The Marvel universe expanded beyond the big screen again this year when Netflix premiered its first Marvel series, "Daredevil" and will add "Jessica Jones" to its lineup next month. As the Marvel mantra goes, "It's All Connected," so could someone like Director Phil Coulson from ABC's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." pop up in Hell's Kitchen?
"We've certainly acknowledged things like Iron Man, Captain America, and Tony Stark. So we know that's the world we're in, in the Netflix shows. Then, we have done our first cross already," Jeph Loeb, Head of Marvel TV, told Forbes.
Loeb also pointed toward the character Carl "Crusher" Creel who has appeared in "Daredevil" and "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." as another crossover example. "Jessica Jones" showrunner Melissa Rosenberg confirmed earlier that Rosario Dawson will reprise her role as Claire Temple from "Daredevil" on the new Netflix series as well.
But the Marvel TV head isn't quite ready to put his lead characters like Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Matt Murdock a.k.a. Daredevil (Charlie Cox) in other shows but their own at this point.
"We've been very careful about even just within those shows crossing into each other," Loeb said. "I'm not ready yet for Matt Murdock to be walking around in somebody else's show. But that doesn't mean it's not going to happen."
Gregg also thinks it's too early for such crossovers and could take away from the individual shows if audience members expect to see a big cameo every episode.
"That would get old really quickly if you're just kind of waiting for the next Easter egg to go walking by. It's got to really be something that helps the story," the "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" star told Forbes. "['Daredevil'] felt like a different world than ours in a way. At some point later, maybe there'll be more kind of a world that meshes."
As Loeb leaves the door open for Coulson to cross paths with characters on Netflix, the S.H.I.E.L.D. director may have to wait much longer to come face to face with a few other Marvel characters, specifically Deadpool and other mutants (i.e. "X-Men" characters).
During the Marvel TV panel at New York Comic Con, one fan asked whether mutants would ever appear on "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Loeb tried to skirt the question, but Gregg gleefully jumped in to answer.
"We'd like to talk to some mutants but they are in a terrifying realm," Gregg said, of course referring to 20th Century Fox, the studio that owns the screen rights to those Marvel characters. "I kind of grew up on New York subways reading comics that have involved mutants, but they're in this terrifying zone called 'the copyright zone' and someday we will all live in a peaceful world where all the fandoms can interact."
Loeb quickly made it clear that "those would be the views expressed solely on behalf of our dear friend Clark Gregg" and did not necessarily express the views of Marvel Studios.
"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." airs on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on ABC. "Marvel's Jessica Jones" will premiere on Nov. 20 on Netflix followed by season two of "Daredevil" in April 2016.
