The MCU is quite large. It’s getting bigger with its expansion into the multiverse. What the MCU has done greatly, which often gets overlooked, is how grand – or small – these stories could be. The problem may be mid-level like the issues in Spider-Man: Homecoming. They could be global like the ones in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Eternals. Or universal like the ones in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The MCU has also seen street-level problems probably most notably in the stories first brought to the Netflix side of the MCU. Those have been given a spiritual successor in Daredevil: Born Again. Despite sharing a universe, and in some cases the same city, these problems don’t overlap. The acknowledgment of these problems doesn’t overlap. And the characters that are trying to solve these problems don’t bump into each other. Logic says that they should crossover. But in the MCU, for the most part, these issues are isolated incidents that only exist in the story they are told in. That’s a problem for the MCU. An annoying problem.
One issue this brings up is that it creates inconsistencies which could stir some doubting. The events of Avengers were arguably the story that really set the MCU in motion. The world was put on notice. Those events even had some impact on season one of Daredevil. But it didn’t reach far. Daredevil is obviously a street-level character that goes after street-level crime. But he also is a part of everyday life in New York, as Daredevil or as Matt Murdock. As someone who takes care of neighborhoods, not much of an aftermath of the Avengers was in season one. Some, but not a lot. People weren’t living in paranoia because of the confirmation of alien life. In fact, the plotline in Spider-Man: Homecoming when he was tracking down alien technology could have worked just as well if not more in one of those Netflix series. Daredevil and the Punisher would have been good homes for that type of storyline. For a huge, climactic event such as an alien invasion attacking New York, it was overlooked and unfelt. Because of that, it started to plant the seed, plant the question if those Netflix series did in fact exist in the MCU. Obviously, other bigger events happened after Avengers. But not much of it was at least mentioned across the Netflix series. As those series went on with no reference or reaction, it really started to bring in some questing if both sides actually coexisted.
And on the flip side of that, no events happening in the Netflix series was mentioned in other movies. Granted, a lot of these were small but some others could have been brought up. Particularly the events in The Defenders. A huge earthquake happened in a city where earthquakes are rare. Not once was it even joked about. But, they could be overlooked. However, everything that The Punisher did, especially in season two of Daredevil, wasn’t mentioned at all in other stories. This is a man that had a full-on hunting session, made the city into his own personal gallery, quite literally painted the city red with blood. But Iron Man never acknowledged it. Spider-Man didn’t bring it up. S.H.I.E.L.D. never got interested. That continues with Daredevil: Born Again. A former, proven criminal is now mayor of a city where plenty of superheroes have got their start. Because of him, the city goes dark. With that mix, some other heroes like Spider-Man, Kate Bishop and some others could show some interest. But nothing. It still leaves room for some questions about how well do these stories overlap.
The lack of overlap also mocks logic. The problem that arises is a problem that does exist when there is a shared universe among different characters. The problem being why don’t other heroes come when there are issues? Of course, the story needs to revolve around the titular character but that doesn’t necessarily avoid the question of ‘where are they?’. It’s an issue that is present. Plenty of films have had conflicts where single, a pair, or a trio of heroes have to stop an enemy. But some of those problems are big enough to open up the question of ‘where is blank?’. The events of Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, both Doctor Strange films are problematic enough where other heroes could jump in and help. In-universe storytelling it’s logical for it to happen. Especially in New York. That’s currently a headscratcher right now following the events of Daredevil: Born Again. Plenty of heroes still operate in New York during Kingpin’s overtake of New York. But despite logic telling fans that Spider-Man, Swordsman, Kate Bishop, Hawkeye, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage should be coming to Daredevil’s aid, they are far removed from the problem. Some not even mentioned at all. Now there is some legal and contractual reasons that exist in the real world to why some characters can’t join. And just because they weren’t mentioned now doesn’t mean they won’t join down the line. However, it’s still a question even among those that do understand the contracts behind decisions. Again, logic and common sense just says those characters should join Daredevil or at least be considered by him. By doing this, it keeps everyone away from each other. Even though Marvel has done a good job in linking characters, by denying overlap with film and television, it makes everything feel disconnected.
The global/universal side of the MCU has done well. The street level side of the MCU has also done well. Yet, there seems to be this separation that Marvel continues to do. Other than a quick cameo from Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Nick Fury occasionally in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., nothing ever got big. The issue was stressed in Daredevil: Born Again. Common sense says these worlds should overlap just on the premise that they exist in the same world. Until that happens it continues to be an annoying issue.
