The Marvel Cinematic Universe has undergone significant revisions in recent years: movies and TV shows that were previously slated for release have had to be retooled or canceled altogether. At the same time, new projects have been inserted in their place. In the middle of all that chaos, there have been solo franchises and characters that have been stranded in limbo for years now – and one franchise in particular has been thrown way off its original trajectory as one of the MCU’s biggest new character launches.
That character would be Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange. The solo Doctor Strange movie, which dropped in 2016, was a successful franchise-starter wrapped around a rising international star (Cumberbatch). The first film set story arcs in motion that still haven’t been addressed 10 years later (Mordo’s anti-sorcerer hunt); the sequel film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, didn’t help things, leaving Steven Strange quite literally stranded in the Dark Dimension, which is where we last saw him in 2022. However, the mystical side of the MCU wasn’t going to stop there: there was once a Doctor Strange spinoff show that was pitched for the franchise, and although many thought it was dead, it’s now rumored to still be in development.
Marvel’s Strange Academy TV Show Reportedly Still In Development
Marvel Comics
Marvel scooper Daniel RPK has passed on word that Strange Academy is back on an active development track at Marvel Television. The show previously had Amy Rardin (Marvel’s Echo) attached as a writer, but now there is reportedly a search for a new writer (or writing team) to handle the project.
Strange Academy has been rumored to be in development since shortly after the release of Multiverse of Madness. Originally, the project was going to be a spinoff/sequel to the MoM, following Wong (Benedict Wong) and America Chavez as the latter embarked on her mystical training at Kamar-Taj. However, early this year, word broke that Marvel Studios was killing development on multiple TV shows, including Strange Academy and Nova, which completely stalled the Doctor Strange franchise. As 2025 ends, Marvel TV seems to be (sort of) reversing course: rumors broke around Comic-Con 2025 that Nova was still in development, and now we’re hearing that Strange Academy isn’t dead, either (sorry, Terror Inc., no salvation for you…).
Strange Academy (Reboot) Is A Smart Move for the MCU
Marvel Studios
The Marvel Cinematic Universe needs to keep putting out content that can paint a wider picture ofthe corners of its universe, while still tying back to established canon. After the Werewolf by Night special presentation, the MCU failed to build up its supernatural corner with films like Blade or launching additional follow-up TV shows or spinoff “specials” based on characters or lore introduced in WBN. The same mistake shouldn’t be made with Strange Academy (or Nova, for that matter…)
The mystical and cosmic sides of the MCU are both areas of the franchise that really need more development and coordination – sooner rather than later. Once the dust settles from Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and a rebooted MCU is introduced, a TV show about young mystics training to be the next generation of masters – if not Sorcerer Supreme – hits a lot of key demographics. And thanks to Agatha All Along and its introduction of Wiccan (Billy Maximoff), we’ve already seen fans respond well to exactly that kind of show concept.
If you want to stick closer to the source material, a rebooted Strange Academy comic (2020 – 2022) saw Strange and other Marvel mystics open a school to train young sorcerers – including dark magic users and even the offspring of some big villains like Dormammu. It’s a concept that’s easy to fit into the MCU framework and sell as a fun, intriguing, and important TV series, which could last multiple seasons.
In fact, eventually moving Billy and other mystical characters (America Chavez, Wong, Agatha, Wanda) into a Strange Academy show would make all the sense in the world, and allow the franchise to introduce many other related characters the MCU hasn’t adapted yet. We could even deal with the dangling threads of Doctor Strange movies (Mordo, the Dark Dimension, and rescuing Strange) in the TV format. It would be the kind of prestige and relevant spinoff the MCU needs to make more of.
You can stream MCU shows and films on Disney+. Let us know your thoughts on Strange Academy over on the ComicBook Forum!