The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) television series are American superhero television shows produced by Marvel Television—not to be confused with the Marvel Studios label of the same name—based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The series are set in, or inspired by, the shared universe of the MCU film franchise.
The MCU first expanded to television after Marvel Television was formed in 2010, with that studio producing 12 series with ABC Studios and its production division ABC Signature Studios. These were released from September 2013 to August 2020 across broadcast on ABC, streaming on Netflix and Hulu, and cable on Freeform. The main ABC series were inspired by the films and featured film characters, while a connected group of series for Netflix crossed over with each other. Young adult-focused series were produced for Freeform and Hulu. Numerous additional series were planned that never materialized, including two unaired pilots as well as a group of series for Hulu called "Adventure into Fear" that were planned before Marvel Television was shut down in December 2019; the Adventure into Fear franchise produced the series Helstrom (2020), which ultimately was disconnected from the MCU upon its release.
Despite featuring characters from and numerous references to the MCU films, the series were widely seen as being ignored by Marvel Studios and the films. This is in contrast to later series developed by Marvel Studios. The latter studio began integrating the Marvel Television series more into the MCU in early 2024 starting with the Netflix shows.
Development
Marvel Television was launched in June 2010, led by Jeph Loeb. The studio was reported in July 2012 to be in discussions with ABC to create a television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which at that time consisted primarily of feature films produced by Marvel Studios. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was ordered to pilot by ABC in August 2012. Marvel Television was made aware of Marvel Studios' plans for future films to avoid interfering with them when introducing someone or something to the shared universe.
By October 2013, Marvel was preparing four drama series and a miniseries to present to video on demand services and cable providers, with Netflix, Amazon, and WGN America expressing interest. Marvel's parent company Disney announced the next month that it would provide Netflix with live-action series based on the characters Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage, leading to a crossover miniseries based on the Defenders team. A spin-off series based on the Punisher was later added. In January 2014, the series Agent Carter was announced for ABC.
Marvel Studios was integrated into Walt Disney Studios in August 2015. President Kevin Feige was set to report to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan F. Horn instead of Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter, while Marvel Television remained under Perlmutter's control. This was seen as widening the existing divide between the Marvel film and television divisions, and making it unlikely that the films would acknowledge the series' events and characters. By that point, the only series that had significant involvement from Marvel Studios was Agent Carter, which was canceled in May 2016 after two seasons.
Freeform ordered Cloak & Dagger to series in April 2016; it was originally announced at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con for Freeform's predecessor, ABC Family. In August 2016, Hulu ordered a new series based on the comics group the Runaways. Although Marvel initially said there were no plans to crossover Cloak & Dagger and Runaways, the main characters of the former series were later announced to be appearing in the third season of Runaways. In November 2016, Marvel and the IMAX Corporation announced Inhumans, based on the species of the same name, after a planned film starring the characters was removed from Marvel Studios' slate. ABC canceled the series in May 2018. Netflix canceled all of their Marvel series by the end of February 2019. The characters could not appear in any non-Netflix series or films for at least two years following the cancellations.
In July 2019, the seventh season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was announced to be its last. A month later, Loeb revealed several names that Marvel used internally to categorize its series: the ABC series were known as the "Marvel Heroes" series due to their close connections to the MCU films, especially with the main characters of both Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter having originated in films; the Netflix series were known as the "Marvel Street-Level Heroes" or "Marvel Knights"; and Runaways and Cloak & Dagger were known as the "YA" or "young adult" franchise, with Marvel Television's push into the young adult genre in response to Marvel Studios doing the same with Spider-Man. Loeb hoped there would be further crossovers between Cloak and Dagger and Runaways, but the two series were canceled in October and November, respectively.
