Marvel Studios has slowly but surely built a fascinating shared universe of interconnected continuity and entertainment. The cinematic universe was built on the solid foundation of 2008's "Iron Man" and is culminating in the rapidly popular "Avengers" franchise. The studio is taking a similar approach with their upcoming Netflix launches. "Daredevil" will be available for streaming in a few days and will be followed by individual series for Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist before they all team up in "The Defenders" miniseries.
Marvel has made a concentrated effort to showcase characters that don't necessarily fit in their big screen plans on television, further buffering continuity and adding to the expanding roster. What's interesting is that this approach may not be solely reserved for live-action entertainment.
"I can't announce anything, but things are in the works," Cort Lane, Marvel's VP of animation development and production, said when asked about a cartoon series taking place in the MCU.
A similar approach almost took place when Disney first acquired Marvel. Pixar had suggested doing an animated Ant-Man feature before the long gestating project was green lit for the big screen. Going back to this would be a great way for Marvel to turn beloved supporting characters that don't merit their own blockbuster films into a possibly profitable commodity. The studio already makes sure to have comic book tie-ins to their slate of popular movies. Adding animation to the docket seems to be the next logical step.
However, Marvel already has a handful of animated properties that feature the same characters yet don't take place in the MCU. Suddenly shifting gears may make the viewing experience a bit confusing and muddy the waters of the shared universe. Can canon be accurately represented with so many different balls in the air?
Marvel fans, what do you think? Should the MCU expand to animation? Let us know in the comments section below.
