Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe finally kicked off this month – not with the Black Widow movie as originally planned, but rather the Disney+ series WandaVision.
The series marks Marvel Studios’ first foray into television (and the MCU’s first TV series proper, given Kevin Feige’s disinterest in all things Marvel Television), and will be followed in March by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier before a steady stream of shows through to 2023 and beyond.
Speaking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Falcon actor Anthony Mackie has explained how he first heard about the MCU’s expansion into television, and revealed that he initially feared the shows would be “shitty” quality compared to their feature film counterparts.
“Right after we wrapped Avengers: Endgame, after the big premiere party, splish splash, I have a meeting with everybody, and they’re like ‘We’re going streaming, and you’re gonna be in a streaming show.’ And I was like…really? Because you think there’s no way Marvel would be able to keep the level of sophistication, quality. There’s no way you would be able to do the exact same thing on a television.
“So basically, I thought this show was gonna be like the old school Batman, I thought it was gonna be some shitty… or some of the other shows where it’s like soap operas. The quality of our show with the acting, with the scripts, with the development of the characters and everything was so high-level, so high-brow. I didn’t think there was any way Marvel would be able to carry that on to television.”
SEE ALSO: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier action figure reveals Sam Wilson’s Captain America costume
From everything we’ve seen of the Marvel shows so far, there’s certainly nothing to suggest a dip in quality production-wise, and we can only hope that also proves to be the case when it comes to writing and storytelling.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier features a cast that includes MCU veterans Anthony Mackie (Falcon), Sebastian Stan (Winter Soldier), Emily VanCamp (Sharon Carter), Daniel Bruhl (Zemo) and Georges St-Pierre (Batroc) alongside new additions Wyatt Russell (Overlord), Carl Lumbly (Doctor Sleep), Erin Kellyman (Solo: A Star Wars Story), Adepero Oduye (The Big Short), Desmond Chiam (Now Apocalypse), Miki Ishikawa (The Terror: Infamy) and Noah Mills (The Brave).