Following the announcement in September 2018 that Marvel Studios was developing multiple series for the new streaming service Disney+ that would be better connected to the MCU films, Loeb said Marvel Television would develop their own Disney+ series along with other new series for broadcast and cable. However, Variety reported in September 2019 that Marvel Television was likely being phased out in favor of the new Marvel Studios series, which had access to well-known MCU characters, and much larger budgets than the Marvel Television series. Feige was named the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment in October. Marvel Television moved under Marvel Studios and its executives began reporting to Feige. Loeb was expected to leave Marvel by the end of the year. In December, Marvel Television announced that it would complete work on its existing television series but would stop developing new projects. The division was set to shut down, with several executives moving to Marvel Studios to oversee the completion of existing series. This included executive producer , who was made senior vice president of original programming and production for Marvel Television Studios. Other staff were laid off, while Loeb was set to remain with the company until the handover was completed. Zreik later become the head of television for Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, whose projects included Marvel-based series that were intended to connect to the superhero films of Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU).
All of the Netflix series were no longer available on Netflix starting March 1, 2022, due to Netflix's license for the series ending and Disney regaining the rights. They all began streaming on Disney+ from March 16, where they were collected under the title "The Defenders Saga".
Television series ABC series
Netflix series
Young adult series
Crossovers to feature films Under Marvel Television
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. executive producer Jeffrey Bell revealed at the show's 2014 PaleyFest panel that the producers and writers were able to read the screenplays for upcoming MCU films to know where the universe was headed. He noted that since the films have to be "big" and move "quickly through a lot of huge pieces", it was beneficial to have the television series fill in any "gaps" for them. His fellow executive producer Jed Whedon explained that each Marvel project is intended to stand alone first before there is any interweaving, and noted that the series have to be aware of Marvel Studios' plans so as not to interfere when introducing someone or something to the universe. Bell said this was preferable so people who do not watch the films could follow the series, and vice versa. Creator Joss Whedon said this meant the television series got the "leftovers".
In October 2014, Feige said there was potential for characters from the Netflix series to appear in the crossover film Avengers: Infinity War (2018). In March 2015, Loeb said Marvel Television would have to earn the ability to have the Netflix series cross over with the films and ABC series, feeling that each series had to be established and defined on its own before crossovers could occur. In September 2015, Feige elaborated on the films referencing the television series, saying it was inevitable but the timing would be difficult because, though the series' production schedules allowed them to be made faster and align with the films, the long development period for the films made it difficult to reference a series' events.
Loeb reiterated in July 2016 the issue of scheduling, questioning how a television series actor could have a major role in a film when they had to spend six or eight months filming the series. He said this would be less of an issue for minor cameo appearances, but Marvel was not interested in cameos and Easter eggs just for the sake of fan service which could detract from the story. Vincent D'Onofrio, who portrayed Wilson Fisk / Kingpin in Daredevil (2015–2019), said in January 2017 that he was open to appearing in the films but believed it would most likely not happen. D'Onofrio cited Feige's previous reasoning as well as the fact that the films already had difficulty handling the large number of characters they had. Anthony Mackie, who portrays Sam Wilson / Falcon in the MCU, said in March that he did not think a crossover between the films and television series would work given they are "different universes, different worlds, different companies, different designs" and "Kevin Feige is very specific about how he wants the Marvel Universe to be seen in the film world". The next month, Marvel Studios executive Eric Carroll, a producer on the MCU film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), said it would be fun to reference the Defenders in a film given the members of that team and Spider-Man are all based in New York City. In May, Feige said a character appearing in a television series would not necessarily exclude them from appearing in a film. He elaborated that "at some point, there's going to be a crossover. Crossover, repetition, or something."
In October 2017, Loeb explained why Avengers Tower is not seen in the shows when they depict New York City, where it is seen in the films. He said Marvel Television wanted to be vague about the television characters' relationships to the tower because that "helps the audience understand that this could be on any street corner", and the characters could be in an area of the city where you would not be able to see the tower. In June 2018, speaking to how the MCU television series would be affected by the events of Infinity War, Loeb said most of the series would take place before that film due to "production and when we are telling our stories versus when the movies come out". James D'Arcy reprises his role of Edwin Jarvis from Agent Carter in the next crossover film after Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame (2019). This marked the first time a character introduced in an MCU television series appeared in an MCU film. Marvel Studios executive Brad Winderbaum stated that during the development of Infinity War and Endgame, the two companies were in communication with each other and easy references to the films were included in Marvel Television series, but to include references to the television series in those films "was just too much for us to wrap our minds around at the time".