The strike is on. After months of predictions, projections, and negotiations, the Writers Guild of America has formally announced a strike, stopping all of their members — a.k.a. pretty much every human who puts words in actor and/or host’s mouth from coast to coast — from putting fingers to keyboards. This is a major moment for the industry, the likes of which we have not seen since the dawn of the streaming age. And with streaming TV bigger than ever, and with TV being home to some of the biggest pop culture franchises on the planet, fans will no doubt wonder what will happen to their shows while the people who make those shows fight for their right to earn a livable wage while working on those very shows. Let’s get into what this all means for two of those mega franchises: Marvel and Star Wars.
As of May 2, 2023, the Writers Guild of America is on strike. This is the first time that the WGA has gone on strike since the 2007-2008 strike, which lasted for 3 months and may have inadvertently led to the rise of streaming… which, over the course of the last 15 years, calcified into the conditions causing writers to strike today.
So, why are television and film writers striking in 2023? It mostly has to do with the conditions under which streaming services treat their writers. As the WGA reported ahead of the strike, writers today are working for fewer weeks as part of smaller writing staffs. And while budgets for streaming shows have grown in other areas, writer compensation has actually fallen. Whereas 10 years ago only a third of all writers were working for the minimum basic agreement of pay negotiated between the WGA and the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers), that number has increased to half of all working writers in 2023. And while we picture lavish lifestyles for the moguls that run streaming services, the WGA’s minimum basic agreement pay doesn’t even guarantee that writers will be able to afford heat in their apartments while they work on award-winning shows. Writers want fair compensation, an increase in residuals, more money for pensions and health plans, and just better standards all around.
What does a writers strike mean for a service like Disney+ — specifically major franchises like Star Wars and Marvel? That depends on how far along a series is in production. Even if a series is past the writing phase and in front of cameras, a writers strike can have major ramifications on a project. Take the James Bond film Quantum of Solace, which was filmed during the 2007 strike and had to do so with no writers on set. That left on-set rewrites to be handled by, uh, Daniel Craig. This haphazard production resulted in the one Daniel Craig Bond movie that we all forget when we try to list all the Daniel Craig Bond movies. So what does this mean for the upcoming Marvel and Star Wars shows? Here’s what we know.
Overall, you might not notice the effects of the WGA strike on Marvel projects this year. The MCU was already slowing its pace prior to the strike (or perhaps partially in expectation of the strike?), which means that the number of Disney+ Marvel shows expected to premiere on Disney+ this year dropped from roughly 5 to roughly 2: Secret Invasion and Loki Season 2. Secret Invasion is set to premiere on June 21 and is likely ready to go. As for Loki, it wrapped filming in October 2022 and has had six months for post-production, which would include things like ADR sessions and reshoots, things that ideally would involve writers. Loki should still be on track to premiere later this year. Of course, there’s the Jonathan Majors problem but… that’s a whole other thing.
Looking to 2024, it’s possible that another trio of shows — Ironheart, Echo, and Agatha: Coven of Chaos — will all be released without any noticeable hiccups. All of those shows have wrapped filming and none of them have release dates on the schedule. That means Marvel can continue working on them in post-production and maybe even pause anything that would involve writers until the strike is settled… if it’s settled soon. But since none of those shows have release dates, how will we know if they’re delayed?
As for the shows that could be in trouble, those are likely Daredevil: Born Again and Wonder Man. Both of them are filming right now, and the strike means that — like with Quantum of Solace — any on-the-day rewrites will have to come from just whoever is around. This may be a bigger problem for Wonder Man, which stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as actor/superhero Simon Williams. Wonder Man is another Marvel comedy, and comedies really benefit from having writers on set to punch up jokes and find the humor in things they couldn’t have predicted back in the writers’ room, like a set or costume or an actor’s delivery. Wonder Man just started filming in April and is expected to run through the summer, which means it could be filmed entirely without the benefit of rewrites.
Daredevil might be in better shape; it’s had two months of filming… but then again, the 18-episode season is supposed to be in production until November. There are ways around these problems, like pausing production until the strike ends or adding on reshoots later on when the strike is settled — but there are costs that go along with both of those options that Disney/Marvel may not want to accrue, and all those actor contracts probably have expiration dates.
Like Marvel, Star Wars’ output shouldn’t be affected this year. Star Wars: Ahsoka is scheduled for release in August and wrapped filming back in October. It’s likely that whatever ADR or reshoots needed to be done have been done. The same is likely true for the next show in line for release, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. That show wrapped filming in January and is expected to drop sometime later this year, but it also doesn’t have a release date yet. If Lucasfilm needs to take some more time with it, they can probably do so without upsetting fan expectations.
Again, the real problems emerge with the shows that are filming right now: The Acolyte and Andor Season 2. However, those shows have the benefit of having been in production for longer than either of Marvel’s currently-filming shows. Both of them have roughly 5 months of filming in the can, and The Acolyte is expected to wrap this month. However, Andor Season 2, which includes more episodes than The Acolyte, is expected to stay in production through the summer. How this will impact filming, especially post-production, remains unclear. It’s possible that scripts for both shows are tighter than what you’d expect from a comedy like Wonder Man or even any of Marvel’s dramas. Maybe they won’t call for many on-set revisions? But if the strike drags on into the summer, Lucasfilm will have to decide if they want to continue to soldier on without writers.
Oh — as for The Mandalorian Season 4, all of it was written a year ago (unfortunately?) and isn’t expected to begin filming until later this year.
For now, you can expect to see Marvel’s Secret Invasion on Disney+ on June 21 followed by the premiere of Star Wars: Ahsoka in August.