A Marvel Cinematic Universe Essay – Hulu’s Helstrom status in the wider MCU

What is going on with "Hulu’s Helstrom"? Back in 2019, when it was announced Hulu would produce two new Marvel series "Ghost Rider" and "Helstrom" under its Adventure into Fear franchise, many were questioning whether we would have Gabriel Luna back as Ghost Rider reprising his role from the MCU TV series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." or if the shows were also going to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As we know, "Ghost Rider" never saw the light of day and only "Marvel's Helstrom" achieved that. However, as time went by, Disney decided to remove the Marvel brand from the show which caused people to question Helstrom's status in the MCU. Thus, I decided to make a new analysis of the current situation the Helstrom family lives in this new entry of my Marvel Cinematic Universe essays.

A new corner of the MCU

Adventure Into Fear

In 2019, CNBC reported that the streaming service Hulu would provide Marvel fans Ghost Rider and Daimon Helstrom's series and that they were in fact going to be set in the same universe as other productions like Iron Man and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but will not have crossovers with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "We're thrilled Hulu will be moving into a new –admittedly chilling- corner of the Marvel Universe" said Jeph Loeb, previous head of the now defunct Marvel Television. Later, Variety reported that according to its sources, Gabriel Luna would reprise his Robbie Reyes role from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Marvel's Ghost Rider, however, it would be a new iteration of the character as he would not be connected to the AoS storyline. Therefore, Luna would portray Robbie Reyes in a new story that would introduce the character to a new audience without the intention to have it connected to what was previously seen. However, as noted, and later clarified by Loeb, Luna would be playing the same version of Ghost Rider in the show: "The shows on Hulu are not spin-offs, […] this will be a new adventure that will acknowledge what has happened in the past but will be its own show." This sets in stone that "Adventure into Fear" was indeed set in the same world as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Unfortunately, the connective tissue between "Helstrom" to the MCU was lost when "Marvel's Ghost Rider" was cancelled, leaving the series in a complicated situation as to how it would tie-in with the rest of the universe, as Ghost Rider would have been the bridge between both worlds.

Bye Marvel Logo

No Marvel logo

In December 2019, it was announced that Marvel Television would be absorbed by Marvel Studios, and every other Marvel TV show (set in the MCU or not) would not be moving forward as Kevin Feige's studios would be redirecting all the efforts to the new Disney+ series that would completely, and for the first time, interlink with the films, unlike previous shows did. As Helstrom had already begun filming, Marvel Studios began to oversee the show as it wrapped production and got ready to be released in Hulu the following year. In an unprecedented move, the "Marvel" logo was removed from the show, and it was renamed to "Hulu's Helstrom". Due to how the Marvel films and TV units remained separated, and how the shows started to reference less the MCU films, some fans started to assume the idea that Marvel Studios had decided to remove "Helstrom" from MCU canon, however, as noted by Comicbook.com this was not the case. The real deal was that Disney wanted to distance the MCU brand from the series due to the horror content the show would offer as they did not want viewers to stumble upon the show while looking for something new in the tone of what Marvel Studios has done for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The evidence is clear. The show was not removed from MCU canon, and Kevin Feige was not involved (at least it has not been reported) in that decision. However, what happened put more weight in the heated debate of the Marvel TV shows' status within the MCU proper.

Helstrom is not going to be the last MCU horror entry

While in-universe Helstrom's canon status remained, what does the show provide out-of-universe to the Marvel brand? As commented by Comicbook.com, it had to be noted that “Helstrom” release is pivotal for how the MCU should enter the horror ground in future installments. When 20th Century Fox was bougth by Walt Disney, Bob Iger said that they would consider R-rated Marvel properties if the company found a way to “adequately portray that message” for their already established public: families. Adam Barnhardt from Comicbook.com commented that Helstrom could be an experiment, and removing the Marvel brand was a way to distance themselves from horror content until Disney sees how the public reacts to this new kind of genre. Therefore, Helstrom might not be ignored entirely by Marvel Studios as it will be the first step on a following research on how the MCU should deal with the horror genre, especially with "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" approaching the terror genre in a PG-13 manner, and "Marvel Studios' Blade" on the horizon handling more horror subjects such as Vampires.

Problematic Statements

That was it for MCU fans, we knew Helstrom belonged to the wider MCU and we were ready to defend its status if needed based on facts, as like mentioned here, no one has ever said the shows were not part of the MCU. While we were getting closed to the show release, the Twitter account made for the show also teased the new show would be a Marvel Cinematic Universe series. This was also reported by Variety, Collider, and other websites.. The series is somewhat canonically inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and tells a standalone stories within it. The MCU status has been also commented by actors as Alain Uy and Elizabeth Marvel who said the show brought a Shakespearean tone to the gigantic Marvel franchise and also commented on how the series would bring a new section of the MCU comparing it to other TV show: Marvel's Daredevil.

