How Marvel Should Do A MCU Movies & Netflix Crossover
5. A Netflix Production, Or A Marvel Studios One?
Undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges preventing an MCU TV/Film crossover is the divide between the two studios. Marvel TV falls under the remit of Ike Perlmutter, whereas Marvel Studios operates under Kevin Feige and reports directly to Disney CEO Bob Iger - an apparent consequence of Perlmutter's reported abrasiveness at the creative level.
But say there is a way of collaborating. Although it's likely Marvel's writers can't publicly discuss behind-the-scenes relations, one of the most common explanations given for why we haven't seen the Defenders fighting alongside the Avengers is due to the burden it places on the audience, summarised here by Infinity War scribe Stephen McFeely when speaking to Collider (and transcribed by Flickering Myth):
"We talk about that all the time... I don’t know anything about animosity [between Marvel Studios and Marvel Television]. In a movie this big, we certainly had the conversation, ‘Should we put Luke Cage in this? Here we are in New York.’ That kind of stuff. As you could probably tell, it would be just a glorified cameo at this point. We’re trying to honor the MCU movies and if we then further tell the audience, ‘Oh, you should also have a good knowledge from this streaming service over here that you may or may not be subscribing to.’ That’s really asking a lot. We’re already asking a lot.”
Although it's certainly true that Infinity War asked a lot of its audience (most of whom have been along for the ride since 2008's Iron Man), and there is something to be said about scheduling commitments, and the difficulty of coordinating between two different studios, it is perhaps disingenuous to assume that fans would expect a great deal from a small cameo in Infinity War. McFeely makes a salient point though, and that is that any crossover between Netflix and Marvel has to be emphasised, and probably shouldn't amount to nothing more than a small cameo for the sake of fan-service.
In this case, it makes sense for Marvel Studios to head up this kind of project. Pool together writers from the shows and films, and make it a big production and not a mini-series, as it's the most logical path to take.