Marvel’s Howard the Duck and Tigra & Dazzler series are officially done, as the media giant cancels both shows before making it to screen.
Howard the Duck executive producer Kevin Smith confirms he was notified on Jan. 22 that development on the series had been stopped. “I got a text from [fellow executive producer] Dave Willis in the morning saying, ‘We got Tigra and Dazzler’d,'” Smith told Newsarama. “I called him and asked, ‘Is that what I think that means?’ And Dave said he had just got the word that there will be no Howard the Duck show. The only explanation was ‘We have no plans for this character at this time.'”
Early this past December, it was revealed that the showrunner and writing staff of Tigra & Dazzler had been fired, effectively putting the animated series on hold. Newsarama now confirms that — like Howard the Duck — Tigra & Dazzler has been “shelved completely.”
An overall deal with Marvel TV and Hulu was announced a little over a year ago, with all four shows, as well as The Offenders, revealed at once. Kevin Smith and David Willis were working on Howard the Duck, with comedian Chelsea Handler and Erica Rivinoja originally teaming up for Tigra & Dazzler. However, the latter show has been fraught with behind-the-scenes complications: late last year, Marvel fired Rivinoja and her writing staff, citing creative differences. Even more notably, sources said they were well into the show’s production schedule at the time, with several scripts already finished.
The cancellations of Howard the Duck and Tigra & Dazzler illustrate how Marvel TV is moving away from working with other streamers and networks in favor of putting its content on its parent company’s streaming service, Disney+. Though Hulu is also majority-owned by Disney, it doesn’t have the immediate connection that Disney+ does. In this case, Marvel made the decision to stop development on the two new shows. However, in the case of The Defenders series, including Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and others, Netflix decided to cancel, blindsiding Marvel in the process. Though fans of Howard the Duck and Tigra & Dazzler are probably sad to hear that neither series will make it to screen at this time, that doesn’t mean it won’t happen at some point in the future.
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