Ever since Daredevil debuted on Netflix in 2015, fans have been wondering whether or not the Defenders Saga shows are canon. As of this week, we might finally have our answer. If you go to Disney+ and check the MCU Timeline Order row, you’ll find all the Netflix shows: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher, and The Defenders.
This seems to confirm the shows took place in the MCU, specifically in the Sacred Timeline, as dubbed by Loki. According to Disney+, Daredevil and Jessica Jones take place after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 but prior to Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Meanwhile, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Defenders all take place between the first Ant-Man and Captain America: Civil War. Finally, both seasons of The Punisher occur between Spider-Man: Homecoming and Doctor Strange.
On one hand, this is exciting news for fans of the Defenders Saga, which migrated from Netflix to Disney+ in March 2022. Some of the shows were better received than others, but this opens the door to more of these characters making their way to future MCU projects.
On the other hand, this raises an obvious question: Where exactly have Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Danny Rand, and Frank Castle been for the last few years?
We have seen Daredevil three times already in the MCU — as Peter Parker’s lawyer in Spider-Man: No Way Home, as Jen Walters’ love interest in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and briefly in a fight with Maya Lopez and some of Kingpin’s thugs in the first episode of Echo.
So Murdock has been keeping busy, but where has everyone else been? I have a feeling we’ll find out sometime between now and the debut of Daredevil: Born Again.