With Jessica Jones and The Punisher being the last of the Netflix Marvel shows to return to the fold at Marvel Studios, fans continue to fight for their return in the MCU. Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist are also in this group and due to the strong following they built during their run on Netflix, many people want the shows to return with the same actors portraying the characters. Marvel boss Kevin Feige is now working in the world of television through WandaVision and future series on the Disney+ platform and while Feige and his team have things very mapped out for the future, he admits that the canceled shows do have a future in the MCU.
Feige was recently speaking at Disney+'s virtual TCA press tour and he was questioned about the future of earlier Marvel TV shows and if there was a possibility that they can become a part of the MCU. Feige's answer should give fans of some of these shows hope that their time is certainly not up:
"I think we probably could do it, I think a lot of that stuff comes back to us There's always rumors online about things reverting, sometimes that's true, sometimes it's not, but I'm not exactly sure of the exact contracts but perhaps someday. My history at Marvel is vast and involved zero control for a long time so I paid more attention to the things I gained control over rather than the things I didn't have control over. TV at that time was just one of those things that we didn't, just like when Fox was doing X-Men movies or Sony was doing Spider-Man movies without us. That was just the rules under which Marvel was operating at the time. It was much more of an opportunity and something that excited us at Marvel Studios when Bob Iger started asking us to work on shows for Disney+. It wasn't a disappointment or something we thought much about when Marvel Television was doing their series."
I like that Feige doesn't completely debunk the possibility. I feel like he hears the fans and he knows how hugely popular some of the shows were. I think Feige is the kind of person who has his wheels constantly turning and I would think that he has thought extensively about how it could work to bring these shows back under the MCU banner when the time is right. Their addition would also have to depend on the greater narrative that the MCU is working on. Everything is so mapped out far in advance that it's almost like finding the perfect fit for these unique puzzle pieces as the universe continues to expand. One thing is for sure, Feige seems to have respect for them and their fanbase because when it was implied that some of the canceled shows weren't "successful", Feige made sure to point out that their fans and their content are viable, despite being made by different creative teams.
"I think there are legions of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fans and Daredevil fans and Jessica Jones fans and Luke Cage fans. There's a very big fanbase for those shows."
One Marvel show that has actually been teased time and time again in the MCU Phase IV is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The "Hydra Soak" commercial reminded fans of Phil Coulson's (Clark Gregg) conspiracy theory and the recent appearance of Skye's Hula girl on the dashboard of a circus van in Episode 7 of WandaVision has fans thinking there is some connection to the former Marvel series. Feige was asked about these connections and what they meant for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but this is when the Marvel boss went with one of his vague answers:
"There are often rumors that are true and there are often rumors that are not. It was great fun to have Clark Gregg come back to the MCU in Captain Marvel. Everything else, we'll just have to see."
I know that "perhaps someday" doesn't seem like much but I honestly think there have been discussions about bringing some of these shows back and maybe even using some of the characters in the movies. Fans just have to be patient and wait and see what happens. Patience isn't my biggest virtue so I totally get wanting answers NOW but Marvel has been pretty solid with their plans and I'm willing to wait this one out and see what happens.
Which canceled Marvel shows would YOU want to see return in the MCU?