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The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a media franchise and shared fictional universe that is the setting of superhero television series based on characters that appear in Marvel Comics publications. Marvel Television released the first series in the universe, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which began airing on ABC during the 2013–14 television season, and was joined by Agent Carter in the 2014–15 television season. Inhumans aired on ABC in the 2017–18 television season. Netflix's Marvel series began in 2015 with Daredevil and Jessica Jones, with Luke Cage releasing in 2016. Those series were followed by Iron Fist, the crossover miniseries The Defenders, and The Punisher in 2017. Additionally, the MCU expanded to Hulu with Runaways, also in 2017, and Helstrom in 2020, and expanded to Freeform with Cloak & Dagger in 2018. Marvel Studios—the production studio behind the MCU feature films—began releasing series in 2021 that feature greater interconnectivity with the films than these series.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is headlined by Clark Gregg in the role of Phil Coulson, while Hayley Atwell stars as Peggy Carter in Agent Carter, both reprising their roles from the MCU films. Anson Mount headlines Inhumans as Black Bolt. Charlie Cox is featured as Matt Murdock / Daredevil in Daredevil, while Krysten Ritter leads as Jessica Jones in Jessica Jones, which also introduces Mike Colter as Luke Cage, who later headlined Luke Cage. Finn Jones stars as Danny Rand / Iron Fist in Iron Fist and joins Cox, Ritter, and Colter in reprising their roles for The Defenders. Jon Bernthal stars as Frank Castle / Punisher in The Punisher, after being introduced in the second season of Daredevil. Runaways co-stars Rhenzy Feliz as Alex Wilder. Cloak & Dagger sees Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph as Tandy Bowen / Dagger and Tyrone Johnson / Cloak, respectively. Helstrom stars Tom Austen and Sydney Lemmon as Daimon and Ana Helstrom, respectively.