Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, streaming, TV | Tagged: Hit-Monkey, hulu, M.O.D.O.K., marvel
Marvel's M.O.D.O.K. Officially Canceled; Hit-Monkey Not Looking Good
We asked in November 2021 if fans of Josh Gordon & Will Speck's Hit-Monkey and Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt's Marvel's M.O.D.O.K. should start worrying about the series not returning. Earlier today, we got an answer with Variety reporting that "M.O.D.O.K." has been canceled after one season and that Hit-Monkey "is not expected to return." At the beginning of 2022, Craig Erwich, President, Hulu Originals & ABC Entertainment, was asked about the fates of both shows during an Executive Session on the second day of the Television Critics Association's (TCA) Virtual Winter Press Tour. But aside from the fact that both shows were still streaming, Erwich's lack of any kind of positive response was not a good sign.
Joining Oswalt's constantly-foiled Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing (M.O.D.O.K.) is Sam Richardson (Veep), Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs), Ben Schwartz (House of Lies), Aimee Garcia (Lucifer), Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Beck Bennet (Bill & Ted Face The Music), Jon Daly (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Whoopi Goldberg (The Stand), Nathan Fillion (The Rookie), and Bill Hader (Barry). Joining Sudeikis on Hit-Monkey were Fred Tatasciore, George Takei, Olivia Munn, Ally Maki, and Nobi Nakanishi. Josh Gordon and Will Speck served as executive producers; with Keith Foglesong, Matt Thompson, and Neal Holman co-executive producing. Duffy Boudreau, Mollie Brock, and Marcus Rosentrater are set to produce.
In December 2020, an important milestone happened in the world of Marvel Studios. That was when Hulu's Tom Austen and Sydney Lemmon-starring Helstrom was canceled after one season. Now while shows get canceled all of the time, this one was special because it also marked the final live-action project that ex-Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb would have under the new, comprehensive (and Kevin Feige-led) Marvel Studios banner. Marvel's Ghost Rider? Gone. Hulu's Marvel's Runaways? Done in three. Freeform's Marvel's Cloak and Dagger? Gone in two. ABC's Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Also done. And animated series Howard the Duck, Tigra & Dazzler Show, and The Offenders were canned before they ever hit the serious production stage.
Some say this was in response to how the power play within Marvel went down between Feige and Loeb before Feige would finally claim the crown and go "scorched earth" on anything that had Loeb's name attached to it. Others see what we listed above as an organic ending of those projects that just so happen to go down at the same time some boardroom drama was in play.