We can finally put this topic to rest– Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Inhumans, Runaways, and Cloak & Dagger are not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Much like the Star Wars Expanded Universe, now known as Star Wars Legends, Disney seems to have lumped these shows together as “Marvel Legacy” at least when it comes to Disney+.
Well, here’s the thing… none of those Marvel shows is even on Disney+ in the United States, but in other countries, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Inhumans, and Runaways are available to stream, but they are lumped under the banner, “Marvel Legacy Movies and Series,” which is also where those viewers can find the likes of the X-Men and Fantastic Four movies, which are clearly not part of the MCU.
Fans had already started wondering how Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. could still be canon considering it heavily used the Darkhold, which recently popped up on WandaVision, which ignored the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. depiction.
Of course, if you’ve paid any attention to the evolution of Marvel Studios and the MCU, this should come as no surprise. Marvel Studios used to be a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, along with Marvel Television, headed up by Jeph Loeb. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was created as the first TV show set within the MCU and for a few years, it was canon, even though that was pretty one-sided. The same is true of the Netflix shows, etc. All of these shows WERE set within the reality of the movies… it’s just that the movies ignored the TV shows completely. Some of them were pretty low-budget and mediocre, so that’s no surprise.
Then came the President of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, who finally got fed up with Marvel Entertainment president Isaac Perlmutter, who was reportedly kind of a cheapskate, and a little discriminatory (he refused to greenlight Black Panther or Captain Marvel), and threatened to quit. Since the Marvel movies were making hundreds of millions, Disney didn’t want to lose him or torpedo that success, so they broke Marvel Studios off as its own entity, with Feige reporting directly to Disney. The movies were now officially divorced from the TV shows.
Of them all, Agent Carter is the one that seems to actually fit the MCU the best and doesn’t really contradict anything in the movies, but there was probably just a blanket decision to reclassify all the shows created under Loeb’s tenure as “Marvel Legacy.”
Marvel Television has been completely shut down, now that Marvel Studios is making TV shows like WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki. Those shows are very definitely set within the MCU and will even feature plotlines that will carry over into the films.
The Netflix shows– Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Defenders, and The Punisher-– are not classified as “Marvel Legacy” because those shows will NEVER be available on Disney+ anywhere. They’re loaded with violence, gore, sex, nudity, drug use, and profanity. That doesn’t exactly align with Disney+’s family-friendly reputation, even though there is an adults-only subcategory in some countries, called STAR. But my understanding is that those shows actually belong to Netflix.
There have been recent rumors that actors like Charlie Cox or Krysten Ritter could reprise their roles in upcoming Marvel projects…
Yeah, that’s never happening. Don’t give any thought to that crap. Those stories are done and they “don’t exist” in the MCU, although Marvel Studios has reclaimed the rights to the characters and could use them in future projects. You can bet that these parts will be recast and the storylines from the existing shows will be ignored. And it will probably be a while as it appears that Disney wants to allow people time to forget the Netflix takes.
What do you think? Were you a fan of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Agent Carter, Inhumans, or Runaways? Are you bummed that they aren’t technically part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Source: Comic Book Movie
