With the expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Disney+, Marvel Studios has been able to experiment with different formats, with limited series, multiple-season shows, animated series, animated shorts, and short films.   One of those new formats has been the “Special Presentation”, and we’ve seen two released so far, “Werewolf By Night” and “Guardians Of The Galaxy: Holiday Special”.

But, it looks like we will be seeing a lot fewer “Special Presentations” in the future, as according to industry insider Daniel RPK, Marvel Studios won’t be using this format in the future.

There is already apparently one “Special Presentation” still planned, called “The Witches’ Road”, which is due to be released after “Agatha: Darkhold Diaries”, but after that, we might not see any more of these on Disney+.

While the idea of a “Special Presentation” sounds good in theory, allowing Marvel Studios to explore characters and storylines that possibly don’t justify a full movie or series.  In practice, the format has some significant issues.  While the budgets on these are much less, and since they are just basically extended single episodes of a television show, the first two specials haven’t moved the needle on viewership and, more importantly, have not made any money.

A theatrical release for a movie has the potential to bring in much more revenue, not just at the box office, but with digital sales, physical media, rentals, licensed content and merchandise.  A full series works as a way to encourage signups to Disney+ and help keep subscribers engaged.  A single special presentation hasn’t yet worked. 

Disney didn’t spend much money promoting either of the “Special Presentation” releases since, ultimately, there would be little financial benefit to doing so.

There are also many other reasons why Marvel Studios are likely to be pulling back on the “Special Presentations”.  There is little doubt that Marvel has been pumping out way too many projects since the release of Disney+ and the shift into Phase 4.    For multiple reasons, the increased releases have caused audiences to become bored or disinterested in Marvel projects. 

Disney CEO Bob Iger has also been critical of many of Disney’s studios, as he has admitted they lost their focus, and the quality of the projects released has decreased because they’ve been making too many shows, films and specials.   Disney is also looking to reduce the amount of money it spends on creating content.

Putting those reasons together, it’s clear that the Marvel “Special Presentation” doesn’t fit since they have helped inflate the number of Marvel projects and ultimately bring in little to no additional revenue.  So, if you were to make some cuts to the plans, it’s only logical that the “Special Presentations” would be high on the list of things to cut.

Marvel has also announced plans to release a new Marvel Spotlight banner next year, with “Echo” being the first project under that headline, focusing more on a street-level project with less connection with the more significant events in the MCU.

Over the last few years, there have been many reports of other Marvel “Special Presentations” in development, including one for “Nova” and “Silver Surfer”, so it’ll be interesting if these projects are shifted to a film or series, or just abandoned.

Both “Guardians Of The Galaxy: Holiday Special” and “Werewolf By Night” are available to stream now on Disney+.

Do you think getting rid of the Marvel Studios “Special Presentations” is a good idea?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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