Kevin Feige Says Marvel Fans Will Need to Watch Disney+ Series to Understand Future MCU Movies

The joys of each entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe are that they can be consumed on their own to enjoy a fulfilling experience, but having witnessed all the films that came before them adds to the excitement of each adventure. In a recent interview, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige noted that, with the upcoming debut of MCU series on Disney+, the events of those shows will tie more directly into the theatrical endeavors, requiring fans to watch those series to fully appreciate theatrical outings. It’s unclear, however, if it will be because the events of those series will impact the films or if the exploration of those characters will provide more context for the films in which they appear.

According to Bloomberg, “If you want to understand everything in future Marvel movies, [Feige] says, you’ll probably need a Disney+ subscription, because events from the new shows will factor into forthcoming films such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The Scarlet Witch will be a key character in that movie, and Feige points out that the Loki series will tie in, too.”

“I’m not sure we’ve actually acknowledged that before,” Feige shared. “But it does.”

When the MCU first launched in 2008, each film in the series was relatively isolated from one another, with references to other characters and events feeling more like Easter eggs than crucial pieces of information, with the biggest connections being the post-credits scenes that helped tie the universe together. Nearly two dozen films later, the events of each film are intrinsically linked with one another, under the assumption that fans will have already seen every adventure that came before it.

In 2013, Marvel launched Agents of SHIELD, the first MCU TV series, which would regularly reference the events of the films. That trend continued with Marvel’s Agent Carter, though Netflix’s various Marvel series began growing detached from the MCU. While the events of all shows were undoubtedly set within one, singular universe, the characters from the films and the TV series were relatively detached from one another, even if some of the film stars made cameos in Marvel’s ABC series.

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, Spider-Man 3 on July 16, 2021, What If…? in Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022. Marvel Studios Disney+ series without release dates include Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk.

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