How Disney+ Is Making It Easier To Keep Track Of The MCU's Stories
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been shoulder-checking the competition out of its way since the second Bush administration, picking up mass as it ploughs through the cultural consciousness. As more and more additions have glommed onto the franchise, one question has become worth asking: Can there be too much of a good thing? Maybe not in terms of entertainment value, but when it comes to the hippocampus, that little stretch of brain responsible for retaining memories, the answer is a definite "yes."
There have been 23 entries in the MCU since 2008 — more if you count the Netflix shows, fewer if you ignore Thor: The Dark World. Even for the most enthusiastic fans, that's a lot to keep track of. Asking viewers to see every movie is one thing, but expecting them to remember what the bad guy's motivation was in Ant-Man and the Wasp hinges on unreasonable.
Maybe that's why Disney has just announced — and stick with us here — another new Marvel show on Disney+ called Marvel Studios: Legends. It's a showcase series that promises to "revisit the epic heroes, villains, and moments from across the MCU in preparation for the highly anticipated stories still to come," per the studio's announcement.
What does that mean? Well, by the numbers, Marvel Studios: Legends looks to be a highly stylized clip show dedicated to reminding audiences of the plot points they might have lost track of along the way.
Marvel Studios: Legends hopes to clear up a few things
As Marvel's announcement states, "Each dynamic segment feeds directly into the upcoming series premiering on Disney+ — setting the stage for future events. Marvel Studios: Legends weaves together the many threads that constitute the unparalleled Marvel Cinematic Universe."
Marvel Studios: Legends is set to debut on Disney+ on January 8, 2021, with two episodes highlighting the character journeys of Vision and Wanda Maximoff. That debut date happens to be just a week before the January 15, 2021 premiere of the highly anticipated series WandaVision. Exploring a surreal, multigenerational sitcom landscape, WandaVision has all the makings of the most peculiar entry in the franchise to date, so this is likely a welcome move on Disney's part. It stars a robot with a brain powered by a space rock and a woman whose comic book origins are a complex Gordian knot of continuities, difficult enough to explain that famed nerd Joss Whedon stuck with the line "she's weird" when saddled with describing her in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Basically, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a primer in your back pocket going into the experience.
Disney hasn't officially announced any further episodes of Marvel Studios: Legends yet, but it seems like a solid bet that the studio be rolling out more "previously on the MCU" segments as new shows like Loki, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and What If...? hit the Disney+ streaming platform.