Why Is Only A Single MCU Show Getting A Season 2 On Disney Plus?

This past week, we got the full scope of Marvel’s plans for Phase 5 and 6 of the MCU, and though it includes a good amount of new Disney Plus streaming series, as was a heavy focus of Phase 4, what it does not include is a season 2 of any existing live-action series in the MCU so far, minus one.

That would be Loki season 2, where the Time Bureau adventures of our not-dead Asgardian friend will continue as we march toward the arrival of the villain that series unleashed, Kang, who will be the Big Bad of his own Avengers movie, in addition to first showing up in Ant-Man Quantumania.

However, what is not here is a second season for literally any of the other five MCU series that have aired, not counting What If…? the animated series, where its relationship with the actual MCU is tenuous, at best.

That includes:

WandaVision – Which conceptually, cannot really have a season 2, given the events of Multiverse of Madness. It’s instead getting a spin-off for its villain, Agatha Harkness.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier – The series is branching directly into Captain America: New World Order, rather than returning for a second season. It may pass off Bucky to the Thunderbolts.

Hawkeye – We have literally zero idea what’s happening with Kate Bishop yet, who seemed like a potentially major force in the MCU going forward. The assumption is that she could end up as a proper Avenger, but those movies are still years away. Yelena Belova, who guested on the show, will be in the Thunderbolts movie at the end of 2024.

Moon Knight – Here, Marvel let Moon Knight exist without any real direct connections or crossovers with the MCU, but despite clear cliffhangers, a season 2 has not been announced in any future MCU phase.

Ms. Marvel – The show is the best critically-received offering in the entire MCU, but it too will not be getting a season 2, so far as we know, at least not until Ms. Marvel appears in The Marvels, which is not until July of 2023.

We are about to see the debut of She-Hulk in August, but again, we have no idea if that’s meant to be another movie chopped up into episodes (it has nine, not six, at least), and then we won’t see her again until a big Avengers movie, or if Marvel is going to actually start treating its TV shows like TV shows with plans for multiple seasons. Daredevil’s return to the screen is 18 episodes, which I suppose is more than the six and done we’ve been getting, but it remains unclear what future plans are here. I think Marvel needs to stop making these shows like miniseries or prologues to movies, and more like actual shows themselves. Ms. Marvel, as good as it was, really was hurt by the desire to rush things along just to set Kamala up for a role in The Marvels, when it seems like it easily could have been a fun yearly series for a younger crowd.

Loki season 2 will show us what a second MCU season will look like, but again, so far, it’s literally the only one. Hopefully that changes in the future.

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