Avengers: Infinity War will see lots of destruction in New York City, but it won’t see New York City’s heroes step in to help protect their home. The Avengers’ TV spots show off everything from the Sanctum Santorum to Bruce Banner’s return to earth, giving them a lot of ground to cover and leaving little room for some of the pieces of the MCU that haven’t yet made it to the movies.

Every Marvel fan has dreamt of a potential crossover between the MCU’s heroes and Marvel TV’s heroes. Although that was somewhat of the original plan when Avengers of S.H.I.E.L.D. first premiered in 2013, it seems like nothing more than a pipe dream as time goes on, at least that’s what Infinity War’s screenwriter believe.

MORE: Kevin Feige Unsure of When Marvel Movies/TV Crossover Will Happen

Avengers: Infinity War co-screenwriter Christopher Markus told Screen Rant in a recent interview that, while the MCU movies and TV shows are connected only to certain extents, bringing the likes of The Defenders into Infinity War or Avengers 4 wouldn’t be doing the characters or the story justice.

This is a sound line of thought considering that Avengers: Infinity War already includes such a massive cast, but that notion doesn’t always make sense. After all, Captain America: Civil War introduced both Spider-Man and Black Panther, but feature Daredevil. As for Infinity War, they film wraps up several story arcs for multiple characters that have been in the films for several years now. There are plot threads going back 10 years, and while Markus and McFeely have expressed the utmost admiration for Marvel TV, in this case, it would have been far too much for the story to handle with the care the characters deserve.

“It’s hard to factor them in because that is what, five more heroes and you’re trying to blend them in and trying to get them, you know, we’ve taken some people off to the end of the universe but again, it’s a, it’s a bridge too far, I think on a storytelling level.”

Still, Marvel must consider the implications of not bridging the gap between the TV and movie sides of the shared universe. Many people long for the Avengers to appear on a Marvel TV show, as well as for actors like Chloe Bennet to appear in the movies as Quake. Refusing to make connections and cameos will eventually begin to frustrate the fans who have been watching all of the MCU, not just the movies.

For many others, however, not including the Defenders or any other TV heroes in the movies is actually a smart decision since allows all properties to tell their own stories at their own pace… mostly. Markus and McFeely have both shared that they don’t envy Marvel TV’s writers having to deal with Avengers: Infinity War’s aftermath, but this won’t be the first time that the TV shows have had to deal with the fallout from the movies.

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