Five Years Later, Has the MCU’s TV Excursion Worked?

Unlike the Netflix shows and adjacent series like Runaways and Agents of SHIELD that preceded it, these new series could fully affirm their connection to the MCU anytime they wanted to, with the first handful of shows working as mini-sequels to Avengers: Endgame. But it could be argued a pivot to TV hasn’t done the MCU any favors: if you thought catching up on the movies felt like homework, then catching up on TV must feel like double that, especially for the shows like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Secret Invasion that felt made in part to tee up future plot events that ultimately didn’t go anywhere. Because of its rocky start, the MCU’s television enterprise is now in a position where it has to meet the medium where it’s at and play by TV’s rules rather than setting its own and getting everyone else to fall in line.

Author: Justin Carter

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