Theme Park Scope

Shawn Levy, the director behind Deadpool & Wolverine and the executive producer of Stranger Things, is leaving his longtime home at Netflix…

…to sign a major overall television deal with Disney’s 20th Television.

If you’ve spent the last decade associating Shawn Levy with Netflix and Stranger Things, this is the moment that officially changes.

Levy and his production company, 21 Laps Entertainment, have signed a multi-year overall deal with 20th Television, a division of Disney Television Studios. Under the deal, Levy will develop and produce series across Disney Entertainment’s portfolio of platforms and brands. The new pact kicks in starting in October 2027, once his current Netflix deal wraps up. Levy has been based at Netflix since 2017, the year after Stranger Things debuted, and he extended that agreement in 2020 with a valuation reported in the nine-figure range.

Dana Walden, Disney’s President and Chief Creative Officer, praised Levy’s rare ability to tell stories that are wildly entertaining and deeply human, something he’s brought to Disney across two decades. Levy, for his part, pointed to a kindred spirit with Disney’s storytelling ethos and his prior working relationship with Walden back when they were both at Fox.

This isn’t really a cold start for Levy and Disney, either. He directed and co-wrote Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine, he’s currently directing Lucasfilm’s upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter starring Ryan Gosling, and he’s re-teaming with Gosling on Marvel Studios’ Ghost Rider. Long before any of that, Levy actually got his start directing television for Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, working on early series like The Famous Jett Jackson, So Weird, and In a Heartbeat. In a lot of ways, this deal reads less like Levy joining Disney and more like him circling back to where he began.

It’s also worth knowing this doesn’t pull him away from Stranger Things. Levy says he’ll remain involved with any upcoming Stranger Things universe projects at Netflix as an executive producer, and he specifically thanked Netflix executives Ted Sarandos, Bela Bajaria, and Jinny Howe for the run 21 Laps has had there. The Duffer Brothers, the show’s creators, have also already moved on from Netflix themselves, signing their own overall deal at Paramount Skydance earlier this year, so Levy’s move fits into a broader shakeup of exactly who’s steering the Stranger Things universe going forward, even as the flagship show and its spinoffs stay put at Netflix.

Levy is also the latest in a run of talent 20th Television has pulled from rival studios recently, following overall deals with Abbott Elementary’s Quinta Brunson, who came over from Warner Bros. TV, and The Five Star Weekend executive producer Sue Naegle, who came from Universal.

For Disney, landing Levy on the television side while he’s already directing two major franchise films for the studio gives them a much deeper hold on one of Hollywood’s more in-demand creative voices right now. What projects Levy actually develops under this new deal haven’t been announced, so that’s the next thing worth watching for once October 2027 actually arrives.

We’ll keep tracking Shawn Levy’s move to Disney as more details emerge, so check back with Theme Park Scope for updates, and follow us on social so you don’t miss it.

Are YOU excited to see what Shawn Levy brings to Disney’s TV side, or will you miss him steering the Stranger Things universe full-time?