'Helstrom': Roxxon's return puts show in 'Runaways' and 'Cloak And Dagger' universe, here are some Easter eggs
It's always an inexplicable thrill when we discover thin and barely-there threads between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the television shows, namely 'Agents of SHIELD'. We've heard references such as the fights from the Dark Elves in 'Thor: The Dark World' or some happenings in 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'. The shows are linked by making references to 'The Avengers' and 'The Incredible Hulk'. But for the rest of the time, the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have paddled blithely on, without looking twice at the small screen. Nevertheless, it's always a pleasure to catch some Easter eggs.
It seems as if Marvel's 'Helstrom', which is streaming on Hulu, is a part of the 'Runaways' and 'Cloak And Dagger' universe, which is from the same streaming platform. There was a presence of the Roxxon trucks! We saw the logo in Episode 8 of 'Marvel's Runaways' and we know that Roxxon has quite a presence in MCU. Roxxon is the shady conglomerate that was involved in activities that were less than prudent and morally questionable. Roxxon first debuted in the MCU with 'Iron Man', where the Roxxon sign appeared in the background, during Tony Stark's showdown with Iron-Monger. Roxxon featured in other 'Iron Man' films, first as a race car sponsor in 'Iron Man 2', later, a Roxxon employee was killed in 'Iron Man 3', but that obviously was fake. After 'Iron Man 3', Roxxon was not mentioned again and seemed to be only in the television shows.
Though MCU and the TV shows are from the same universe, in 2015, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige began to report directly to Disney, while Marvel TV began to be managed under the banner of Marvel Entertainment. Roxxon seems to have come under Marvel Entertainment now, as we saw in 'Runaways' as well as 'Cloak And Dagger'. In the latter show, Roxxon's presence seemed to indicate that the show's primary source was the Ultimate Universe comics, where Roxxon was responsible for Tandy and Tyrone's powers. According to this story, Tandy and Ty suffer a terrible car crash that leaves them incapacitated and a branch of Roxxon called the Roxxon Brain Trust faked their deaths and then proceeded to experiment on them, using a powerful and mysterious energy.
In 'Runaways', there was a crossover episode with 'Cloak And Dagger', where Cloak and Dagger rescue the Runaways and bring them into the Dark Dimenson. They're all part of the same universe, small as it is, but nevertheless, they co-exist. Would we get more crossovers in 'Helstrom', if it gets a season 2? That would be worth a watch.
'Helstrom' is streaming on Hulu.