Marvel TV Characters Will Not Crossover To Movies, Giancarlo Esposito Says

Actor Giancarlo Esposito isn’t in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet, but he clearly knows how it works. The actor said he turned down a TV role because he wanted to be in the movies.

“I know the Marvel world exists on the Disney lot. I love those guys at Marvel,” he explained to ComicBook.com. “We’ve been trying to figure out how to collaborate on something. I’m hoping that it is something. They came to me with something for their television department, then I realized if I did that, I’d never be able to have that same character be in that film department.”

The problem is that both TV and movies supposedly exist in the same universe. Movie characters like Maria Hill (Coby Smulders) and Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander) come to “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” but the stars of Marvel’s many TV shows don’t even get mentioned in the movies.

Fans were hoping that would change with “Avengers: Infinity War.” Though the directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, have said that it’s going to feature an astounding number of heroes, they didn’t seem like they wanted to bring in the TV heroes. Anthony Russo called the situation “complicated” last year, but he didn’t completely nix the idea of bringing in someone like Daredevil (Charlie Cox).

However, it seems unlikely. In a Facebook Q&A earlier this month, “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn also doubted any crossovers between the movie and TV departments. He even referred to them as separate universes. “I don't think we’re going to see much interactions between the Marvel TV universe and the MCU in the near future,” Gunn wrote.

Both Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb have blamed the issue on schedules. The films are developed much further in advance than the TV shows.

“I can tell you that part of the challenge of doing this sort of thing is that the movies are planned out years in advance of what it is that we are doing,” Loeb told /Film last month. “Television moves at an incredible speed. The other part of the problem is that when you stop and think about it, if I’m shooting a television series and that’s going to go on over a six-month or eight-month period, how am I going to get [‘Luke Cage’ star] Mike [Colter] to be able to go be in a movie? I need Mike to be in a television show.”

Feige gave a similar answer earlier this year, and he added that he didn’t want to force the shows to do anything. “If we were to do something in a film that absolutely handcuffs what the team can do in Season 2 of whatever show, they don’t want to be handcuffed,” the president told io9 earlier this year. “They shouldn’t be handcuffed. It’s just finding the right time and right place to do it.”

Do you think Marvel should work on getting the TV characters to the big screen? Sound off in the comments section below!