Marvel’s Netflix Shows Have 3 Big Problems They Need To Fix

Forgive me, my fellow Marvel fans, but we need to have an honest discussion about the state of Marvel’s TV shows — particularly the Netflix ones. For years, there have been signs that a terrible shadow has fallen upon Netflix’s Marvel shows. Though we try to ignore it, the darkness keeps spreading. It’s not that these shows are all bad per se — though Iron Fist is laughably atrocious — but rather than they’re just…fine.

It’s something I had begun to notice a while ago, but it hit me over the head while I was watching Season 2 of Marvel’s Luke Cage. Mike Colter was still titanically charismatic as the “Hero of Harlem,” and Simone Missick‘s Misty Knight was as dynamite as ever, but I was just lukewarm on the season. I found myself saying to myself, “This is…fine.”

Fine, just fine. It was not fire. I did not feel the thrill of a single chase, nor did I get a rush of adrenaline. I was no longer transported, but just watching a show.

The thing is I don’t think I’m an aberration. I think Marvel fans know that even as the MCU movies continue to be major cinematic events, Netflix’s Marvel shows have lost their thunder. Both Daredevil and Jessica Jones‘s second seasons earned lower ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, and The Punisher* and The Defenders left a lot of fans cold.

But all is not lost. Netflix’s Marvel shows could still take back their mojo. They’ve just got to find their way through three major problems that have started to afflict the franchise as a whole.

1) Netflix’s Marvel Shows Need To Cut The Bloat

Oh boy, oh boy. This is a HUGE problem. If you’ve read a single review of any Marvel show, you’ll notice that there will often be a line, if not a paragraph, devoted to the problem of narrative bloat. This means basically that Netflix gives Marvel too many episodes per season and the writers don’t know how to fill all that time. So they’ll feature mini-arcs where the heroes basically run around in circles chasing red herrings, dealing with some tiny problem, or just doing…well…nothing. It drags the action down and makes it harder to summon the strength to survive your binge.

I have repeatedly gone to press events in the last few years and heard Marvel chief Jeph Loeb explain that what’s great about translating Marvel comics for the small screen is you get to expand on what’s on the page. The idea being that we should spend more time watching our heroes get from point A to point B. To which I say, “No.” Maybe it seems like a great idea, but if you aren’t adding anything of substance to the conversation, you’re just adding lag time between the start of the season and the final showdown with the big bad.

2) The Marvel Shows Are Maybe Too Much Like Comic Books In The Wrong Ways

Now, I know this is going to sound crazy, but it’s occurred to me that maybe Marvel shows are taking the wrong lessons from the comic book medium. Comic books are good at a lot of things that TV struggles with. Economical storytelling is one of those things. A single panel of a comic book can often convey more story to a reader than whole scenes of television.

But this isn’t what the Marvel Netflix shows are trying to capture. No, they’re more interested in nodding to comic book canon and reenacting the long arcs that (sometimes) take place over a series of bound volumes. At first, as a comic book fan, this seemed really cool. But now, as a TV critic, I’ve noticed that it’s this desire to make a TV show that feels like a comic book holds these shows back.

Perhaps the biggest reason why Marvel Studios keeps churning out hits is because its head, Kevin Feige, is a “movie guy” first and “comics guy” second. As he explained to Vanity Fair last fall, he’s always been less interested in the source material for the MCU than in the best ways to tell the story onscreen. Because of this, he’s not hampered by a loyalty to the comic book page. For him it’s “story” first, and if the Marvel TV shows worried more about “story” first than maybe they wouldn’t have that issue with narrative bloat in the first place. Instead, there seems to be a bigger emphasis on Easter Eggs and stylistic flourishes and holding firm to the idea that each of the four Defenders have their own unique stories to tell…even if they don’t.

But perhaps the thing that drives me most crazy about Netflix’s Marvel show is the wild inconsistency of their writing. These shows contain some of the most powerfully beautiful moments I’ve ever seen in superhero storytelling…and some of the most cringeworthy. If I’m being honest, that inconsistency is something that is all-too familiar to me as a comics reader. It’s a world where you see the heights of storytelling right next to the cheapest, easiest shots.

3) Netflix’s Marvel Shows Aren’t “Special” Anymore

When Netflix first announced that they were doing a Daredevil show with Marvel, the news was met with excitement and interest. After all, the only “Marvel” show on the market was Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fans were optimistic that Marvel’s TV shows would be as good as the films, and there was a dearth of Marvel content in the TV realm.

So when we finally watched Charlie Cox spend 13 episodes becoming the Daredevil we knew from the comics, there was an added thrill to it. It was exciting seeing Daredevil on the screen like this, just as it was exciting to see, well, any Marvel character brought to life. But with the proliferation of a confused television Marvel universe (that doesn’t seem to really connect anywhere), Marvel TV has lost its special shine.The thrill is gone because the special-ness is gone. Marvel shows are not “events,” but just the average. No longer does it feel like a treat to see a Marvel hero on the small screen…it feels…tiring.

This isn’t to say that Marvel can’t produce a ton of television shows at the same time, but if they’re going to do that, the quality has to be tip top across the board. Otherwise, duds like Marvel’s Inhumans and Marvel’s Iron Fist threaten to dilute the perceived quality of other shows.

No, hope is not lost for Netflix’s Marvel shows, but someone has got to stop greenlighting these super-sized seasons of dull, circuitous TV.

* I liked Marvel’s The Punisher very much, though, and I think it’s one of the few shows that’s managed to dodge a lot of the pitfalls of the Marvel/Netflix model by defiantly being its own thing.