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Marvel Studios' WandaVision creator has been replaced for the Vision spinoff, but for a good reason

The original vision for Marvel's Vision spinoff was something else originally, and by someone else.

WandaVision
Image credit: Marvel Studios
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News by Chris Arrant Editor-in-Chief
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Good news - Marvel Studios has found a showrunner for its rumored Paul Bettany/Vision solo show. But buried in that is the news that WandaVision creator/showrunner Jac Schaeffer, who was originally hired for the Vision show, has been removed. But its actually for a good reason.

Following the success of WandaVision, Disney signed Schaeffer to a three-year exclusive for TV work - specifically for Marvel Studios and the 20th Century Studios label. The two announced projects as part of that were a show based on Agatha Harkness and a show based on the Vision, both spinning out of the events of WandaVision.

But here now as Marvel Studios' adjusts its planned output after a pointed note from its Disney bosses, Marvel is streamlining its operations. Schaeffer's Agatha show - now titled Agatha All Along - is set for a September 2024 debut, with the Vision show (rumored to be titled 'Vision Quest') now pegged. While it seems possible Schaeffer could have done both, Marvel thought otherwise.

As announced Wednesday, Star Trek: Picard's Terry Matalas has been hired as thw showrunner/head writer of Marvel Studios' Vision project. While its possible Matalas could be working off Schaefer's notes, the Hollywood trade says that Schaeffer's version has been put aside, and her attention has been diverted by Marvel Studios solely to Agatha All Along.

This brings to mind a quote from Disney CEO Bob Iger when asked about the poor performance of recent Marvel Studios projects such as the Marvels, saying it was due to not enough "supervision on set".

In an interview with Variety, Iger says that Marvel Studios lost focus and stretched people too thin.

“It’s reflective not as a problem from a personnel perspective, but I think in our zeal to basically grow our content significantly to serve mostly our streaming offerings, we ended up taxing our people way beyond — in terms of their time and their focus — way beyond where they had been," said Iger. "Marvel’s a great example of that. They had not been in the TV business at any significant level. Not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of television series, and frankly, it diluted focus and attention. That is, I think, more of the cause than anything."

So now with Schaeffer focused solely on 2024's Agatha All Along, there needed to be someone else to focus on 2026's Vision. Without a Jac Schaeffer variant, Terry Matalas became Marvel's next best thing.

Keep up to date on Popverse's Marvel coverage, with these highlights: Marvel Studios' next movie stars are these Disney+ heroes, how Marvel Studios' reviving Marvel Television brand to let you know the MCU isn't always connected, Why Marvel's comics boss is calling for a company & industry reset, how Marvel Comics' boss said it was lost in 2023 (and how its finding itself again), Inside Marvel Comics' plans to fix its pricing issues, Overgrown children of the atom: Marvel's X-Men can't evolve past their '90s commercial peak, and the biggest outstanding questions of the Marvel Studios' movies & TV shows.

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