‘Marvel’s 616’ First Look: Gillian Jacobs and Paul Scheer Dig into Marvel’s Legacy in New Disney+ Series

By Greta Bjornson @greatbjornson
Published July 22, 2020, 2:30 p.m. ET

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Disney+ is taking fans behind the scenes of their new Marvel series. The streaming platform released two promo clips today for Marvel’s 616, an upcoming series that delves into the history of the iconic comic empire.

Each new episode is created by a different filmmaker and uncovers how Marvel comics have influenced our culture and lives. “Marvel’s 616 explores how Marvel’s rich legacy of stories, characters and creators exist within the world outside your window,” reads the series’ official description.

Topics range from Marvel artists to the women behind the comics and the “forgotten” characters of the Marvel universe. Today’s teasers promote episodes featuring Community actress Gillian Jacobs and comedian Paul Scheer.

The first clip shared by Disney+ teases “Higher, Further, Faster,” an episode directed by Jacobs. The clip explores the women who work behind the scenes at Marvel, like Sana Amanat and G Willow Wilson, and how they increased representation and created characters that made the comics more inclusive.

Amanat, VP of Character & Content at Marvel Entertainment, shares her experience growing up as a young Muslim woman and how it inspired her to create the character Ms. Marvel with Wilson, who is comic book writer.

In the second clip, which gives a peek at Scheer’s episode “Lost and Found,” he digs through Marvel’s past to uncover its under-appreciated characters, like Doctor Druid, The Whizzer and Typeface. Scheer interviews Reginald Hudlin, the writer of “Black Panther,” about how he turned the previously unrecognized character into something so much more.

“I knew what the opportunity was with Black Panther if I did it right,” Hudlin explains in the clip. “I said, I’m going to write the comic book equivalent of a Public Enemy record.”

Disney+ dropped the new clips the same week as this year’s virtual Comic-Con event. Tomorrow, the Marvel’s 616 team will appear on a panel titled “A Look Inside ‘Marvel’s 616,” which will feature Jacobs, Scheer, executive producers Sarah Amos and Jason Sterman. The event will be moderated by Angélique Roché, host of Marvel’s Voices and The Women of Marvel Podcasts.

Marvel’s 616 drops on Disney+ this fall. Watch the promo clips in the videos above, and catch the virtual Comic-Con panel tomorrow (July 23) at 4/3c.