There are plenty of casual movie-goers that probably find it a bit daunting to keep up with all the goings-on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This came to a head in this year’s “Avengers: Endgame,” where it became abundantly clear that you probably should have watched the two-dozen previous films before sitting down for the ‘Avengers’ finale to fully grasp what was happening. Well, for the future of the MCU, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige told Bloomberg that you probably are going to need to watch those Disney+ streaming series, in addition to the films, to get the full picture.
The report says (via Julia Alexander on Twitter):
“If you want to understand everything in future Marvel movies, he says, you’ll probably need a Disney+ subscription because events from the new shows will factor into forthcoming films such as ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.’ The Scarlet Witch will be a key character in that movie, and Feige points out that the ‘Loki’ series will tie in, too. ‘I’m not sure we’ve actually acknowledged that before,’ he says. “But it does.’”
Of course, in that portion of the report, the only film that is given is “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” That film alone ties in directly with “Loki” and “WandaVision,” which are both upcoming series exclusively streaming on Disney+. But what about the other series? It’s obvious that at least two more of them will have film ramifications.
“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” appears to be the series that will finally crown the new Captain America, with Anthony Mackie taking over the role. If that’s the case, then clearly fans might wonder what happened between him taking the shield in ‘Endgame’ and suiting up in future films and series.
Then there’s “Hawkeye,” which is said to be the series that will allow Jeremy Renner to pass the baton over to Kate Bishop (presumably played by Hailee Steinfeld). Bishop hasn’t been introduced at all in previous films, so if there’s a young woman shooting arrows in a future film, surely fans will want to know why.
The truth is that Marvel Studios loves continuity and the shared universe. And fans who have decided to take the leap and follow it all knew what they were getting themselves into. So, with Phase 4 of the story being more populated than ever before, this was inevitable. The question is whether or not there is a breaking point where the continuity becomes too much to keep track of? We’ll find out.
Boy, am I glad that Marvel hasn't tried to do a show before that ties into the MCU to some capacity to get people hype about the series.
Looking at you, Agent Coulson. pic.twitter.com/gTfpXOyt6O
— Julia Alexander (@loudmouthjulia) November 7, 2019