7 Reasons Marvel's Movies And TV Shows Will NEVER Connect More
1. It's Already As Connected As It Needs To Be
Since the dawn of the Marvel Age of Comics, a huge part of the fun has been seeing the different combinations of heroes and storylines that can be assembled at any given time. There have already been more combinations in comics than the movies could ever hope to cover. That is why it's important for fans to recognize the difference between what they want and what a story needs.
Every Marvel story is part of a larger universe. This is something fans already know and will continue to be reminded of in big and small ways. The Battle of New York has impacted every Marvel Television show released so far, save for Agent Carter, which is set decades prior. The Sokovia Accords could have just as large of an impact.
Some events will reverberate across the entire MCU and some won't. That's fairly true to life and creatively speaking, it's the correct approach. These stories must still be able to stand well enough on their own and they will not be able to do that if the influence from other stories is constant and overbearing.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe expands every year. In comics, very few fans even claim to read everything; in live-action, not everyone should have to watch everything. That is why tangential references to smaller characters and events work well. They're cool pieces of connectivity for those who've seen the other stories without leaving anyone else missing out on a critical piece of information needed to understand the story they're experiencing at that moment.
It's all connected - it really is and fans have had the chance to watch all of the connective tissue between MCU stories take shape. All of these shows and movies, along with some tie-in comics, are part of the canon. Not every story will have as great of an impact on the canon as the ones before or after it, but they will all remain parts of the greater whole that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Do you wish the MCU and the Marvel TV universe would cross-pollinate more closely? Share your thoughts below in the comments thread.