Like thousands of people this weekend all around the world, I went and saw the climactic Avengers Endgame, the final film in the first series of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a colossal series that started way back in 2008, 22 films and 11 television series ago. Don’t worry, no spoilers here, I’m not even going to talk about the film in case you haven’t seen it (although who hasn’t? looks like it is going to smash every known record at the box office). All I’ll say is it met all my expectations and I’m thrilled to have enjoyed the ride. I’m just going to wax on how much I’ve enjoyed this series so far and write up, for the uninitiated, where this series has been and where it seems to be going. Endgame definitely feels like an ending, and for how things have lined up for parent company Disney, it comes at a great time to retool and set up the future of this shared universe. For those that see the movies and maybe watch a few shows on Netflix, you might be unaware of the history of the universe and what its future is. As a fanboy, I’ve been following pretty closely.
When Marvel Studios announced grand plans to have a shared universe that would span several films, sharing continuity, people scoffed. It is a big idea to be sure, and while there have been superhero films before, there had been no lasting success if your subject didn’t involve a Bat or a man from Krypton. To keep a years-spanning series going was unheard of, especially for Marvel, who didn’t have a big parent company to financially back them up. So Marvel Studios approached Paramount to distribute their films. Paramount distributed Iron Man and its sequel, and the first Thor and Captain America films (Universal distributed The Incredible Hulk, as they own the distribution rights for that character and still do…. long story). And the films made money, enough to attract the attention of big boy Disney. Disney bought up Marvel Entertainment, and became the distributor for all future films starting with the first Avengers films in 2012.
Since Disney owned ABC, they now had a new outlet to release television shows too. So started a shared universe across entertainment mediums, with Marvel Studios making theatrical films and a new division, Marvel Television, making shows. ABC launched with Agents of SHIELD in 2013, and followed with Agent Carter shortly after, using actors from the films to share continuity. To make grittier, R rated shows, Marvel Television inked a deal with Netflix to make shows for Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. But a funny thing happened along the way. Though on paper these shows shared the same world as the theatrical films, and made subtle references to events from the films from time to time, they started to grow apart. Marvel Studios was by now making a ton of money, setting records at the box office, giving that arm of Disney a lot of clout. Marvel Television, while often critically acclaimed, couldn’t say the same, so the shows increasingly became more “stand alone.” Even shows that Disney had more control over, such as Runaways (on Hulu) and Cloak & Dagger (on Freeform) barely mentioned the larger Marvel Universe going on around them. And then Disney announced their own streaming service.
Disney+ will finally launch later this year. Since Netflix doesn’t want to promote shows based on characters they don’t own, characters which not-so-subtly promote a competing streaming service, all those Netflix shows have been canceled (the final season of Jessica Jones will air soon). Agents of SHIELD is still limping along on ABC. It is a great show, but no one watches it, though it has been renewed for 2 more (shorter) seasons so far. Disney+ will be launching their own shows now, and to tie more closely to their films, they are using A list actors directly from the movies (Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany as Scarlet Witch and Vision, etc). These shows are made by Marvel Studios and not the Television division. I’m excited for these new shows, but definitely sad to see the Netflix characters fade away, some without proper goodbyes (Luke Cage was canceled on a somewhat cliffhanger). Rumor has it that Netflix contracts prevent Disney from developing any shows on these characters for 2 years, so it is doubtful we’ll see them revived on Disney’s streaming service, or if they do, they’ll be with new actors which will ignore the previous content.
So, Disney+ bringing new shows, a few holdovers on ABC/Hulu/Freeform, and a new beginning for the theatrical films. My hunch is we’ll have a few stand-alone movies before Marvel wants to go all-in on a new “team up” run of films. And don’t forget, Disney recently bought Fox, so expect some of those famous X-Men to finally start appearing in films over the next few years. It’s been a wildly fun run of 11 years, and here’s hoping the next chapter is as fulfilling as this one was.
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