Marvel Studios and Disney have officially gone away from the original Disney+ strategy the MCU was supposed to follow with the release of Wonder Man. Leading up to Wonder Man's premiere, fans knew that the show would be different from everything that came before it. However, many likely didn't expect it to completely break the mold and potentially change the future of the franchise forever.
Wonder Man's release marked a complete 180-degree turn in how Marvel Studios is approaching its Disney+ projects. For reference, the new show is a fully standalone project that does not connect to anything within the MCU, meaning that this is the first time something like this has happened since Marvel Studios began releasing Disney+ shows in 2021.
Before Wonder Man, every single Marvel series on Disney+ was either a set-up for an upcoming movie, explored the fallout from a previous film, or was a lead-up to another Disney+ project. For example, WandaVision directly led to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Loki was a spin-off to multiple films (like Avengers: Endgame, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Avengers: Doomsday), and Ms. Marvel set up the events of The Marvels.
In opposition, Wonder Man is not setting up anything, and does not showcase any of the aftermath of a previous movie or show. Notably, this is in direct opposition to what Marvel Studios' Disney+ journey started out as.
For instance, when talking to Comic Book in 2019, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige specifically noted that the Disney+ shows would "be Marvel Studios productions," and would "be entirely interwoven with" all eras of the MCU:
"These will be Marvel Studios productions. They will be entirely interwoven with both the current MCU, the past MCU, and the future of the MCU."
So, Wonder Man not serving as a prequel or sequel to anything else within the franchise directly goes against what the president himself said before Marvel began its Disney+ experiment.
It is worth noting that Feige also reiterated that the Disney+ projects were created solely to complement the films and other projects when talking to Bloomberg in 2019. Essentially, the head of Marvel Studios told fans that they would need to consume the Disney+ content in order to fully understand the entire continuity of the MCU.
At this point, just after Wonder Man's release, that is not the case with that show. Anyone could press play on the series, watch all of the episodes, and not need to do any homework to understand it. As of writing, fans also won't need to watch Wonder Man in order to understand any future films or TV shows.
According to The Wall Street Journal in 2025, Feige also went on record saying that the MCU felt too much like doing homework and that it had become less enjoyable on a surface level. It seems as though Wonder Man could be Marvel's way of experimenting with a less connected approach to see if fans receive that type of storytelling better.
It is worth remembering that Wonder Man is a Marvel Spotlight series, meaning it was specifically created to be a standalone project. However, Echo was also a Marvel Spotlight show, and its post-credits scene directly set up the events of Daredevil: Born Again Season 1, so many fans thought Wonder Man could do the same and still technically connect to the greater MCU.
When looking at the MCU's Disney+ library as a whole, the only other series that comes close to Wonder Man in terms of being a standalone story is Moon Knight. Technically, Moon Knight did not have any real connections to other MCU projects, but it still felt like it was part of the same universe. It still had that classic MCU tone and feel to it, which is something that Wonder Man does not possess.
It is also important to remember that Moon Knight was still developed and produced under the Marvel Studios banner rather than the new Marvel Television banner. So, it was still being created with the same process that the movies followed, as opposed to being constructed like a classic piece of television.
So, Wonder Man has done something that nothing else in the MCU has ever done before, and it is possible that it could be a trailblazer for how future Marvel Television projects on Disney+ look.
What Does the Future of the MCU on Disney+ Hold?
Wonder Man, being a true standalone project, could mean that the future of the MCU will look a lot different in terms of storytelling on Disney+. Before the release of the recent TV series, projects felt as though they were extensions of other titles. Now, more possibilities have opened up, and fans could receive more serialized stories.
Aside from Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 and the Punisher special presentation, not a lot is known about the direction the MCU is going on Disney+. Seeing how Wonder Man turned out could indicate that Marvel Studios is keeping a close eye on fan reception for it, and that the company could follow its style of storytelling more in the years to come.
There are tons of Marvel characters who could receive solo stories on Disney+ that would benefit from copying Wonder Man's style. The only question is whether Marvel will be brave enough to pull the trigger, or if it will revert to its old ways.
