Vision Quest is one of the most highly anticipated Disney+ series currently in development, and it seems that it may be responsible for yet another reboot series of a Disney franchise being canceled after production had already begun.

“Hexenberg” cancelled

In recent years, numerous Disney+ original productions have been canceled after just one season, leading to accusations that the mouse is canceling series before they even have a chance to build an audience base. While there have been high-profile cancellations of flagship franchise IP shows, such as The Acolyte or She-Hulk: Lawyerit seemed far safer to have a star Wars or the Marvel Cinematic Universe series.

The proof: Over the last two years, Disney has released numerous non-MCU/star Wars Original series, including:

• Renegade Nell
• American-born Chinese
• The right stuff
• The crossover
• The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers
• Diary of a future president
• The mysterious Benedict Society
• The Muppets Chaos
• Doogie Kamealoha, MD
• The National Shrine
• and the Warwick Davis pasture Legacy Series

In many cases, these series were completely removed from the Disney+ platform after less than two seasons, meaning they have no chance of building a cult audience for a reboot.

Related: Marvel boss Kevin Feige officially comments on the reboot of the new “WandaVision” series

Now there is another cancelled series to add to the list: Witch Mountain. The series was first announced for 2022 and was set to star Bryce Dallas Howard, Isabel Gravitt, Levi Miller, Bianca “b” Norwood and Jackson Kelly. Travis Fickett and Terry Matalas, best known for the acclaimed Star Trek: Picard Series, screenwriter and executive producer Witch Mountain.

The show should revitalize the Witch Mountain Franchise based on Alexander Keys novel Escape to Witch Mountain (1968)Disney first adapted the book into the successful film Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), followed by several sequels and a reboot with Dwayne Johnson, The race to Witch Mountain (2009). Although the franchise had a long-standing partnership with Disney and reportedly had a full pilot episode produced, it was canceled without explanation.

Bryce Dallas Howard, himself Disney+ queen, says about the cancelled Witch Mountain (per Collider): “It’s not happening, which is disappointing. It was a really great groove and we all really enjoyed shooting here in Toronto. Some things make it and some things don’t, and that’s the sad truth of this industry.”

“Vision Quest” survives

Howard is undoubtedly right that show business is a fickle industry, there is also a much more likely reason why Witch Mountain is not making any progress. Series Co-writer and executive producer Terry Matalas was named showrunner for Vision Questthe new MCU series with Paul Bettany as a revived synthetic Avenger. Given Disney’s reluctance to invest in anything other than Marvel and star Wars It is quite likely that the company has recently decided not to share Matalas’ attention.

The upcoming MCU series is technically currently untitled, but is generally referred to as Vision Quest based on the 1985 West Coast Avengers story arc of the same name (written by the legendary John Byrne). It is reported to be based on Tom King’s 2015 series of the same name, which was critically acclaimed.

The original Vision Quest Arc is described by Marvel Comics as follows:

“In this chapter of the West Coast Avengers, Vision undergoes a surprising transformation after he is kidnapped, has his memory wiped, and discovers the true (and tragic) nature of his children with Scarlet Witch.”

Related: Disney changes course and extends canceled Marvel Disney+ series

While vision is described as follows:

“Vision wants to be human, and what’s more human than family? He goes to the lab where he was created, where Ultron molded him into a weapon, where he first rebelled against his fate, where he first imagined he could be more, that he could be good, that he could be a man, a normal, ordinary man. And he builds them. A woman, Virginia. Two teenage twins, Viv and Vin. They look like him. They have his powers. They share his greatest ambition, or perhaps his greatest obsession: the relentless need to be ordinary. Look at the Visions! They’re the family next door, and they have the power to kill us all. What could possibly go wrong?”

In the MCU continuity, the Vision Quest Series is a direct sequel to WandaVisionin which Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) officially becomes the Scarlet Witch and the revived version of Vision (Paul Bettany) is destroyed again. However, another version of the character, called White Vision, survived the series and will presumably lead this new one.

It has been announced that James Spader will play Ultron again in some form in Vision Questthe actor’s first appearance since Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). There has also been heavy speculation that Elizabeth Olsen could return in the series in some form, which Marvel Studios is apparently working toward.

But for Vision Quest to live, it seems Witch Mountain had to die. It is not worth existing outside the MCU or star Wars nowadays.

Do you think Disney gives priority to Marvel and Lucasfilm projects over original productions?