The Marvel Cinematic Universe is enormous in size and scope, so far sprawled out across 19 films and a handful of television and Netflix shows. Series such as
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Marvel Netflix have clearly referenced and/or explained events that happened in the films. For example,
S.H.I.E.L.D. last night tied into
Avengers: Infinity War by directly referencing Thanos, his reputation in the galaxy and his assault on Earth.
However, while many people have been clamoring for the films to directly acknowledge events or characters that occur in
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or
The Defenders series, the movies have yet to explicitly do this. Kevin Feige has largely attested this lack of crossover to extreme challenges in logistically and narratively having the shows and films on the same page.
These challenges though did not stop the Russos and their all-star writers Markus and McFeely from considering including the TV characters in
Avengers: Infinity War. Anthony Russo had the following to say on the subject:
We made the briefest consideration of [including TV characters in ‘Infinity War’]. When we’re alone in a room with [screenwriters Christopher] Markus and [Stephen] McFeely, we consider every idea. We like thinking of everything. But it seemed like the story that had been told within the movies was so specific and elaborate already that once we started working through the story, we knew we had our hands full just with this set of characters and narratives.
Russo does make a great point. Logistics aside, it would have been very difficult to successfully integrate the TV characters into the film and do them justice without detracting from the story. The Russos already had an extremely daunting task of tying together characters from 18 films, adding characters from the TV corners of the MCU would have not only confused members of the audiencce that do not watch the shows but also overly complicate the film. Plus, as Anthony states, the narrative of Thanos was more specific to the characters from the movies than those from the TV shows.
Do you think the Russos should have included characters from
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and/or
The Defenders in
Avengers: Infinity War? Or do you believe that they already had their hands full with the vast array of characters from the various MCU films? Be sure to share your thoughts in the usual spot below!