One of the most recent updates to Marvel’s slate of projects has to be the dismantling of Marvel Television, which is being absorbed into the larger MCU storytelling machine. Moving forward, shows like WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier will be projects of the MCU, but before these shows premiere, the time to examine what came before has arrived.
For years, Marvel Television has created a slate of television shows that either have a loose affiliation with the MCU or have existed in their own universe. As fans say goodbye to the era of Marvel Television, let’s take a look at the ten best Marvel Television shows before the MCU era of shows begins.
10 The Gifted
One of the first Marvel Televisions produced shows is The Gifted, a show from Fox that focused on the X-Men area of the Marvel Comics Universe. Set in an alternate timeline, the show saw the X-Men had all but disappeared, with the remaining mutants being rounded up by the government or in hiding.
A family finds themselves on the run as two parents discover their children are mutants, with the father having been a district attorney who helped put mutants away. He himself is a mutant, and the family soon joins the underground movement to protect mutants from being captured or worse.
9 The Defenders
Some of Marvel Television’s most contentious programs included their shows on Netflix, which had a very loose association with the MCU. The miniseries that brought many of their original shows together was The Defenders, which saw heroes like Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Daredevil come together to battle a powerful force.
When the Hand descend on New York City, the four loner style street-level heroes are forced together to face the ancient organization, testing their limits and their ability to work as a team as old and new foes rise to destroy New York City as they know it.
8 Cloak & Dagger
One show that was recently canceled but has become a fan favorite YA style show is Cloak & Dagger. The show ran for two seasons on Freeform, and followed heroes Cloak and Dagger, aka Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson. Exploring the two teens from very different backgrounds, they discover they both inherited great power after the collapse of the Roxxon Gulf Platform in New Orleans.
Exploring their backgrounds and the various troubles they each faced, the teens soon discover their powers work better when used together, and soon they work to fix some of the wrongs they see in the world.
7 Runaways
Another popular YA style show from Marvel Television that is set to end during the show’s third season on Hulu is Marvel’s Runaways. The show is an adaption of the popular comic book series of the same name, and follows six teenagers who not only discover their own unique abilities or heroics, but that their parents are secretly the villainous criminal organization known as The Pride.
Exploring each teen’s problems and abilities, the show has shown the teens fight against their parents, hiding as their parents hunt them down, and in the latest season sees them battling longtime Marvel foe Morgan le Fay.
6 Legion
A fan favorite show on FX set within the X-Men area of Marvel Comics from Marvel Television is Legion. Based on the comic book character of the same name, the show followed David Haller, a young man diagnosed with schizophrenia at a young age, who discovers he is in fact a mutant with powerful psychic abilities.
Finding his mind possessed by the evil Shadow King, he is in fact the son of legendary X-Men leader Charles Xavier. Meeting a group of friends at Summerland, he discovers he is being hunted by a government agency known as Division 3.
5 Agent Carter
One of the Marvel Television shows with some of the most direct connections to the MCU is Agent Carter, a show that ran for two seasons at ABC and followed fan favorite Captain America character Peggy Carter. Played by the incredible Hayley Atwell, Peggy Carter was not only known as Captain America’s true love, but a powerful agent who played a key role in the formation of the organization S.H.I.E.L.D.
The show followed her work at the Strategic Scientific Reserve, or the SSR, and eventually working alongside Edwin Jarvis to help clear Howard Stark’s name from being framed for selling weapons to enemies of the United States.
4 Jessica Jones
One of Marvel Television’s most well received Netflix series is Jessica Jones. The show was powerful in it’s approach to storytelling, focusing on private detective and superhero Jessica Jones. A woman tormented by her past and using work and other distractions to ignore it, she is soon forced to face that past when the evil and villainous Kilgrave arrives.
Known as the Purple Man in Marvel Comics, the man who can force anyone to do what he wants is obsessed with Jessica, and she must fight to stop him once and for all. She later investigates her own origins and is forced to face her own best friend.
3 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The one Marvel Television produced show with one final season left to air on ABC is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The show that brought back to life fan favorite character Agent Phil Coulson from the MCU, the show has the most direct connection to the modern day MCU as it stands now.
Featuring the rise of longtime hero from Marvel Comics Daisy Johnson, aka Quake, the show brought together a fan favorite team of agents to battle threats like Hydra, rogue Inhumans, evil robots and much more. The hit show is set to enter it’s final season in the upcoming year.
2 Daredevil
The second best show produced by Marvel Television before the takeover of the MCU entirely is Daredevil. The fan favorite show followed blind lawyer turned hero Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, as he fought for the innocent during the day as an attorney while fighting crime brutally at night as Daredevil.
His most brutal fight came against the Kingpin, aka Wilson Fisk. A ruthless man who runs most of the criminal empire in New York, Wilson Fisk was Matt Murdock’s greatest foe, pushing Matt to his limits in both his personal and superhero lives. The show’s third season also introduced longtime Daredevil foe Bullseye.
1 The Punisher
The most loved and fan favorite Marvel Television show before the division was absorbed into the MCU fully is none other than The Punisher. The show followed Frank Castle, a man who lost his family in a criminal shootout. A veteran, Frank used his skills and ruthless battle tactics to hunt down those responsible for his family’s passing.
He went on to find a calling fighting the same fight for others, who had become victims of other ruthless men and women. Jon Berenthal’s performance as Frank Castle has become a fan favorite, bringing the character to life in the best way possible.