Marvel's TV characters won't be crossing over into the movies anytime soon

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Ever since the first episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D aired fans of Marvel's Cinematic Universe have been hoping for crossovers, and the demand for interaction between the studios' movie and TV characters has only increased after the success of their Netflix shows. The chances of Luke Cage, Daredevil & co taking down bad guys with Captain America are still unlikely though, and Marvel Television president Jeph Loeb told /Film why:

"I can tell you that part of the challenge of doing this sort of thing is that the movies are planned out years in advance of what it is that we are doing. Television moves at an incredible speed. The other part of the problem is that when you stop and think about it, if I’m shooting a television series and that’s going to go on over a six-month or eight-month period, how am I going to get Mike [Colter] to be able to go be in a movie? I need Mike to be in a television show".

"Anything is possible", Loeb continued. "As I often get reported by you folks for saying #ItsAllConnected, our feeling is that the connection isn’t just whether or not somebody is walking into a movie or walking out of a television show. It’s connected in the way that the shows come from the same place, that they are real, that they are grounded".

Loeb's explanation makes a lot of sense; Marvel's movie and TV divisions are already complicated enough without having characters from each crossing over, and trying to plan such a thing would wreak havoc on schedules. But while it is a shame that we won't see Luke Cage et al on the big screen with Spider-Man for 10 minutes, it does mean we get to spend 13 episodes with the character on the small screen. As trade-offs go, that's not bad. 

Images: Marvel/Netflix

Amon Warmann
Amon Warmann

Amon is a contributing editor and columnist for Empire magazine, but is also a Film and TV writer for GamesRadar+, Total Film, and others. He has also written for NME, Composer Mag, and more, along with being a film critic for TalkSport. He is also the co-host of the Fade to Black Podcast, and a video mashup creator. Can also do a pretty good Bane impersonation.