WARNING: Spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War below
The space between Marvel Studios and Marvel Entertainment has been very clear since Kevin Feige and Disney took the Marvel Cinematic Universe away from the control of CEO Isaac Perlmutter. Jeph Loeb became the head of Marvel’s television efforts, including the numerous Netflix hit series like Daredevil and Luke Cage, but its connection to the Marvel films has since been a long-running debate for fans.
For most people, including us despite past posts having some fun with the idea, the connection between the MCU and the television series like Agents of SHIELD or The Defenders is thin at best. They’re definitely in the universe, but only as a passing mention moving in one direction. The films do not reference anything that happens on the TV shows, especially Agents Of SHIELD which has actually tried to bridge that gap on several occasions.
The events of Infinity War have finally presented an issue that might be too much for the television shows to ignore. If there was ever a moment where the backs are against the wall, it is Thanos’ invasion of Earth in his quest for the Infinity Stones. Daredevil and others made comments about the invasion featured in The Avengers, so you can only assume they’re going to mention another alien encounter right in the middle of New York, right? Not so according to Jeph Loeb in TV Guide:
“For the most part our stories will take place BEFORE Thanos clicked his fingers,” Loeb writes. “A lot of that has to do with production and when we are telling our stories vs. when the movies come out.”
And as for Agents Of SHIELD, it’s season premiere next summer will follow the premiere of Avengers 4 and should represent the first look at the Marvel Universe of Phase Four — at least for the TV folks. The movie folks will continue to pretend that none of this exists, and that’s fine. The TV side has shown it doesn’t really need the movies to exist and succeed, especially the streaming additions from Netflix. The discussion about how these shows will deal with Infinity War is really just another reminder of what might’ve been. In a perfect world, we would’ve seen characters we’ve followed for seasons disappear with the snap of a finger and an entire machine would’ve brought fans to an emotional stop for a year.
What we got was impressive, but that would’ve been an excellent addition to the spectacle.
(Via TV Guide)