There we have it, Helstrom is indeed part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. But, to what extent? A few days before the release, showrunner Paul Zbyszewski said "We are siloed off [from the Marvel Cinematic Universe]. Part of it is [because] it’s a darker-themed show than the other Marvel shows on other platforms." Zbyszewski said what we already new, the show would be isolated from the rest of the universe due to the dark themes the show dealt with. It is worth to notice that Entertainment Weekly puts it perfectly: "the absence of the Marvel logo is on purpose, as it helps to differentiate itself from every other show in the universe carries (MCU)". During an interview with FanboyFactor, Zbyszewski answered to the question if the show was part of the MCU saying: "We're not tied to the MCU. We are our own separate thing. There are Easter eggs in the show for sure, but they’re more towards that Helstrom universe, and that Ghost Rider universe."

By not being tied, the showrunner means the show is not dependent of the MCU and it works in its own little world. He also said "there are easter eggs in the show for sure" meaning the show will have easter-eggs to the wider MCU, but most of them were related with the Helstrom and Ghost Rider comics' universes. Zbyszewski also spoke on how hidden these easter eggs were and fans should look for them. When the show got released, it was quickly noted the show did have some references in it. In the first episode we had a Roxxon Corporation tease, we also had a minor Ghost Rider cancelled TV show reference, and we saw some MCU-exclusive items that were created for the Marvel Cinematic Universe productions: O'Harren's Scotch Whisky, San Francisco Tribune, New Orleans Gazette, and The Dallas Record, the latter one being featured in Iron Man 2 as an MCU original newspaper. All of these newspapers and items were intentionally made so the shows could tie-in with each other without explicit crossovers.

New Orleans Gazette being featured after appearing in the MCU TV series Cloak & Dagger

The show is evidently MCU related, but is it truly part of the MCU main timeline as the rest? The showrunner was more blunt in a Looper interview saying: "It is not part of the MCU. We are our own thing. There was a freeing sort of feeling about it because canon can be heavy. It is a weight on your shoulders. And to have just this little pocket of the universe, because of what it is […] it needed to be its own thing." Zbyseweski also says that being their own thing helped them as they did not have to worry on whether MCU characters like Iron Man were going to appear, which he could not as he is dead. To analyze this further, Zbyseweski's comments are complicated. He even speaks on how the show does not have to worry about the MCU canonicity, but he also says the show has its own little pocket of the universe, evidently referring to the MCU, if it is not part of it, then how come can it have its own pocket within it? This was later addressed by Sydney Lemmon who says the show is not "actually" part of the MCU saying the show needed to take a life on its own, as it has its own world as noted by Tom Austen on the same interview.

Actor Alain Uy also stands up clarifying the show is part of the MCU fabulous world. After the show released (even with all the statements from people involved), several media has referred to it as "miracle baby in the MCU", the last Marvel Television show in the MCU pre Disney+ era, a MCU one-off and the final chapter of the first era of MCU TV series.

Conclusions

With all the information available, we clearly are in a predicament. We see how it is part of the MCU, but at the same time it is not really part of the canon of the films. As Marvel Television has come to an end, Helstrom is the last chapter of its legacy within the MCU. To satisfy both sides of the evidence: the series is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise as the evidence within the show stands up for itself and provides clear "deep cut" connections to the universe through stuff that might escape from regular viewers. The ultimate truth is "Hulu's Helstrom" is a story isolated from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, whatever that means to the reader, that is the fact. It is related to it, but at the end very distant.

Helstrom is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

As my personal conclusion, as the MCU has finally moved into the Multiverse arena, it is safe to say Helstrom is part of its own darker version of the MCU within the parallel universes related to the Marvel cinematic Universe Timeline. I know, it might look as a far-fetched conclusion but as Marvel Studios prepares to distance itself from the previous MCU TV shows while releasing their own in Disney+ and the problematic statements quoted above, this is the only solution that satisfies both sides. Do not worry, you will not have to remove "Helstrom" from your MCU content watch list, it is a very nice entry to a darker version of a universe we have seen in movies and TV series accross the years. The MCU has finally moved to the point where "canon" is not only entitled to being set in the same chronollogy (Marvel Studios' Loki and Marvel Studios' What If...? as a proof of it) so yes people, Helstrom is MCU canon, and will always be though not in the form we expected it to be.