The end of Marvel Television will leave a staggering number of plots unresolved. It’s long been clear that the writing has been on the wall for Marvel Television; the last few years have seen a number of high-profile missteps, most notably Inhumans and Iron Fist. What’s more, the relationship between Marvel Television and Netflix deteriorated at remarkable speed, with the streaming giant canceling its Marvel shows one by one.
In October, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was given an expanded remit as Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment. Shortly after, there were reports that Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb was leaving the company, and that seemed to indicate the end of an era. Marvel’s infamous internal politics had finally come to a head, with Feige coming out on top. Nobody was surprised at the news that Marvel Television was being absorbed by Marvel Studios.
Marvel’s flagship TV series, Agents of SHIELD, has one last season’s grace to tie its various loose threads together. What’s more, the show’s use of time travel raises the possibility that Marvel will also finish off unresolved plots from Agent Carter as well. But other Marvel series haven’t been so fortunate, and as a result there are a lot of stories that will never be completed. Here are the biggest of them all.
Luke Cage’s Fall From Grace
Luke Cage season 2 ended with a brand new status quo for Harlem’s Hero, with the titular vigilante taking charge of Harlem’s Paradise and becoming a crime boss in order to keep the peace. The idea seemed loosely adapted from the Daredevil arc called “Shadowland,” where the Man Without Fear tried the same strategy in a misguided attempt to deal with the Hand. Star Mike Colter teased that season 3 would be a fall from grace for Luke Cage. “We’re going to see how he deals with this power, because we know absolute power can corrupt absolutely,” he observed. “And sometimes when you don’t have someone checking you, someone to put you in place, someone to tell you ‘you can’t do that,’ we sometimes get out of control.” Sadly, this intriguing comment will never come to pass.
Danny Rand’s Quest To Regain The Iron Fist
Iron Fist season 2 ended with Danny Rand heading to Asia in order to discover the true history of the Iron Fist. A flash-forward scene revealed that Danny was now hunting for a man named Orson Randall - his predecessor as Iron Fist in the comics. It was Randall who told Danny about the existence of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven, introducing the concept of the Immortal Weapons, the cities’ sacred defenders. The clear implication was that Iron Fist season 3 would have deepened the show’s mythology, as well as seeing Danny Rand somehow regain the power of the Iron Fist - and learn to channel it in whole new ways.
The Daughters of the Dragon Will Never Happen
Meanwhile, Marvel Netflix spent a lot of time teasing a major team-up between Misty Knight and Colleen Wing - a partnership who, in the comics, are known as the Daughters of the Dragon. That prospect seemed all the more exciting when Colleen succeeded Danny Rand as the Iron Fist of New York. What’s more, a final conversation between Misty and Colleen in Iron Fist season 2 hinted that Colleen might wind up called into action against Luke Cage. As Misty noted, Colleen now has “one of the few weapons that might make a dent in that man.”
What Happened To Bullseye After Daredevil Season 3?
Daredevil season 3 ended on a high point, with Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page reuniting. It felt like an appropriate way to end Daredevil’s story - except for one major twist. The show’s final season had introduced Wilson Bethel as the homicidal psychopath destined to become Daredevil’s arch-nemesis, Bullseye. The Marvel/Netflix version was Dex Poindexter, a rogue FBI agent, and he was left with a broken back after a three-way battle between himself, Daredevil, and Kingpin.A final scene revealed that Poindexter agreed to undergo experimental surgery to repair his back; the camera focused in upon his eyes, and showed a Bullseye in them. Daredevil season 3, then, became an origin story for Bullseye. It’s a plot lifted straight from the comics, where Bullseye’s broken back was repaired with Adamantium; but, sadly, it will never have any payoff.
Typhoid Mary’s Third Personality
Iron Fist season 2 introduced viewers to the villainous Typhoid Mary, a classic Daredevil villain who suffers from a form of Dissociative Identity Disorder. The show focused on just two of her alters: the polite and loving Mary, and the militarily-efficient Walker. But comic book readers knew there was a third - Bloody Mary, a violent serial killer. As the series came to a close, Walker began to realize that there were unaccounted-for periods of her life where another personality could have been in control, and that these were associated with a string of bloody murders. She recruited Joy Meachum to help investigate her third alter - a plot that could conceivably have happened in any one of the Marvel Netflix shows. This one is a true loss, because Alice Eve played a superb villain, and it would have been thrilling to see what Marvel had in store for her.
What Happened To The Inhumans Of Attilan?
Marvel Television seemed to think they had a hit on their hands with Inhumans, going so far as to arrange a years-long production deal with the local government of Hawaii. Unfortunately they were wrong, and the first season was panned by critics and viewers alike; it was hardly a surprise when ABC decided not to renew the show, and Inhumans’ failure was arguably the beginning of the end for Marvel Television. Making matters worse, the first season ended with a cliffhanger; the Inhumans of Attilan were forced to leave their home, settling in an undisclosed location on Earth. It’s safe to assume Marvel Studios will want to forget all about this series, and that the Inhumans will be forgotten by the MCU - and, best case, that they’ll be completely rebooted. So that ending will never be explored.
What Happened To Inhuman Persecution On Earth?
The fate of Inhumans also led to a change in direction for Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, which hurriedly dropped its own Inhumans-centric plot. Season 2 dumped the mutagenic substance called Terrigen in the world’s oceans, and exposure to Terrigen triggered mutation in anyone who had a latent Inhuman gene. Seasons 3 and 4 showed the world becoming increasingly hostile to the Inhumans, with SHIELD attempting to keep the peace. But this arc was sidelined for seasons 5 and 6 after Inhumans bombed, and the time travel arc in season 7 means it’s unlikely to ever be completed. Making matters worse, season 4 saw one Inhuman undergoing a second mutation, clearly intended as setup of some kind. That, too, has been forgotten.
The Promise of a Second Cloak & Dagger/Runaways Crossover
Fans had long pleaded for a multi-network Marvel TV crossover of some kind, and their longings were finally answered in Runaways season 3. This saw the Runaways team up with Cloak and Dagger, a formidable alliance that gave the young heroes an edge against the witch Morgan Le Fey. They enjoyed the team-up enough that the Runaways say that it should it happen again, with Tandy saying next time the Runaways can come help them. But, this crossover will never happen. Both shows have been cancelled.
Victor Mancha Will Never Make His Marvel TV Debut
The Runaways season 3 finale featured a twisted time travel plot in which a future version of Alex attempted to kill Nico. Naturally, his plans came to nothing, but at the end Alex discovered a scrawled note left behind by his future self. It contained a cryptic reference to Victor Mancha, a cybernetic being who joined the Runaways in the comics. Presumably the Marvel Television version would be different to the comics, where he was the “son” of Ultron; but we’ll never know.
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