Kevin Feige says that the upcoming Marvel Studios Disney+ series will be the first time small screen projects will actually connect to the MCU movies. After wrapping up the Infinity Saga this year with Joe and Anthony Russo’s Avengers: Endgame, the superhero franchise is in the middle of transitioning to its Phase 4. While the universe’s movie slate is already laid out, Feige and his team are also expanding with their own produced TV shows starring some of the characters fans have already met, as well as others who have yet to debut.

MCU’s expansion is in light of the roll out of Disney’s streaming service which debuted last month. Thus far, the platform’s primary selling point is Jon Favreu’s The Mandalorian which is the first Star Wars live-action TV series. And while it will be a bit of a wait before Marvel Studios’ projects for Disney+ with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier not debuting until fall of next year, these small screen projects will eventually be integral in the stories told on the big screen. However, a recent quote from the producer is gaining some traction as it essentially disregards the existence of Marvel TV.

During this year’s Brazil CCXP (via Playlist), Feige took the stage to tease fans about what lies ahead for the MCU. Aside from the franchise’s movie slate, he also promoted their upcoming TV shows such as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and Loki among others. But as he ramped up the hype for these projects, he somehow threw some subtle shade on the now-defunct Marvel TV which had shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter and Netflix’s Marvel series by saying the the Disney+ series will be the first time small screen stories will connect to the bigger MCU.

This comment comes on the heels of Marvel TV’s dissolution, as it’s being absorbed by Marvel Studios. Despite dealing with the same comic book brand, the two have long been separated with Jeph Loeb answering to Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter. Loeb has been manning the small screen projects for the brand since it began with ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in 2013. Feige was once under Perlmutter as well, but was eventually given autonomy after conflict arose between him and his former boss. He now answers directly to Disney’s Alan Horn.

After Endgame, thinking, ‘What can we do next?’ Disney+ is going to give us this opportunity to tell even deeper stories with characters you already know and love…in a new type of cinematic way that we haven’t done before. We’ve already started shooting two of them and they’re very, very special.

And it all, for the first time, will interlink. So, the MCU will be on your TV screen at home on Disney+ and interconnect with the movies and go back and forth. It’s exciting to expand the MCU into even bigger and better heights.

While Marvel TV didn’t have the same prominence that MCU films have enjoyed, it’s still unfair to completely disregard their existence and only focus on their own Disney+ shows. For years, the small screen shows adapted to what happened with the movies and have repeatedly made references to their big screen counterparts. Marvel Studios, on the other hand, barely acknowledged any of the shows and their characters. However, even if Feige and Marvel Studios continue to operate like Marvel TV’s projects weren’t in the same universe as their films, the fact of the matter is they are - at least some of them which have clear ties to the movies. Both Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) were introduced in MCU’s Phase 1. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Maria Hill (Colbie Smulders) and Lady Sif (Jamie Alexander) all appeared in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. And finally, Endgame featured Agent Carter’s Edwin Jarvis (James D’Arcy) - the inspiration to Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) AI, Jarvis voiced by Paul Bettany. That made him the first character debuted by Marvel TV who made the jump to the movies.

More: Kevin Feige Says The Multiverse is Key to the MCU’s Future

Source: CCXP (via Playlist)

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