The Marvel Cinematic Universe is undergoing a period of reinvention. In today’s era, the thirst for their new releases has undoubtedly been slightly quenched — but that doesn’t mean they’re not trying anything.
Although Fantastic Four: The First Steps is on its way and sure to be at least just as successful — if not more so — than James Gunn’s new interpretation of Superman, their last two releases have failed to get the audience they were gunning for. Captain America: Brave New World had a lukewarm reception with fans and critics, and Thunderbolts, although much better received, is probably going to make a loss at the box office.
For the movies, the executives at Marvel have gone all in on casting — taking risks as per usual, making sure that when fans enter that cinema hall, they’ll get something they don’t expect or haven’t already seen before. But there was another aspect of the Hollywood juggernaut studio that went unaddressed and that’s their TV department.
There’s a compelling argument to be made that the way the MCU truly slipped was when they ventured into television with a well-thought-out plan. Hawkeye and Agatha All Along came and went, Secret Invasion was truly awful. And even the shows that slightly did work, like Moon Knight, were so unconnected and inconsequential to the grander arcs that they might as well have been from DC, and nobody would have noticed. But let’s remember Marvel has always worked best as the underdog; they apparently have also noticed this trend.
According to a new report originating from Marvel leaker DanielRPK, Marvel has opted to go back to the Netflix-era Defenders approach to making TV shows. The logic here seems to be: if fans know exactly what they’re getting into, then their expectations might be reasonable. According to the report, the TV shows will focus on street-level conflict, and the big events will be saved for the films.
Marvel Studios is reportedly taking a new approach with its TV shows.
The studio will now focus on grounded, street-level stories, similar to the Netflix shows.
Big events will be saved for the films.
(via @DanielRPK) pic.twitter.com/w5PsRlzu7V
— Cosmic Marvel (@cosmic_marvel) June 20, 2025
Fans in the comments were split on their opinions. Some claimed that streaming ruined the title-crossing franchise. Another one made the logical conclusion that it’s the films that should affect the shows, not vice versa. Another user felt like Secret Invasion would have worked better as a movie instead of the TV flop that we ultimately got.
Streaming made the MCU worse than it ever was.
— 𝓡𝓪𝓰𝓮𝓻 (@CasualOnly7) June 20, 2025
I think the films should affect the shows rather than the shows affect the films.
— Charlie Painter (@Bloke99) June 20, 2025
would’ve loved to see Secret Invasion properly done in 2.5 hours movie.
rather than a tv slop they gave us 😭
— Aditya (@futbolislife123) June 20, 2025
A lot can change fast in Hollywood. When Marvel was going all in, it was the middle of the pandemic and there were premature obituaries written about the theatrical experience. Every company — including Disney — was championing streaming first. But it’s a completely different era now, where story reigns supreme. Fans have high expectations for quality; it’s not just about riding the coattails of your last hit. The MCU will now have to think twice about fan arguments like whether the unreasonably expensive Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania should have been the TV show, and Loki should have been the movie.
This approach should be welcomed by most fans of the franchise, because shows like Daredevil really were always for the fans who wanted a little extra side dish — trying to make every course the main course was too much for everyone.