WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War, in theaters now.


Due to the events of Avengers: Infinity War, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has changed forever. In the monster-sized flick, Thanos achieved his goal of uniting the Infinity Stones and, with their god-like power, killed half of all life in the universe. This impacted the Avengers in a major way, as they watched their team members crumble into dust. If the MCU is truly as connected as it's claimed to be, that means the event should send ripples through the rest of this established world, including Marvel Television's projects. Here's how Infinity War may -- or may not -- affect Marvel's TV series moving forward.

First, let's look at Marvel's tentpole television series: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D., the Marvel series that started it all, kicked off in September 2013 and quickly had to find its footing in respect to where it stands in the MCU. Since then, S.H.I.E.L.D. has established itself outside of the movie's events, while reacting to them as appropriate. For instance, Director Phil Coulson and his team were simply called in to clean up the God of Thunder's mess at University of Greenwich in Thor: The Dark World, whereas the events of Captain America: The Winter Solider irrevocably altered the direction of the show.


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Since The Winter SoldierS.H.I.E.L.D. has only mentioned the movies' events in passing -- and only for a select few films, at that. However, per executive producer Jed Whedon, Infinity War packs a lot of potential for S.H.I.E.L.D.: “The thing that we love about what our show has become is, the movies sort of blaze a path,” he said at WonderCon. “Doctor Strange introduced magic, all of a sudden we could have Ghost Rider on our show. We’re just waiting for that movie to come out, so it can open up a whole new playground for us.”

Of course, S.H.I.E.L.D. wrapped filming on Season 5 earlier this month, prior to the release of Infinity War. Between the immensely secretive film production and the fact that Coulson's team is focusing on a world-ending problem of their own, it's unlikely that audiences will see any major fallout from the film until Season 6 at the earliest -- and, despite rumors, the show hasn't even been officially renewed yet. The only Infinity War-related tidbit Season 5 has offered thus far was a dismissive line, which was more of a wink to fans than a true tie-in.


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If S.H.I.E.L.D. were to tie into Infinity War, the show could approach this in a number of ways. For one, they'll probably be interested in understanding exactly why half of Earth's population suddenly disappeared; further, they'd probably lose one or two of their own and want to get them back. For another, Infinity War blew the galaxy wide open for the people of Earth, with Tony Stark, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange traveling to the far-off moon Titan. Though S.H.I.E.L.D. dabbled with space at the start of Season 5, the show could certainly take a much deeper dive next year; plus, they've been prepping the Zephyr for space flight in case the world ends. The show may event pivot and tackle multiverse theory, which Deke has repeatedly brought up since the third episode this season. By hopping to a parallel universe, the team may even avoid Thanos' final act, thus sparing them from random death.

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When it comes to Marvel's Netflix and Hulu shows, it gets a little trickier. Unlike S.H.I.E.L.D., these shows don't release once per week; they drop all at once in a binge-able, thirteen-hour movie format. What's more, they're set to drop three times a year, with Jessica Jones Season 2 landing this past March, Luke Cage Season 2 due out in June, Daredevil Season 3 thought to hit in the fall. Iron Fist Season 2 and Punisher Season 2, which are currently filming, seem to be eyeing early 2019. Hulu's Runaways Season 2, on the other hand, does not yet have a release date, but will likely follow in the footsteps of last season and debut sometime this fall.

Unlike Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel's Netflix and Hulu shows tend to sequester themselves from the larger MCU. Sure, they make certain references -- like the Incident where the Avengers fought the Chitauri in 2012 and the Raft prison from Capatin America: Civil War -- but they tend to remain largely separated otherwise. If they didn't, they'd have to waste precious screen time explaining how these heroes got involved, and without ever crossing paths with the Avengers to boot. As such, it certainly wouldn't be surprising to see them skip Infinity War altogether. In fact, the shows have one major asset on their side: time.


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Because of the way they're formatted, it's often difficult to tell if these shows are happening in "real time," like the Avengers films do. Marvel Netflix time seems to be a little more malleable. For instance, Daredevil Season 2 took place only a few months after Season 1, even though a year passed in real time. This alone suggests that the shows aren't always in lockstep with the rest of the MCU. Considering this, the next seasons of Luke Cage, Daredevil, Iron Fist and potentially Punisher could take place before the events of Infinity War, thus avoiding any real reason to address the disappearance of half of New York City's population. That way, the shows could wait until Avengers 4 -- and any resolution to the cliffhanger ending of Infinity War -- is out.

This makes the most sense for the world of Marvel Netflix, since Infinity War would realistically affect the core cast of each show. If half of New York City's population disappeared, it stands to reason that at least some of the members of these casts would have disappeared as well. In order to avoid this complication, the Marvel Netflix series will have to take place prior to Infinity War. This is certainly a feasible move, since they've already established a fluid timeline. It's pretty safe to say that we won't see any Infinity War fallout on these series -- at least until we see the resolution in the as-yet untitled Avengers 4.


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Though Marvel Television has long touted the tagline "It's all connected," that hasn't necessarily been the case. While the movies tend to crossover into TV, it hardly ever goes the other way. So, when it comes to the fallout of Avengers: Infinity War, the mileage will vary for each individual show. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will likely bear the brunt of it, as it has in the past. However, the same can't be said for the Marvel Netflix and Hulu shows, which have remained largely separate. For now, though, we'll have to wait and see, as Infinity War continues to dominate the box office around the globe.


Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Tom Hiddleston and Josh Brolin, among others. The film is now in theaters worldwide.