MCU on Disney+ vs. Netflix: Let’s Not Keep it PG

Photo credit: Flickr

Photo credit: Flickr

Makayla Monreal, OwlFeed News Reporter

Marvel debuted its first Marvel show on Netflix in 2015 with Daredevil and then moved on to other heroes, bringing the small street heroes to life on a small screen which has never been done before. 

Five years later Disney+ then released a whole bunch of their own Marvel shows such as WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If…, and Hawkeye. Fans quickly compared the two and compared the comic adaptation of these characters. 

With that, fans are wondering what’s gonna happen to these Netflix heroes because recently we found out that Daredevil is now in the MCU with an appearance in No Way Home. Questions like are they going to keep these Netflix characters Rated R or are they gonna water their characters down since it’s Disney?

With Daredevil’s debut on Netflix in 2015, which went on for three whole seasons, it opened up projects like Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Defenders. All had their own series which had two or three seasons each. Eventually, in 2017 The Punisher had its own series with two seasons which was the last Marvel adaptation on Netflix. 

Disney alone in the past year or so has released five shows. Hawkeye, however, goes off track from usual marketed routines and pushes the MCU to exceed the cinema. 

Honing in on the stories being told, Disney’s conveyance of stories exhibit distinctive storytelling of many different heroes beyond the universe and actuality, whereas the Netflix Marvel production allure comes from centering their attention on more personal and intimate relationships while they share the commonality of the New York lifestyle.

While every Disney Marvel show has between six to eight episodes per season, each Marvel show on Netflix has nearly 13 episodes a season, although, each Marvel show being filled with material each season did have promising first seasons, but they all didn’t pull through enough to efficiently tell the story.

As for Disney, they always end up leaving their fans in the dust with always wanting more and more. Even though Netflix had five quality shows which were successful, Disney still outshined them and led the MCU to greatness.

“The result is that audiences were left wanting more rather than twiddling their thumbs until the finale and they told self-contained stories that nevertheless left room open for further expansion in the MCU,“ said Brenton Stewart from Comic Book Resource.

As far as graphics and rated R material, Netflix definitely carries all the way. Netflix added a new intensity to the MCU that we very much needed: violence, gore, intimacy, killing, and bloodthirsty superheroes. Daredevil and Luke Cage’s sole purpose was protecting their own neighborhoods and it was far more personal than raging war in many galaxies on a big screen.

“The Marvel Netflix shows we’re certainly not without their strengths,” Stewart added. “As comparatively grounded and darker installments the street level stories of heroes like Daredevil and Luke Cage fleshed out a much-needed dimension of the MCU rarely seen on the silver screen.” 

When taking a closer look at the villains on Netflix, the threats presented by the antagonists were sensible and created to match the heroes in the show. The villain Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) played by Vincent D’Onofrio in the series DareDevil was portrayed in such a monstrous and complex way, that it drew so many emotions from the watchers. The threat level created a dynamic that worked very smoothly. 

When comparing them to Disney villains such as Agnes from the series WandaVision, she doesn’t truly reach that balanced threat level as Daredevil’s show did. Being that her character was playful and simple in terms of the show, we don’t see how she truly threatened Wanda. She was just lacking depth and undecorated. Many say she is a character necessary to drive the plot but was not complex nor powerful enough to make a great villain compared to Kingpin.

Even though Marvel seems to have a more permanent home on Disney+, Netflix will always be home to the street level, small screen superheroes. They may not be fighting aliens or even celestials that can take over whole galaxies, but they are fighting for what they believe in and protecting what’s theirs.