Why Cliffhanger Endings In MCU Shows Are Not Necessarily Setting Up Second Seasons

WARNING! SPOILERS for Secret Invasion finale.

Marvel's latest series for Disney Plus, Secret Invasion, has reached it's conclusion. The series ends with a number of dangling plot threads, including President Ritson's call to kill all Skrulls remaining on Earth, Nick Fury's return to space with his Skrull wife, Varra, and Super-Skrull G'iah's new alliance with Sonya Fallsworth.

With these loose ends, many fans believe Secret Invasion is begging for a season two. They would probably be disappointed to find that it isn't likely to get one, with the series still listed as a one-off miniseries by most sources. However, that doesn't mean it's loose ends will not eventually be tied up. This all comes down to a discrepancy between how fans see TV Shows, and what Marvel Studios is actually trying to accomplish.

The Medium of Television

Once upon a time, TV shows were mostly contained to stories that could be easily resolved in the span of a single episode, with the occasional two-parter thrown in. While this is still mostly true in sitcoms, in most other genres, the current TV formula usually involves a season-spanning story arc. Viewers either tune in weekly to find out what happens, or binge the series on streaming. Each TV season ends on a cliffhanger, hooking the fans to come back the following season and see it resolved. Unfortunately, some shows are cancelled before this can happen.

Many fans are looking at the MCU's TV shows through the lens of the average television formula. They see loose ends at the end of a series, and think, as with most TV shows, that a second season must be coming to tie them all up. When they learn that a second season is not on the way, they deem the series as having been cancelled, and mourn plotlines they now believe will never be resolved.

Unfortunately, these fans are looking at things the wrong way.

Pieces of the MCU Puzzle

Despite the move into creating content destined for the small screen, Marvel Studios' TV shows are not working the usual television formula. WandaVision would seem an exception on the surface, given that classic sitcom tropes form a core part of the series plot, but even in that case, the series descends into a classic MCU final battle by the last couple of episodes.

Marvel have stated, from the beginning, that they view their shows not so much as true television series, but rather as movies in multiple parts. While the longer format allows for a chance to flesh out characters and stories in ways that would not be possible in a single film, each series is still it's own individual piece in the larger puzzle of the MCU storyline, in the same way the movies are. Fans need to start looking at the shows' unresolved plotlines the same way they would if they had ocurred in an MCU film.

Which means..

Most MCU TV Shows Really Don't Need A Second Season

As with the films, so far, TV shows set in the MCU have told the stories they set out to tell. In those that do have cliffhanger endings, the cliffhanger actually serves a similar function to post-credits scenes in the films, ie, a teaser for what is to come in future projects.

WandaVision's story continued into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, with some storylines to be picked up in the upcoming Agatha: Coven of Chaos series.Dangling plot threads from Falcon and The Winter Soldier will likely be picked up in the upcoming film Captain America: Brave New World. Loose ends from Hawkeye will potentially be resolved or continued in Echo, Daredevil: Born Again, and according to some rumours, the MCU's next Spider-Man film.

Meanwhile, The Marvels, currently scheduled to hit theatres in November, has been confirmed as a sequel to not just one, but five previous MCU projects: Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, Ms. Marvel, and finally, Secret Invasion.

But What About 'Loki'?

Many fans will try to rebut the above arguments by pointing out that Loki is getting a second season, confirmed upon the finale of the first. However, Loki is different in that the second season was planned relatively early in production, after the creators decided they could not tell the full story they needed in just one season. And even in Loki's case, it has not run by the usual television formula. Season Two is arriving at the point where it best fits in the overall MCU narrative.

Marvel Shows have an entire universe to tie up their loose ends in. If fans can remember that, maybe they will not get so upset over cliffhangers on series only ever intended to run for one season.