MCU, or allow them to continue on as they are since they had little connection to the MCU anyway. What becomes of Marvel TV, the MCU and Marvel Entertainment as a whole in the wake of Loeb and Feige’s moves remains to be seen.
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Source: Variety, THR
