Thought Marvel Disney+ shows would be a mere afterthought and just a slate filled with spin-offs and side stories? Think again. According to one of the producers of Captain Marvel, things on the TV wing of Marvel, for the first time ever, are going to directly tie in to the MCU-at-large. Are we sure there’s enough hours in the day to cram all this in? Either way, the Disney+ streaming service just went from something to keep an eye on to absolutely unmissable.
Speaking to ComicBook.com, producer Mary Livanos approached the topic of possible future Disney+ Marvel shows moving away from the MCU due to its supposed lack of connection to the movie universe that Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios has cultivated over the past decade.
Her answer will make the hairs on the back of every Marvel fan’s neck stand up: “They will directly affect the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in some very real ways. That’s what makes the opportunity to segue into the streaming space so attractive to us at Marvel Studios.”
This sounds like it is very much going to be a case of little pockets of the MCU being explored on a different scale, while still retaining the effect of each movie and moment mattering. If something big happens in, say Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it could eventually trickle up to any potential Marvel Phase 4 movies.
That’s very exciting indeed, but it might not be as essential as you’re immediately led to believe. Livanos explains it, will be “like a full comic book event, like a multi-issue story from the point of storytelling."
Which, if you’re not big on your comics, is still deeply exciting. The main stuff (i.e. the movies) will carry the crux of the story, while the Disney+ Marvel shows – if we’re taking this at face value – will fill out and enrich the wider universe.
For example, a recent Spider-Verse comic run (not to be confused with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) saw the mainline Spideys duke it out in the major books, while there were several fantastic series elsewhere, including Scarlet Spiders and Spider-Woman.
So, we’re looking at Disney+ being very much an MCU venture, but one where each overlooked or obscure character can easily get their own place to shine without having to bet it all on a big-screen production. That could be creatively liberating and, come November, the MCU might never be the same again – and that’s a good thing.
The future is looking bright: Here are all of the new Marvel movies heading your way across the next few years.
