From the moment Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige laid out the slate of upcoming projects for Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it shouldn't have come as a surprise that these TV shows coming to the Disney+ streaming service would be more than just a one-off series.
Feige deserves more respect than that after he successfully helped usher the 23-movie series known as the Infinity Saga to the finish line with Avengers: Endgame, which incorporated aspects of every previous MCU film to give diehard Marvel fans a rewarding final chapter for their 11 years of loyal viewing.
In a piece for Bloomberg, Feige reveals that he spoke to Tom Hiddleston, who plays Loki, as well as Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, who portray Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Vision, respectively, in April 2018, ahead of the premiere of Avengers: Infinity War. The goal was to explain his plan for their respective characters, and how he wanted to tell their stories through their own Disney+ series, Loki and WandaVision.
Seeing how Feige has worked in the past, you had to assume that there was more than meets the eye with these shows. Without giving away too much, Feige said that in order to understand what is going on in future Marvel movies, you will need to watch Loki and WandaVision, adding that Scarlet Witch will be a "key character" in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. "I'm not sure we've actually acknowledged that before," he said of the Loki series tying into the MCU. "But it does."
After coming to the decision that telling the story of Hawkeye would be better suited for Disney+, Feige admits to being nervous about pitching the idea to Jeremy Renner since there was already a deal in place for a standalone film based on the character. But Renner was open to the change in plans. "He totally got it and said, 'Let's do it,'" Feige recalls.
Disney+ will launch on Nov. 12.
