Just as Marvel has done with their cinematic universe, the TV side is growing bigger and faster than anybody could have predicted. While Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter's ratings have been modest and the critical response mixed, they found much greater success on Netflix with Daredevil. Their plan for the streaming service is equally ambitious with the upcoming AKA Jessica Jones, plus shows for Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and crossover series The Defenders. While we know Daredevil is coming back for a second season (apparently with Elektra in it, too), what's up with the rest of Phase II?
According to Heroic Hollywood, which I caution is run by ex-Latino Review rumor monger Umberto Gonzalez, Marvel is eying a number of thematically dark characters for their next phase. This would include the usual suspects like Blade, Ghost Rider, and The Punisher. What may be holding them back is the fear of going too violent because all of these characters kill, making their shows more of an 'R' than the 'hard PG-13' of Daredevil. Plus, with a supernatural character like Ghost Rider there's the risk of being too silly, which Netflix desperately wants to avoid. Not to mention it would be crazy expensive to have a CGI Ghost Rider series. I would say the biggest hurdle would be that all of these characters have recently failed in one form or another. Blade had a tremendously successful trilogy of films, but the attempted TV series (which I loved but nobody else did) only lasted one season. Ghost Rider and Punisher have had multiple movies that bombed.
With a few small exceptions like Jaimie Alexander's Sif, Cobie Smulders' Maria Hill, and Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury, the big screen and TV characters have rarely interacted. Netflix and Marvel TV are really trying to change this but finding little cooperation from the movie side. They're trying to get Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange to appear in The Defenders (previous rumors said Iron Fist), and a longshot pipe dream could see a limited event series with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) that would include some of the TV characters. None of these ideas seem likely to happen, though.
On the ABC side of things, projects being considered include the super-powered duo Cloak & Dagger, a Ms. Marvel series, and a Hulk prequel. The Hulk series isn't too far out in left field since Guillermo Del Toro had been developing one some years ago before it fell through. And I'm curious which Ms. Marvel character they're talking about here. The Carol Danvers version, going by the Captain Marvel monicker, is expected to debut on the big screen soon and get her own solo film. So calling her Ms. Marvel suggests it's somebody else. Are they talking about the current Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan? Now that would be interesting, and fit with recent rumors about Oscar-winner John Ridley's mystery project for Marvel.
Every single bit of this is unconfirmed and don't amount to more than wishlist stuff, so we'll just have to wait and see what Marvel comes up with for their small-screen band of heroes.
