The successful TV show Gotham, ending after five highly rated seasons, has laid out a blueprint for how popular characters can be carried from theaters to the small screen, one that the Disney+ streaming service should follow with its upcoming set of shows.

Gotham, which highlights Bruce Wayne’s childhood as well as Jim Gordon’s rise from rookie cop to police commissioner, excelled in character development, fleshing out each character in ways that superhero television shows usually fail to do.

Every character has a realistic backstory, and even when the show ventures into the supernatural to explore the beginnings of its characters, they still feel connected and relatable on some levels.

Disney should copy this model from their rivals at DC Comics for their upcoming Marvel shows, which are set to include carryovers from the Avengers such as Hawkeye, Loki, the Winter Soldier, and the Scarlet Witch, among others.

This is not to say Marvel should overlook their own shows from Netflix, as Luke Cage and Jessica Jones also provide fine examples of superhero series. But these shows did not have to transfer characters away from theaters; the shows’ namesake characters have never been in the MCU, and they were able to build backstories for these characters at their own discretion.

The characters within Gotham (including Batman, Joker, Jim Gordon, etc.) develop into those as they were presented by The Dark Knight series primarily, providing easter eggs to the movies and building traits that were present within that universe, such as the Joker’s iconic look and cackle.

By following this development model and using the new shows to evolve these characters from their time in the MCU, Disney would allow them to become more memorable and relatable, as Gotham did through its run.

Many of the characters being transferred to the Disney+ platform, excluding Loki, have been overlooked during their time in theaters. Marvel should use this opportunity to give these heroes more life than they could ever receive in the movies.

By giving the shows more of an implicit feel, and forming a connection between viewers and these heroes, their character arcs would receive some much needed attention.

The Winter Soldier’s development has been for little but to add to the plots of the two recent Captain America movies, and the ongoing romance between the Scarlet Witch and Vision seems forced and irrelevant within the MCU.

These examples, among others, can be aided by the shows to build upon the characters for future movie appearances.

Gotham’s extended run on FOX has laid a blueprint for the introduction of movie characters to the small screen, and if Marvel’s new shows follow that path, the success of Disney+ could be substantial, and game-changing.