The Defenders and its connected Netflix TV shows are more vital to the Marvel Cinematic Universe than ever before, so here is their definitive watch order. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist all received their own series to set up the characters before coming together in their entirety for the first time in the MCU’s The Defenders.
Whether these Netflix shows were MCU canon was debated for years before Daredevil: Born Again season 1 provided a definitive answer. Now, these heroes and their respective shows are considered part of the MCU’s massive movie and TV timeline.
Some of these characters have already reappeared in the MCU after the Netflix era, setting the stage for more in Marvel’s 2026 lineup. Although the upcoming MCU stories involving them will surely be easy to follow without having seen the Netflix shows, there is a wealth of backstory concerning each character.
With so many interweaving storylines already present in the MCU, it can be difficult to keep track. With that in mind, here is how best to watch the Netflix Defenders shows, how they fit into the broader MCU, and what this all means for the future of the franchise.
The best way to watch Netflix’s Defenders saga is in release order. As was the case with the various MCU movies being released at the time, the Netflix shows were created to be interconnected, meaning each individual installment makes references or directly connects to others.
While it could be tempting to watch all three seasons of Daredevil back-to-back, both Jessica Jones installments in quick succession, or the same for both seasons of Luke Cage and Iron Fist, some plot points or character dynamics may not make sense, as they were resolved or referenced in other shows first. The release order of the Netflix shows is as follows:
To further reinforce why this order is the best to watch the Netflix Defenders shows, one character, Claire Temple, appears in all but one of them. Claire offers connective tissue in this sense, referencing the other heroes and storylines as she goes. Moreover, Jessica Jones season 1 introduces Luke Cage, while Daredevil season 2 provides The Punisher’s backstory.
Some seasons can easily be watched independently, but their intentional crafting as parts of a larger whole means they are best viewed in release order. Since Marvel Studios began acknowledging Netflix’s The Defenders saga as canon, that side of the universe has begun to be fleshed out.
Hawkeye season 1 reintroduced Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, Daredevil‘s main villain, to the MCU, while Spider-Man: No Way Home did the same for Daredevil himself. Echo and Daredevil: Born Again then utilized these characters further, truly solidifying them as MCU mainstays and adding two more shows, in that respective order, to the Defenders saga’s release order.
After confirming that the Defenders saga was part of the MCU’s canon, Disney+ released a version of the complete MCU collection that revealed where each Netflix season would fit into the franchise’s chronological timeline. This makes watching each season together with the other MCU movies and shows much easier than it was when no one knew whether they were canon or not.
Based on the Disney+ timeline, it seems as though the entire Defenders saga takes place in Phase 3 alone. However, it is not simply a case of Marvel lumping the entire Defenders saga wherever it may fit. For instance, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, despite being released in Phase 3, takes place shortly after Phase 2’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
There are around four years in-universe between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Avengers: Infinity War. The last show in the initial chronological Defenders timeline is The Punisher, which takes place just before the latter MCU film. This means that Netflix’s Defenders saga is spread across that four-year period after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, leading up to Infinity War.
|
Show Name |
Season |
Place In MCU Timeline |
|---|---|---|
|
Daredevil |
Season 1 |
After Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 |
|
Jessica Jones |
Season 1 |
After Daredevil Season 1 |
|
Daredevil |
Season 2 |
After Jessica Jones Season 1 |
|
Luke Cage |
Season 1 |
After Daredevil Season 2 |
|
Iron Fist |
Season 1 |
After Luke Cage Season 1 |
|
The Defenders |
Miniseries |
After Iron Fist Season 1 |
|
The Punisher |
Season 1 |
After The Defenders and Spider-Man: Homecoming |
|
Jessica Jones |
Season 2 |
After The Punisher Season 1, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Doctor Strange |
|
Luke Cage |
Season 2 |
After Jessica Jones Season 2 |
|
Iron Fist |
Season 2 |
After Luke Cage Season 2 |
|
Daredevil |
Season 3 |
After Iron Fist Season 2 |
|
The Punisher |
Season 2 |
After Daredevil Season 3 andThor: Ragnarok |
|
Jessica Jones |
Season 3 |
After The Punisher Season 2, before Avengers: Infinity War |
Jessica Jones season 3 and The Punisher season 2 marked the end of the initial Netflix slate of Marvel shows. Shortly after both installments, in-universe, Avengers: Infinity War happened, and Thanos removed 50% of all life in the galaxy. The next time any of these Defenders characters are referenced is after Avengers: Endgame, five years after Infinity War.
Hawkeye, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Echo, and Daredevil: Born Again featured the first appearance of these characters in over five years, meaning it is still unclear what happened to any of them between Infinity War and Endgame. This gives future installments of the MCU involving Netflix’s Defenders characters much to explore, as most were last seen before Thanos’ attack.
With both the chronological and release orders of the Netflix shows mapped out in conjunction with the wider MCU, it is worth exploring how some of the characters from the former have already fit into the latter. The shows themselves are mostly self-contained, though they contain more vague references to wider MCU plot points.
