Marvel’s Daredevil, Punisher, Jessica Jones, and the entire Defenders Saga has been added to the official MCU Timeline on Disney+, essentially extending the canon by 161 hours.
Spotted by @CanWeGetToast on X/Twitter, all of the Marvel Netflix shows — which released adjacent to the MCU but have always been questioned when it comes to what’s technically considered canon — have for the first time been listed as part of the official MCU timeline.
These Netflix shows include Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher, and in total add around 161 hours of content to the MCU. Daredevil and Jessica Jones each had 39 hour-long episodes across three seasons, Luke Cage and The Punisher had 26 across two, Iron Fist had 23 across two, and The Defenders had eight across one.
All of the Marvel Netflix shows, also known as the Defenders saga, have been added to the official MCU timeline page on Disney Plus. pic.twitter.com/sA5hJ1y1dX
— CanWeGetSomeToast (@CanWeGetToast) January 10, 2024
The shows were generally considered separate from main MCU despite events from Avengers being referenced within them. But as Marvel itself never made the shows official, and the likes of Daredevil and Iron Fist didn’t show up in Avengers films or elsewhere in the regularly collaborating franchise, many fans following the MCU didn’t add the Netflix shows to their watch list. Until now, anyway.
Questions were raised a little earlier though, when Daredevil (played by Netflix actor Charlie Cox) appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk, and Kingpin (played by Netflix actor Vincent D’Onofrio) appeared in Hawkeye.
Things ramped up earlier in January 2024 when MCU executive producer Brad Winderbaum said he considers Daredevil to be MCU canon, and a trailer for Echo, which also features Daredevil and Kingpin, featured clips from the Netflix shows.
The addition of the Defenders Saga comes as the MCU is widely considered bloated, with even Bob Iger, CEO of Marvel owner Disney, saying the volume of TV shows has “diluted focus and attention”. This is evidenced by the recently completed Phase 4 lasting 54 hours and 40 minutes compared to Phase 1’s 12 hours and 24 minutes.
Marvel fans are already struggling to stay up to date too, as the latest film, The Marvels, had the worst box office numbers so far despite positive critical reception.
Cox will also star in his own, dedicated show Daredevil: Born Again, though he said in September 2022 that it won’t be a continuation of what’s come before. This was put on hold pending a creative reboot in October 2023, however, though Marvel found a new showrunner later that month.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
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