At one time, film producers Marvel Studios fell under the umbrella of Marvel Entertainment and it was during that period that there was a lot more synergy between the films and TV shows. But after Marvel Studios stepped away from Marvel Entertainment, things were shuffled. The planned ‘Inhumans’ movie was scrapped, with those characters instead getting an ABC TV series (which premiered on IMAX screens, just to confuse matters). And while the more mature shows on Netflix still actively reference the events of the movies, the movies don’t return the favor.
But ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely revealed that they actually considered including the Netflix characters in their script, but in a very limited manner that would have ultimately seemed disrespectful to them.
As McFeely stated:
“We talk about that all the time. I don’t know anything about animosity [between Marvel Studios and Marvel Television]. In a movie this big, we certainly had the conversation, ‘Should we put Luke Cage in this? Here we are in New York…’ That kind of stuff. As you could probably tell, it would be just a glorified cameo at this point. We’re trying to honor the MCU movies and if we then further tell the audience, ‘Oh, you should also have a good knowledge from this streaming service over here that you may or may not be subscribing to.’ That’s really asking a lot. We’re already asking a lot.”
Essentially, had they appeared, Luke Cage, Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Iron Fist and any additional characters from the Netflix shows would have only been seen protecting citizens and trying to minimize damages inflicted from Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian’s attack on New York City. While those in the know might have gotten a kick out of seeing them, even in a brief cameo, as McFeely said “You’ll have just as many people going, ‘That’s all you gave Luke Cage?!'”
Although they didn’t mention it, it’s probably also an issue that the movies are rated PG-13 and appeal to all ages. The Netflix shows are all strictly for older viewers. While everyone knows who Stan Lee is, when he pops up in his cameos, a lot of them wouldn’t know who Luke Cage and the others were, leading to confusion. That also goes for anyone who doesn’t have Netflix.
The creators of the shows are certainly free to take– or not take– from ‘Infinity War’, but that is their prerogative. McFeely and Markus didn’t want to do anything to dictate what had to be done with them on upcoming seasons. In other words, they didn’t want to show Daredevil crumbling to dust, then force the creators of the show to explain that or figure out how to bring him back. Markus said, “They’ll have seasons next year. We couldn’t bring in that many people and not blip a bunch of them just an odds thing. You know? Next year, Daredevil starring Rosario Dawson!”
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is now playing at a multiplex near you.
‘Jessica Jones’ season two is now available to stream on Netflix. The next Marvel original series, ‘Luke Cage’ season two will be available to stream in its entirety on June 22, 2018.
Source: Collider
