Marvel Comics has been “burning the candle at both ends” in terms of their filmed presentation of their characters. Specifically, those that encompass the Marvel Cinematic Universe – the grouping of theatrical films, episodic TV series, and one-off short films that all “exist” in the same universe together. While the films have been routinely killing it at the box office, the TV side of the group has also been going strong, with online-streaming powerhouse Netflix leading the charge on a slew of shows focused on the, shall we say, “lesser” Marvel heroes.
While the televised action only occasionally references its cinematic big brothers, there’s really been no “true” connection of the two yet, and this has left some fans scratching their heads and wondering when it’s really going to happen.
Marvel bigwig Kevin Feige gets asked variations of this question a lot, and while he has mostly danced around the answer in the past, in a recent fan Q&A he gave an answer that was a bit more direct on the subject:
“Maybe someday. No plans right now. Maybe someday, but we have a lot of characters in the MCU, and one of the things that is so special about those characters on the Netflix shows is their dynamic together. They are all combining to become The Defenders later this year and are doing their own thing.”
So, not ruling it out completely, but it’s clear that any potential crossover is not on his agenda at the time being. Which seems fairly clearly to sync up with what the rest of the MCU believes is the case; take, for example, this comment made by Anthony Mackie (who portrays The Falcon in the MCU films) earlier this year at a convention:
“Different universes, different worlds, different companies, different designs. Kevin Feige is very specific about how he wants the Marvel Universe to be seen in the film world. It wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t work at all.”
So, for now, the branches of the filmed MCU tree will be staying separated. However, as is always the case in the entertainment industry: never say never!
