4) Get To Grips With The Wider MCU
Are the Defenders really a part of the MCU? If so, when are they going to appear in the Avengers movies? And, is Tom Holland’s Spider-Man going to team up with ol’ Horn Head and take down Fisk in the next season?
These are much debated topics for audiences. It’s been three years since the Netflix shows began, and aside from occasional references to “the big green dude” and Justin Hammer’s weaponry, there’s been little in the way of those crossovers that we were promised.
This hasn’t been hugely detrimental to these shows, though. Moreover, The Punisher barely features any inter-world connections and still manages to tell a rich and compelling story without relying on references. However, it is getting to the point where passing lip-service to iron suits isn’t going to cut it anymore.
At what point in the MCU timeline does Daredevil’s showdown with Fisk take place? A year after The Avengers? No one knows. Plus, the lack of Defenders references from the movies are conspicuous by their absence. Surely S.H.I.E.L.D. would have a use for someone like Matt Murdock?
It might be down to the notoriously fractious relationship between the movie and TV divisions. Perhaps it’s the logistics of getting stars and storylines aligned, since films and shows are made at wildly different speeds. Maybe it’s Marvel not wanting a backlash from parents if their kids Googled the decidedly mature Netflix shows (the Kingpin car-door scene is easy to find on You Tube). Yet whichever reason it is, a meet-up of Marvel’s TV and movie heroes is (sadly) probably never going to happen at this point.
This isn’t the end of the world of course. We’ve had great television and movies to enjoy regardless. Nevertheless, it’s still a sad thing to realize after all the hype. So, it’s make or break time: are they in the same world, or not?
If they are, then double down on the MCU connections and have each respective character react to the goings on of the wider world, as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. did. If not, then have the Netflix shows disconnect from the world of the Avengers in a meaningful way. Be free to go shake off the mainstream MCU and barrel down some captivating new avenues that really push the boundaries of superhero television. Because, let’s face it, the repeated references to “the incident” are really getting old now.
