For Marvel Studios, this Friday will not only see the release of the brand new series Daredevil, but also open up a whole new pocket in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thanks to a deal the company made with Netflix, we will soon see new show followed by four other street-level series - including A.K.A. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and the capstone, The Defenders. In classic Marvel style, fans can obviously expect there to be a good bit of crossover between these programs – but what may actually surprise you is how the studio is going about it this time around. Expect to see some "organic" overlaps, along with some other pop-ups and crossovers...
In advance of the release of Daredevil, I had the opportunity to sit down with Marvel’s Head of Television Jeph Loeb for a one-on-one interview last week, and it was during our conversation that he revealed the rather awesome way that fans will see interconnectivity between the Marvel Netflix shows. Discussing the use of Easter Eggs and linking the series together, Loeb revealed that the biggest weapon Marvel is using is the environment that Daredevil and the rest of the programs share. It may be something that you’re not necessarily paying full attention to, but the filmmakers definitely are. He explained,
Sometimes it may be a very subtle thing, like they go to the same hospital, because they’re in the same neighborhood. That is a very organic way of doing it… It may be in a very unexpected way. You may go, ‘Oh, I know that cop! That’s the same cop that’s in this one,' and that should feel very much like it’s in that world.
Of course, not all of the little surprises will be like that. Loeb admitted that they don’t treat Easter Eggs, “as though [they] have an Easter egg farm,” but also added that we will see “little pop ups or crossovers or things like that.”
This environment-based Easter Egg method is actually interesting new ground for Marvel Studios – which is interesting when you consider how much they have done to pave the way for massive shared universe franchises. For example, there has not yet been a time on the big screen where we’ve seen Thor wind up in the same building as we saw Iron Man inhabit in one of his movies. This also makes me wonder if fans shouldn’t constantly be scanning the backgrounds of episodes, looking for moments that could possibly pay off in episodes of other shows. This means that many Easter Eggs may not actually be revealed until all of the series have aired, but that’s just part of the fun.
As mentioned, Daredevil will be getting released on Netflix this Friday, and the second Netflix show, A.K.A. Jessica Jones, is expected to come out later in the year. Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Defenders will follow – in that order – but none of those shows have been given specific release dates yet.
