Best Things The MCU Should Keep From Its Netflix Shows

Highlights

Marvel's Netflix shows offered a gritty version of New York, showcasing real-world crime and a darker side to the city.
The MCU has started experimenting with mature content, and having a smaller pocket of shows with a similar tone could be beneficial.
The Defenders title effectively communicated where street-level heroes like Daredevil and Echo belong in the MCU, and it should be retained for clarity.

When Marvel first got the rights back from Fox Studios to use Daredevil in live-action again, many fans expected to see the blind vigilante appear in the MCU sooner rather than later. However, Marvel Studios decided to go a different route with the character and made a deal with Netflix, which would set up a universe of R-rated, street-level characters that would run parallel to the MCU. This deal culminated in a live-action TV series featuring, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Punisher.

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With Charlie Cox set to make his return in a rebooted Daredevil series, fans still have many questions about what will be showcased.

These series all aired and culminated in a team-up series called The Defenders. Despite mixed results, the deal with Netflix ended in 2020, and Marvel is now free to use these characters again in the MCU. The Studio has already brought in Charlie Cox's Daredevil and Vincent D'onofrio's Kingpin from this universe, but there is much more that fans of the Netflix/Marvel universe would love to see again.

6 A Gritty New York

This Darker Version Of New York Was A Nice Change

Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and Daredevil The Defenders photo

The MCU has featured many events that take place in New York City. It was famously the site of the first battle between The Avengers and Loki. However, the franchise has rarely spent much time exploring what a big city like this looks like in a world of superheroes. Characters like Hawkeye and Spider-Man zip through this city during the day, but Netflix's Defenders got to show viewers the gritty side of this iconic location.

Since the Marvel/Netflix series was rated R, it could show its heroes tackling more real-world crime. This means that this version of New York was a gritty hub for criminals engaging in drug deals, violent thefts, and human trafficking. It is understandable why Disney would not want filmmakers to show someone like Iron Man fighting this type of crime in New York, but the inclusion of Daredevil and Luke Cage could see this type of New York appear in the MCU at some point in the future.

5 Mature Rating

The MCU Has Just Experimented With This Idea

Echo Daredevil The Punisher Marvel Studios

There was a time when fans would never expect to see the Marvel franchise, which is owned by Disney, start delving into R-rated content. The MCU is supposed to be a family-friendly series, after all. However, Disney+ has allowed the company to experiment with this idea, and it recently did this by giving its new limited series, Echo, a mature rating. Plus, there are rumors that the next Daredevil: Born Again show will also be rated similarly.

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That does not mean that everything in the MCU has to be mature now. Simply having a small pocket of shows that are able to use certain characters like how they were used on Netflix may just be what the franchise needs. This would allow the MCU to bring in popular characters like The Punisher, for instance.

4 The Defenders Title

Communicating To The Audience Who These Characters Belong To

Almost everyone in the movie-going public knows that The Avengers are a team that gets together to fight threats that are too big for one hero to manage alone. Also, it is well-known that the X-Men is a team that includes any hero who has received their powers through mutation. However, it is unclear where street-level heroes like Daredevil and Echo sit. They aren't exactly the types of heroes who can stand alongside Thor and fight Thanos.

That is why The Defenders, as a title, worked so well for the Netflix Marvel shows. This name gave audiences a brand they could recognize, but it also communicated what type of hero would fit into this team. Therefore, it would be a good idea for the MCU to keep this title just to show where certain street-level characters belong in this vast universe.

3 The Hand

A Great Marvel Villain That Should Be Given Another Chance

The Hand is a team of highly trained ninja who were introduced into the Netflix Marvel universe in Season 2 of Daredevil. This team then went on to pose a threat to all the other characters in the franchise. Sadly, this group was defeated as part of the team-up in The Defenders.

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Now that the MCU has access to this villainous organization, it would be great to see them return. It would be easy enough to include them again, too, as the MCU is supposed to take place on a separate timeline. Also, it would be fun to see other Marvel heroes take on these ninja like they do in the comics. Daredevil and Elektra aren't the only Marvel characters who have a history with the organization, so there are plenty of possibilities regarding the group's future.

2 Action

Netflix's Marvel Shows Had Some Great Fight Choreography

The MCU is known for its huge action scenes. Fans are used to seeing the likes of Iron Man flying around and shooting bad guys with CGI lasers or The Hulk tearing up a city. That is because these huge movies have large enough budgets to show this type of action. However, the Netflix Marvel shows had a much smaller budget, which meant that the showrunners had to get creative with their action scenes.

The result was a series of small street-level encounters with excellent fight choreography that spanned across all the shows. The most impressive of these action scenes is the small hallway fight from the second episode of Daredevil. These brawlers are not equipped to shoot lasers at big world-ending threats, so scaling things back to give street-level heroes a more realistic action scene like the ones seen in the Netflix Marvel shows would add something new and refreshing to the MCU.

1 Characters

Not Every Character In This Universe Was A Dud

Marvel has already opened the doors to connect the MCU to the Netflix shows by bringing back Charlie Cox as Daredevil and Vincent D'Onofrio as Kingpin. While these two actors were a highlight of the Netflix Marvel shows, there are plenty of other characters and actors from this universe who deserve to return, and the MCU could be a great place for them to make their comeback.

The reappearance of Netflix's Kingpin in the MCU has already established that these actors can still play the new version of these characters in the MCU. Although not all the characters in the Netflix shows were a hit with fans, there are those who would love to see Mike Colter as Luke Cage again, Kristen Ritter as Jessica Jones, and David Tennant as Killgrave.