For instance, Loki’s invasion from 2012’s The Avengers is mentioned in several shows, while heroes like Captain America, Iron Man, and Hulk are also referenced. Beyond that, though, the main MCU connections were saved until after Jessica Jones season 3, when the Netflix shows were fully enveloped in the franchise’s canon.
Daredevil‘s MCU timeline continued with an appearance as Peter Parker’s lawyer in Spider-Man: No Way Home and with a short stint in She-Hulk, where he got a new suit and was the titular hero’s love interest for a couple of episodes. He also appeared briefly to battle Maya Lopez in Echo.
Kingpin has had a similar MCU journey post-Avengers: Endgame. He appeared in an extended cameo role as the secret big bad of Hawkeye, much like Matt Murdock’s Spider-Man cameo. Echo continued this, with the titular hero being Maya Lopez, Kingpin’s adoptive daughter, who also appeared in Hawkeye.
Echo fleshed out Maya’s backstory with Kingpin, with the show’s end credits scene teasing more to come from Wilson Fisk. This scene implied Fisk would be running in New York’s mayoral campaign, which came to fruition in Daredevil: Born Again season 1.
Daredevil: Born Again acts as a direct continuation of Daredevil season 3 from the original Defenders saga, though it can be viewed without prior knowledge. However, Daredevil: Born Again would lose some of its emotional resonance without having seen Daredevil before it. The series picks up years after Daredevil season 3, with the time between still mostly unexplored for now.
Matt Murdock, Karen Page, and Foggy Nelson are all shown working together as partners at their law firm before a tragic incident sets Matt on a new path as Daredevil. This brings him into conflict with villains like Muse and, of course, Kingpin, who pushes his agenda over New York using his newfound political power.
Daredevil: Born Again season 1 continues many character arcs and storylines from the original Daredevil, be it Matt Murdock himself, his allies like Karen Page, Foggy Nelson, and Frank Castle/The Punisher, or his enemies: Wilson Fisk, Vanessa Fisk, and Benjamin Poindexter/Bullseye. Beyond that, any other Defenders characters will only fit into the MCU via future projects.
Daredevil: Born Again season 1 was a rather personal season for Matt Murdock. Yes, it contained some wider Defenders characters like The Punisher, but it largely centered on characters introduced in Daredevil‘s three Netflix seasons. As such, no other Defenders characters appeared in season 1, but the same cannot be said for Daredevil: Born Again season 2’s story.
Kristen Ritter has already been confirmed to appear as Jessica Jones in Daredevil: Born Again season 2. What exact role Jessica Jones will play in the show remains to be seen, but it is widely expected that she will be recruited by Daredevil, who ended season 1 with the intention of forming a resistance against Wilson Fisk’s takeover of New York.
With Jones being a recruit, Matt will likely look to bring in his other Defenders allies, too. Although Mike Colter and Finn Jones haven’t been confirmed to return as Luke Cage and Iron Fist, respectively, Daredevil: Born Again‘s showrunner commented on Defenders‘ characters, indicating that the creatives at Marvel Studios are thinking of them:
“Those iconic characters are always in your mind… You want to bring in people, relationships, and past figures in Matt’s life because they help the story, particularly a story where Fisk has taken over the city.
So there’s going to be people, vigilantes, superheroes that are involved in that… That said, you also want to create a completely organic story for that… The easiest answer to your question is, yes, those characters that you just listed off (Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage) are absolutely in my head and everybody’s head as we’re working.”
Clearly, Daredevil: Born Again season 2 would be a perfect place to bring back the Defenders in full after most were last seen before Avengers: Infinity War in the MCU timeline.
Jessica Jones’ confirmation for the show has already confirmed that Daredevil: Born Again season 2 will tie to The Defenders much more overtly than season 1 did. Whether that means the rest of the team will appear is unclear, as yet, but it at least means that Netflix’s The Defenders timeline will continue in the future of the MCU.
With Daredevil: Born Again season 2 reintroducing Jessica Jones, and potentially the other Defenders, to the MCU, the question of whether they could appear in other projects beyond that is raised. Many were disappointed with how Netflix cut short the exciting stories of these characters, specifically Iron Fist and Luke Cage, who only had two seasons.
This could mean that Luke Cage and Iron Fist season 3 are greenlit in the future of the MCU. Of course, this is dependent on their reintroduction in Daredevil: Born Again, should that happen at all. If so, the storylines that were concluded prematurely on Netflix could continue.
Regarding the other Defenders, Daredevil: Born Again season 3 has already been confirmed and is likely to be released in 2027. This will continue Matt Murdock’s MCU resurgence and his ongoing feud with Kingpin. Jessica Jones will likely appear in this season, as well as a potential fourth season of her own show.
Finally, The Punisher has his own MCU future planned. Bernthal is returning as The Punisher in the story of Spider-Man: Brand New Day before appearing in his own Disney+ special presentation, both in 2026. Evidently, Netflix’s Defenders timeline is becoming increasingly vital to the MCU, especially considering it is set to continue in some big ways.
2017 – 2017-00-00
Marco Ramirez, Douglas Petrie
Douglas Petrie, Marco Ramirez
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