Marvel finally gave fans the MCU timeline change they wanted, settling the debate around its Netflix shows. All the Netflix shows are now part of the MCU (the Sacred Timeline). It’s not just Daredevil, which will return with a new TV show on Disney Plus. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher, and The Defenders are all now part of the official MCU timeline.
That’s terrific news for all the fans wondering whether the Netflix characters were part of the MCU or hailed from a different reality. The latter was always a possibility, albeit not an exciting one, as it meant shows like Daredevil: Born Again would tell the story of a different Daredevil variant, even though the same Charlie Cox would play him.
Now that the Netflix shows are part of the MCU, I’ll probably get around and watch them. I have to say I paid little attention to them during their glory days on Netflix, focusing mostly on Daredevil and The Punisher. The reason boiled down to them not being part of the MCU.
Now, I finally have a good reason to see them and to watch them in chronological order.
In what follows, I’ll show you how to do that if you want a rewatch of the MCU or you’re just discovering the universe. Spoilers shouldn’t follow, as I don’t address any events in the Netflix shows or the rest of the MCU.
I last rewatched the MCU in anticipation of Avengers: Endgame years ago, and I routinely go back to some of the best titles from the Infinity Saga. However, a complete rewatch of all MCU projects to date (that’s Echo at the time of this writing) is out of the question for this MCU fan. I can’t possibly go through with many Multiverse Saga titles again.
As for the Netflix shows, I’ll get around to them soon enough, especially as we get closer to Born Again.
Until then, there are two ways of watching the Netflix shows chronologically, and I’ll detail them both.
The easy way
There’s a better way to do it, but before we get there, I’ll show you the simplest ways to enjoy the Netflix shows in the official MCU order. That’s the order that Marvel offers on Disney Plus. You’ll find the Netflix shows in bold below, according to their MCU timeline placement:
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- I am Groot
- Daredevil
- Jessica Jones
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Ant-Man
- Luke Cage
- Iron Fist
- The Defenders
- Captain America: Civil War
- Black Widow
- Black Panther
- Spider-Man: Homecoming
- The Punisher
- Doctor Strange
There you have it. The Netflix shows sit between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Doctor Strange on the MCU timeline. Note that Spider-Man: Homecoming is absent from the list as Disney doesn’t feature the Sony films in the Timeline Order section on Disney Plus.
But that might not be good enough for some fans. After all, some of those Netflix shows have multiple seasons. While the protagonists do not interact with the larger MCU, they interact with each other. This brings us to a different way of watching these shows chronologically, taking into account the different seasons. And it goes all the way up to Avengers: Infinity War.
The better way
While I haven’t seen most of the Netflix shows to come up with the following timeline, Murphy’s Multiverse has you covered. In the following list, I’ll mention where the Netflix seasons sit relative to the MCU years:
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2014)
- I am Groot (2014)
- Daredevil season 1 (January and February 2015)
- Jessica Jones season 1 (March and April 2015)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Daredevil season 2 (October and November 2015)
- Luke Cage season 1 (November and December 2015)
- Iron Fist season 1 (February 2016)
- The Defenders (May 2016)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Black Widow (2016)
- Black Panther (2016)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016)
- The Punisher season 1 (November and December 2016)
- Doctor Strange (2016-2017)
- Jessica Jones season 1 (April and June 2017)
- Luke Cage season 1 (August and September 2017)
- Iron Fist season 2 (October 2017 to early 2018)
- Daredevil season 3 (October and November 2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- The Punisher season 2 (April through August 2018)
- Jessica Jones season 3 (April through August 2018)
As you can see, by focusing on each season, you get a different look at the Netflix MCU adventures. Some of them go beyond the moment Thanos (Josh Brolin) snapped his fingers in Infinity War. And that’s important. It means that characters like Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle survived the snap.
