WARNING: Spoilers for Cloak & Dagger and Avengers: Endgame.
How will Marvel TV shows like Cloak & Dagger deal with the events of Avengers: Endgame. The answer is… not really. Marvel’s TV programming has yet to even touch the events of Avengers: Infinity War (outside of some name drops of Thanos), and this week’s episode of Cloak & Dagger - the sixth of season two - doesn’t change this.
One of the trickiest parts of Marvel TV’s “it’s all connected” mantra is how the shows do or do not address what is happening in the films. It wasn’t until Avengers: Endgame that the movies themselves actually acknowledged a TV show, but Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has routinely tied itself into the larger canon with major Hydra arcs and mentions of the Sokovia Accords and other MCU events. The Netflix corner of the universe only made small nods to what has happened in the past, while shows like Freeform’s Cloak & Dagger have had minimal (but strong) MCU ties. What can also make their connections more difficult to pinpoint is the timeline, as Cloak & Dagger has never definitively said when the show takes place.
After season 1 failed to address Thanos’ snap in Avengers: Infinity War, the newest episode of Cloak & Dagger did not reference Avengers: Endgame. It is not surprising to see that in its first episode since Avengers: Endgame’s record-setting opening, Cloak & Dagger had no connections to speak of. Half of the cast didn’t disappear and there wasn’t a five year time jump bringing them into the now present 2023 timeline of the MCU. But it did sidestep the events in an interesting way, as the main story of episode six takes place inside of Tandy Bowen’s (Olivia Holt) head.
Series creator Joe Pokaski confirmed on Twitter that this wasn’t intentional on their part, but the story revolving around different possible versions of Tandy’s life is about as interesting of a way to ignore the events of the last two Avengers films as any. The episode allows viewers to see Tandy and Tyrone Johnson (Aubrey Joseph) living several different possible lives as a result of the newly revealed powers of Andre Deschaine (Brooklyn McLinn). Andre is able to get inside Tandy’s mind and feed on her fears of not being good enough and feeling alone. It’s a fascinating exploration of Tandy’s psyche that also just happens to be the perfect excuse not to deal with The Decimation.
Since Cloak & Dagger hasn’t taken the chance to connect to Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame so far, the question then becomes if and when any such connection will ever be made. The production timeline for Cloak & Dagger season 2 lines up so the creative team would at least know about the Infinity War cliffhanger when they were writing the current season, but it is highly unlikely they were made aware of how Avengers: Endgame would end. The best case scenario is that the snap and dustings could take place at the end of season 2, giving a possible third season the chance to explore the chaos that happens after.
That said, it is probably more likely that such a major connection will not be made, and that the events of Cloak & Dagger are instead happening a couple of years earlier than Thanos in the MCU timeline. If Cloak & Dagger does decide to go all the way and connect to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame down the road, though, then it will be fascinating to see what they do, or even how they continue avoiding it.
MORE: How Avengers: Endgame Sets Up ALL Confirmed Disney+ Shows
