Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D kicked off its 3rd season with a bang last night. The show has always been affected by the events of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and last night’s episode was no different, including references to Ant-Man, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and even an appearance by President Matthew Ellis last seen in Iron Man 3 and Captain America: The First Avenger. Marvel Entertainment even tweeted about his appearance using the hashtag #ItsAllConnected.
President Ellis addresses the country on WHiH News in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #ItsAllConnected pic.twitter.com/Upa2Q1PG8a
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) September 30, 2015
But the big question is: how far does this connection go? Will the events from the Marvel TV shows (whether on ABC or Netflix) ever be mentioned in the movies? What about the appearance of major characters like Chloe Bennet’s Daisy Johnson/Quake and 
Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk/Kingpin?
IGN reports that according to Marvel Studio President Kevin Feige, the collision of the two mediums is, “inevitable.”
“I think that’s inevitable at some point as we’re plotting the movies going forward and they’re doing the shows.”
It would make sense for the actors that have created these characters on the small screen to play them in the larger Marvel Universe. If it really is all connected, the connection should run both ways, creating a richer Marvel experience that can be viewed in many different places.
However, there is one problem.
“It’s easier for them. They’re more nimble and faster and produce things quicker than we do, which is one of the main reasons you see the repercussions of Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron in the show…A lot of it is by the time we start doing a movie, they’d be midway through a season; by the time it comes out they’d be done with the second, starting the third season. Finding timing on that is not always easy.”
That does present a serious problem, especially when the Inhumans film has been announced for the fall of 2018…3 years away from the events happening right now on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
3 years is a lifetime in television; in that time characters can die, there can be a jump in time, or even a change in location (like in Agent Carter season 2). Or (worst case scenario) the show could be canceled. Having a show every week means things have to happen to keep the action moving forward. It will be interesting to see what Marvel decides to do moving forward.