Minor spoilers ahead for Avengers: Endgame.

Now that all the Marvel Netflix shows have been canceled, it remains this interesting little experiment that kind of flirted with being part of the MCU, but really was off in a corner so remote that the movies or other Marvel TV shows couldn’t touch it. It was basically just a collection of loosely interconnected shows that were based on Marvel comics, but really didn’t have anything to do with the larger MCU.

Some fans were hoping that since Avengers: Endgame was the be-all, end-all of the MCU, the writers would find a way to integrate those Netflix characters. Speaking to the New York Times, screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely explained why Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and the rest didn’t make it into Endgame:

Did you consider using the heroes from the Netflix TV shows, like Daredevil or Jessica Jones? McFEELY We would have to introduce these five characters — or whatever many. We already are assuming people have seen a lot of the movies. Are we really going to assume they have bought a subscription to Netflix and watched those shows enough so that when they see them, they’re going to go “yay?” MARKUS It also screws up the timelines. You would have to assume that they all got snapped away, or otherwise they might have shown up earlier. I think the only character who has come from TV to the movies is Jarvis, James D’Arcy [from “Agent Carter”].

It’s an excellent point. Since the shows and the movies have never really intersected, it would be confusing to the plotlines. Additionally, look at it from a character perspective. Jessica Jones is enjoying her day, some wizard says, “Step through this portal to fight the forces of Thanos. You will know a few other people, but most of the superheroes here are strangers.” I get that it would have been a thrill for folks that followed the Netflix shows, but reconciling the plotlines would have been a bridge too far.

At least Jarvis makes a bit of sense because his scene takes place in the past. Bringing him into the story doesn’t really change or affect anything, so it’s a nice little cameo without major repercussions to other stories.

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