Marvel’s Next Live-Action Disney+ Show Is a Spy Thriller Called ‘Zodiac’ — Here’s What We Know

Depositphotos

Share:

Marvel’s live-action television business on Disney+ has had a rough go of it lately, with cancellations, quiet exits, and shrinking slates becoming the norm rather than the exception. What was once a sprawling universe of interconnected shows has narrowed considerably as the studio recalibrates its streaming strategy.

That contraction has been on full display this week, with fans absorbing a wave of bad news about some of Marvel’s most prominent small-screen projects. Amid all that turbulence, though, one new title has quietly emerged that’s giving fans something to actually look forward to.

Sources have confirmed that Marvel Television has greenlit a new spy thriller currently going by the codename ‘Zodiac.’ The decision comes about two months after ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ wrapped filming on its third season, and it’s part of a broader pattern at the studio, which reportedly continually has 3 to 5 live-action shows in development at any given time.

Details on ‘Zodiac’ remain scarce for now. It’s unclear what the title is actually referencing, though the most notable connection in Marvel Comics is a criminal organization led by a villain named Scorpio, whose members were each themed after a different sign of the zodiac.

That group has historically clashed with S.H.I.E.L.D. in the comics, which would track with the “spy thriller” description being used to describe the project. Reports note that Zodiac has been “greenlit,” though it remains unclear whether that means the show is fully ordered as a series or is simply still in more active development.

The ‘Zodiac’ news arrives at a bittersweet moment for Marvel Television. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that the forthcoming third season of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ will be its last, closing the book on a series that brought Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio back into the fold for a new era of Hell’s Kitchen storytelling.

Making matters more complicated, the move comes alongside Marvel quietly parting ways with showrunner Dario Scardapane, whose contract was not renewed. That’s a notable shake-up, given Scardapane is exiting in the middle of the season’s post-production process, leaving it unclear who will steer the final season to the finish line.

RELATED:

‘Marvel Rivals’ Unveils King Thor Skin Ahead of Season 10’s Next Big Drop

‘Daredevil: Born Again’ season 3 is expected to premiere sometime in 2027. It’ll cap off what has been a winding road for the character, whose story has spanned multiple platforms and showrunner overhauls since debuting on Netflix over a decade ago.

‘Daredevil: Born Again’ isn’t the only casualty in this latest round of cuts, either. Marvel also pulled the plug on the Emmy-nominated ‘Wonder Man’ after originally renewing it for a second season, another sign that the studio is being far more selective about what stays on its release calendar.

There is at least one bright spot for subscribers in the near term. ‘VisionQuest,’ starring Paul Bettany as the final installment of the ‘WandaVision’ trilogy, is still on track to debut in October.

Part of the reasoning behind these cuts appears to come down to audience numbers. Brad Winderbaum, the head of Marvel Television, had reportedly pushed for ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ to become an annually recurring series on Disney+, but season 2 saw a significant drop in viewership that seems to have factored into the decision to wrap things up.

It fits a broader trend of Marvel Television scaling back its ambitions since the earlier days of the Disney+ boom, when the studio was juggling several overlapping series at once. These days, the approach seems to favor fewer, more tightly managed projects, with ‘Zodiac’ potentially representing the next chapter of that leaner strategy.

Whether ‘Zodiac’ ends up pulling from the Scorpio-led villain team, some other corner of Marvel’s expansive comic book catalog, or an entirely original concept, it’s clearly early days. Still, for a division of the company that’s been delivering mostly bad news lately, a fresh spy thriller in the pipeline is a welcome change of pace.

What should Marvel's Zodiac be about?

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments.

Don't miss:

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted