Spider-Man: Freshman Year is said to be at risk of being canceled amid Marvel Studios’ broader cost-cutting measures.
According to many industry insiders, Fate Marvel Phase 5 The project has not been officially decided upon. However, all signs point to the Spider-Man animated TV series – a canonical entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) – being canned as marvel Disney will rein in spending and start laying off employees.
The first signs that things have not been so rosy came courtesy of those working on the first year, which is due to arrive sometime in 2024 on Disney Plus. On November 9, New Year’s Manager Lisa Singer wrote on Twitter that she was actively looking for job opportunities from mid-December onwards.
Normally, this wouldn’t set off alarm bells. But, since Freshman Year (if it ever launches) isn’t expected for another 13 months – at the earliest – there’s probably still a lot of post-production work to do. If Singer leaves the project now (mid-November 2022) while there’s still work to be done, it doesn’t bode well for the show’s future.
Hello! I will be looking for directing and story opportunities starting in mid-December! Please keep me in mind! I’m also open to the feature, live action and games! Freelance, full time, etc. My email is liza.singer@gmail.com (please use for serious inquiries only) https://t.co/VlVXpbxnwoNovember 11, 2022
In the days that followed, other key Freshman Year employees revealed that they were leaving Marvel Studios. 2D Animator and Character Designer Lee Cree (Opens in a new tab)as well as a writing assistant Dan Park (Opens in a new tab), they confirmed that they were disappointed to see their time at the end of their freshman year so soon. The duo’s tweets follow on the heels of Singer’s original tweet — Cree’s posted on Nov. 11 and Park’s on Nov. 15.
Rumors of New Year’s cancellation grew in the days following Park’s tweet. Spider-Man updates his Twitter fan account (Opens in a new tab) — not a reliable source, admittedly — hinted that they heard “bad news” about the first year, even going so far as to suggest it “wasn’t a delay either.”
opposing this claim, Cosmic Circus (Opens in a new tab) – a Marvel insider with a proven track record – claimed that no decision has been made about Freshman’s year-to-date future yet. According to their sources, the Spider-Man animated series is still expected to be released in 2024, but the idea of canceling it altogether has been “floated.”
There’s clearly a lot of confusion about what the future holds for Spider-Man: Freshman Year, which isn’t helped by rumors and speculation spread by MCU insiders. However, there is no smoke without fire. Right now, Freshman Year is in some form of trouble — we just don’t know how much danger he really is. We’ve reached out to Marvel/Disney for comment and will update this article if we hear back.
Spider-Man: Freshman Year is one of many TV projects in the pipeline at Marvel Studios. Some of the highly anticipated live-action shows, incl Loki season 2 And the Secret invasion, is scheduled for release in 2023. Only one animated series – What If…? Season 2 – is set to arrive next year, with reports suggesting it will land in early 2023.
Analysis: tangled in a web of cost-cutting measures
Spider-Man: Freshman Year’s apparent problems aren’t the only problems Marvel’s animation division has been facing.
According to industry insiders KC Walsh (Opens in a new tab), other MCU animated series are in trouble, with layoffs already underway and the showrunners unclear about what the future holds for their projects. Currently, it’s freshman year and what if…? are the only officially announced Marvel Disney Plus shows. If other products are in the early stages of development, they may be canned before they see the light of day.
If these reports are true — and you should take them with a pinch of salt for now, in our view — they speak to broader financial issues that Marvel and Disney are facing. Speaking to Staff on November 9 (Per CNBC (Opens in a new tab)), Disney CEO Bob Chapek confirmed that the world-famous studio was freezing hiring with immediate effect. Chapek also revealed potential layoffs, saying, “As we work through this evaluation process, we will look at every avenue of operations and labor to find savings, and we anticipate some headcount reductions as part of this review.”
Since Marvel is a subsidiary of Disney, it will almost certainly be affected by the parent company’s cost-cutting measures. Unfortunately for Marvel’s animation division, it’s probably taking the biggest financial hit, with shows like Freshman Year and What If…? Not technically canon in the MCU. Then, they’ll bear the brunt of any contract cuts and terminations. Marvel wouldn’t want to pull the plug on live-action series, including the upcoming Daredevil TV reboot, so their animation division would take the hit instead.
If Marvel’s animation team is hit the hardest by the studio’s various divisions, it will be another big blow to the animation industry, which has been devastated throughout 2022. Earlier this year, Netflix has canceled many shows due to huge losses of subscribers and escalating costs, with the loss of the animation department.
In August and September, cartoon shows are on HBO Max It dealt an even bigger blow, however, as Warner Bros. Discovery removed entire animated series, such as Infinity Train, from the streaming device’s back catalogue. Animated shows in development have also been shown, including Batman: Caped Crusader Canceled by HBO In an effort to save money and simplify the service. Beyond that, thousands of Twitter employees were let go after Elon Musk’s controversial acquisition (read more in our A live blog about the chaos gripping Twitter) while Amazon is said to be laying off up to 10,000 employees in the near future.
So Marvel and Disney aren’t the only companies tightening restrictions, but this would be a small consolation for employees who have or will lose their jobs. For these two entertainment powerhouses, Spider-Man: Freshman Year may just be the beginning of the financial cut – and that’s a worrying sign for every MCU project, the staff working on it, and fans of the world’s most profitable project. superhero movie franchise.
For more Marvel-based content, find out what’s left to be released as part of the studio MCU Phase 4 slate. Instead, read on How to watch Marvel movies in orderor find out which Marvel TV shows have been shown on The best Disney Plus deals existing.