If you happen to fired up Disney+ this week to observe Marvel’s new superhero streaming collection, Marvel Man, you might have seen that it’s been launched below the “Marvel Highlight” banner. You might also be forgiven for not realizing what that’s or why it’s even a major transfer from Marvel Studios, which has launched so many different MCU streaming collection like Loki, Ms Marvel, and Moon Knight below the usual Marvel fanfare.
The studio formally launched Marvel Highlight again in January 2023 with its Alaqua Cox-led Hawkeye spinoff collection, Echo. Months prior, Marvel’s Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum had declared Highlight a platform “to convey extra grounded, character-driven tales to the display screen,” and acknowledged that Echo targeted on “street-level stakes over bigger MCU continuity.”
Whereas that was considerably true, Echo’s story and her ongoing beef with the villainous Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) did instantly comply with on from Hawkeye’s collection finale, so there was MCU homework obtainable to anybody who needed to do some. Nonetheless, Marvel Man encompasses a brand-new MCU character that requires viewers to do zero homework, albeit one paired with a extra acquainted character who has made a number of MCU appearances up to now: Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery, a washed-up actor who has been extra of a joke than a necessary cog within the MCU machine.
Like most issues within the MCU, the concept behind Marvel Highlight TV has its roots in Marvel Comics, beginning off because the title of a comic book ebook anthology collection within the early Seventies when Stan Lee had moved from editor to writer. The thought behind Marvel Highlight was that they may “check out” characters there and see in the event that they labored earlier than deciding whether or not to launch their very own solo collection. Werewolf by Night time, Ghost Rider, and Spider-Lady have been all launched in Marvel Highlight and later obtained their very own titles after proving in style.
