10 Important Milestones The Marvel Cinematic Universe Must Pass

4. Successfully Merging Film & TV Worlds

Although Marvel has a major hold over the box office that DC is understandably envious of they've at least beaten their rivals to the punch in creating a potentially successful TV empire with shows like Arrow and the upcoming Flash, Gotham and Constantine series. Marvel's only current foray into television is Agents of SHIELD, which just finished its first season a couple of months ago. It's since been renewed for a second season, and one of the suggestions we made on how the show could be improved was for Marvel to have better connective tissue between its big and small-screen properties. While AoS had mentions of the Battle of New York and some brief cameos from movie actors in the early episodes, it wasn't until the Winter Soldier tie-in episodes that the series felt like it had any real gravity to it or that it was linked to the wider MCU in anything but name. If Marvel want to have as wide an audience crossover as possible then they really ought to go to pains to make their world a cohesive, believable one in all that they produce. The new methods of telling stories cross-platform are tantalising, and it would be a shame if they were wasted by omission by a company that can now afford to take calculated risks on a regular basis, although those stories may only end up appealing to folks who devour everything Marvel offers while making more casual viewers feel left out. We'll probably see an answer to that question of audience loyalty by the time the Defenders mini-series arrives on Netflix, as it's purpose-built for required viewing of earlier shows.