Summary

• Disney's new release strategy for Marvel Studios' projects focuses on quality over quantity, focusing on just two to three new releases a year.
• This could mean X-Men '97 season 2 may arrive later than expected, though Marvel Studios' Brad Winderbaum cautions there's no "hard and fast mandate" on the number of releases.
• The scaling back of Marvel releases, though, should allow for better post-production quality and breathing room between projects.

The future of Marvel Cinematic Universe movie timeline may only have one film this year, Disney+ is keeping the audience busy with several Marvel Studios TV shows. One of the series to have dominated 2024 so far is X-Men '97, continuing the adventures of the X-Men: The Animated Series characters.

However, as Disney is reducing the number of Marvel releases per year, including TV shows, it begs the question of how X-Men '97 season 2 and other animated shows will fit into that system. In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Brad Winderbaum, who is Marvel Studios' Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation, was asked if he could clarify Iger's new strategy. With only two to three TV shows being released a year on Disney+ for Marvel, Screen Rant asked Winderbaum if it means live-action and animated shows have to share those slots or if each division gets its own slots, as he gave the following answer:

I'm not sure if it's such a hard and fast mandate. To me, that speaks more to our aspirations and our focus on quality over quantity. We're changing our entire development process where we are developing more shows than we make. And that means we're looking at characters that have been on screen before, new characters, new ideas, old ideas, sequels, and trying to see if we can build something that we like on the inside, before we actually make the investment to produce it, which is a different philosophy for us.

Our approach early on for television was that we treated each show like a feature where we set a release date and when/how we would hit that date. Now, we're taking a more considered traditional television approach of really making sure that we're in love with the material that we produce, or that we continue.

Why Marvel Studios Scaling Back Is The Right Move

While time will tell when X-Men '97 season 2 premieres on Disney+, Marvel Studios and Disney are taking the franchise back in the right direction by limiting the amount of releases across TV and film. As ambitious as The Multiverse Saga has been for the MCU so far, it became evident in Phase 4 that Disney was focusing more on quantity than quality. From a global COVID-19 pandemic to rushed work behind-the-scenes, a lot of MCU projects have suffered in reception because of the wrong priorities.

With Iger looking to limit MCU movies and TV shows to only two to three projects per division, it allows Marvel Studios to get more breathing room in between releases. This also gives the post-production team more time to properly finish their products so that the editing and visuals look more polished, too. How that plays out in 2025 with what has been confirmed so far remains to be seen, but it's definitely the first step in the right direction.

In the case of X-Men '97 season 2, the expectations are higher than ever after the season 1 finale, as the Marvel sequel series has emerged as one of the best performers for Marvel Studios. Even if X-Men '97 season 2 were to arrive as late as fall 2025, it will be worth it if it allows production to be properly executed. Hopefully, as 2024 continues to go forward, more news on X-Men '97 season 2 will be arriving over the next few months.

Catch all of X-Men '97 season 1 on Disney+.