“There’s Many Different Ways To Tell a Story” Marvel Producer Opens Up About the MCU & Horror

Marvel Studios producer Brad Winderbaum recently addressed the current state of the MCU’s exploration into the supernatural-horror genre. With projects like the upcoming Disney+ series Agatha All Along and the animated Marvel Zombies in development, it’s hard not to be curious about how Marvel plans to approach these darker themes.

Winderbaum clarified in his interview with EW that Marvel doesn’t see horror as a specific genre they are pursuing, but as a tool individual filmmakers use to tell unique stories.

I think that it goes back to the filmmaker’s intent. The horror on screen in Agatha is going to be different than the horror on screen in Marvel Zombies, is going to be different than the horror on screen in Blade. It was different than the horror on screen in Moon Knight.

It really depends on the vision of the filmmaker on what horror cues you’re pulling from. And that’s not just unique to horror. It’s unique to any genre we’re playing with. Obviously, there’s many different ways to tell a story.

Brad Winderbaum

This approach reflects the diverse range of supernatural and horror content within the MCU. Agatha All Along leans towards a supernatural-comedy tone reminiscent of Hocus Pocus or Beetlejuice. Marvel Zombies delves into a zombie-apocalypse scenario but in an animated format. Blade, on the other hand, is expected to deliver action horror, although the exact style remains to be seen.

Winderbaum’s comments allude to Marvel embracing a flexible approach to horror, allowing filmmakers creative freedom within the genre. This could lead to unexpected horror aspects within the MCU, which would be cool to see. However, it also raises questions about Marvel’s supernatural-horror ventures’ overall cohesion and direction. The MCU is so densely interconnected that it’s hard to introduce something new while considering the potential for crossovers.

While we generally don’t see Marvel delve completely into the horror genre, they’ve got enough comics with scary elements to do a good job. However, that’s always going to be up to the director and writer. It took Tim Burton to make a Batman that embodied the Dark Knight we knew from the comics, and only then did it become the standard. So until a director wants to push the limits, we’ll likely only see horror as a part of the story, not the focus.