Anyone with even an Ant-Man-sized bit of common sense realized that when Kevin Feige took over the Chief Creative Officer role at Marvel, taking hold of not just film but also TV and comic books, that Marvel TV president Jeph Loeb’s days were numbered. Now, according to THR, that’s indeed the case, though the timing might be a little surprising.
According to the report, Loeb is expected to announce his departure from Marvel TV that will be official by the Thanksgiving holiday. He’s currently working on a transitional plan that will see the reins of Marvel TV being handed over to Feige’s crew. However, what might surprise you is the fact that the report claims Loeb had already come to the decision to leave Marvel TV before the announcement last week that Feige would be taking over.
For those not completely familiar with how Marvel does business, before the recent CCO news, Marvel Studios (the film business) and Marvel TV (the TV business) were two completely separate companies, with Feige controlling one and Loeb heading the other. Marvel TV is probably best known for its “Agents of SHIELD” series, which is coming to an end next year, as well as the landmark Netflix deal that saw several Marvel dramas coming to the streaming service and crossing over in “The Defenders.”
However, after the strong start to the business, Marvel TV quickly saw more failures than hits, with the Netflix deal falling apart, ‘SHIELD’ losing its MCU connection fairly quickly, and “Inhumans” being a massive bomb for the company. In addition, the recent output from Marvel TV has been relegated to YA series like “Runaways” and “Cloak & Dagger,” with Marvel Studios getting all the big names for its live-action Disney+ series.
READ MORE: Jeph Loeb’s Marvel TV Reportedly Phasing Out Live-Action Shows & Focusing On Animation
Long story short, the writing has been on the wall for Loeb’s departure for a while now. However, with Feige taking control, it appears that now is the time for wholesale changes on the TV side of Marvel’s business. We’ll just have to wait and see what that means for folks like Ike Perlmutter, who is the CEO and Chairman of Marvel (and according to reports could be on the outs, as well).