Daredevil & The Defenders Complete Timeline: What Order To Watch

The Defenders and its connected Netflix TV shows are more vital to the Marvel Cinematic Universe than ever, so here is the definitive watch order. Following Krysten Ritter's official MCU debut as Jessica Jones, the end of Daredevil: Born Again season 2 also brought back Mike Colter's Luke Cage. Only Finn Jones' Danny Rand/Iron Fist has yet to appear, but his role in the upcoming season was confirmed at New York Comic-Con 2026 when Charlie Cox, Ritter, and Jones took to the stage during the Marvel Television panel.

Daredevil: Born Again season 3 is on the horizon and confirmed as the final season of Marvel's reboot/sequel series. Although the Defenders' upcoming MCU stories will likely be easy to follow without having seen their prior Netflix shows, each character has a wealth of backstory. With so many interweaving storylines already present in the MCU, it can be difficult to keep track of them.

Luckily, a definitive watch order exists for all the Netflix Marvel shows, which now bleed into other MCU stories; box office giant Spider-Man: Brand New Day even included Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle/The Punisher in a major role after his wildly violent Special Presentation, The Punisher: One Last Kill. Here is how to watch every Defenders-related story released in the last 11 years, from season 1 of Netflix's Daredevil to Marvel Studios' recent soft reboot.

How To Watch Netflix's The Defenders In Order

Image via Netflix

The best way to watch Netflix's Defenders saga is in release order. As was the case with the various MCU movies released at the time, the Netflix shows were created to be interconnected; each installment references or directly connects to others. While it might be tempting to watch all three seasons of Daredevil back-to-back, all Jessica Jones installments in quick succession, or the same for both seasons of Luke Cage and Iron Fist, some plot points or character dynamics were resolved or referenced in other shows first.

That said, the release order of the Netflix shows is as follows:

• Daredevil season 1 (April 10, 2015)
• Jessica Jones season 1 (November 20, 2015)
• Daredevil season 2 (March 18, 2016)
• Luke Cage season 1 (September 30, 2016)
• Iron Fist season 1 (March 17, 2017)
• The Defenders season 1 (August 18, 2017)
• The Punisher season 1 (November 17, 2017)
• Jessica Jones season 2 (March 8, 2018)
• Luke Cage season 2 (June 22, 2018)
• Iron Fist season 2 (September 7, 2018)
• Daredevil season 3 (October 19, 2018)
• The Punisher season 2 (January 18, 2019)
• Jessica Jones season 3 (June 14, 2019)

To further reinforce why this order is the best way to watch the Netflix Defenders shows, one character, Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), appears in all but one. 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. Of course, 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 (Vincent D'Onofrio), 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 built on these characters, truly solidifying them as MCU mainstays and adding two more shows, in that respective order, to the Defenders saga's release order.

How To Watch The Defenders Saga Within The MCU Timeline

Image via MovieStillsDB

After confirming the Defenders saga as part of the MCU's canon, Disney+ released a version of the complete collection that revealed where each Netflix season would fit into the franchise's chronological timeline. Upcoming MCU projects like Daredevil: Born Again season 3 will only add to this. Thankfully, Disney+'s timeline makes it easier to watch each season of The Defenders saga alongside other MCU movies and shows than it was when no one knew whether the former projects were canon.

Based on the Disney+ timeline, the entire Defenders saga takes place in Phase 3 alone; Phase 3, pre-Avengers: Endgame's timeskip, takes place across four years in-universe, between the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Avengers: 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. The aforementioned projects, Hawkeye, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Echo, and Daredevil: Born Again, featured these characters' first appearance post-Endgame.

Therefore, it's still unclear what happened to Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and The Punisher between Infinity War and Endgame. This gives future MCU installments involving Netflix's Defenders characters much to explore, as most were last seen before Thanos' attack. Whether these events will be referenced, however, is unclear, especially given the lack of Infinity War tie-ins in the first two seasons of Daredevil: Born Again.

How The Defenders Fit Into The MCU

Photo courtesy of Marvel Television

With both the chronological and release orders of the Netflix shows mapped out alongside the wider MCU, it is worth exploring how some of the characters from the former have already fit into the latter. The shows 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 they also reference heroes like Captain America, Iron Man, and Hulk.

Beyond that, though, the main MCU connections didn't come into play until after Jessica Jones season 3, when the Netflix shows were fully enveloped in the franchise's canon. Daredevil's MCU connections were renewed with an appearance as Peter Parker's lawyer in Spider-Man: No Way Home and 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 in Echo to fight Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox).

Kingpin has had a similar MCU journey post-Avengers: Endgame. He appeared in an extended cameo role as the secret big bad of Hawkeye. 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 seasons 1 and 2.

Daredevil and the Defenders' post-Endgame release order is as follows:

• Hawkeye (November-December 2021): includes Kingpin
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (December 2021): includes Matt Murdock
• She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (August-October 2022): includes Matt Murdock/Daredevil
• Echo (July 2024): includes Kingpin and Daredevil
• Daredevil: Born Again season 1 (March-April 2025)
• Daredevil: Born Again season 2 (March-May 2026)
• The Punisher: One Last Kill (May 2026)
• Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 2026): includes Frank Castle/The Punisher and The Hand
• Daredevil: Born Again season 3 (2027): includes Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Elektra

Daredevil: Born Again directly continues 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 together as partners at their law firm before a tragic incident sets Matt on a new path as Daredevil.

This pits him against villains like Muse and, of course, Kingpin, who strangles New York with his newfound political power. Daredevil: Born Again seasons 1 and 2 continue many character arcs and storylines from the original Daredevil, be it Matt Murdock himself, his allies like Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), The Punisher, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, or his enemies: Wilson Fisk, Vanessa Fisk (Ayelet Zurer), and Benjamin Poindexter/Bullseye (Wilson Bethel).

For Frank Castle, his solo MCU journey continued in May 2026 with The Punisher: One Last Kill. The special, released as a 50-minute short film on Disney+, continues The Punisher's story after Daredevil: Born Again season 1 while also serving as a prelude to Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It chronicles Frank's transition from a man bent on revenge for his family's deaths to a vigilante who saves the innocent in increasingly brutal fashion, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day detailing his next steps in the MCU as a Defenders continuation.

Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 Will Connect To The Defenders

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 wasn't true for Daredevil: Born Again season 2. Kristen Ritter had a big role in the final few episodes of that installment as Jessica Jones.

Jessica was targeted by Mr. Charles (Matthew Lillard), a CIA operative, after the former almost uncovered his links to Wilson Fisk's illicit operations. Before that, Charles tried to enlist Jessica for some overseas superhero operations, which she declined. As revealed in the finale of Daredevil: Born Again season 2, Luke Cage did not. However, as of the final moments of the show, Luke returned home to be with Jess and raise their daughter, with Bullseye taking his place as Charles' mercenary.

This sets up Daredevil: Born Again season 3, which will further develop Jessica Jones and Luke Cage's stories alongside the titular vigilante. After all, the showrunner and executive producer, Dario Scardapane, had this to say about Luke's return in Daredevil: Born Again: "It was truly a bit last-minute, and we wanted a bit of a surprise, and we were thinking about potentially things we wanted to do for season three, and Luke Cage was just a very great little button."

Finn Jones has now also been confirmed to return as Iron Fist. A teaser for Daredevil: Born Again season 3 was shown at NYCC (it has not been released online), revealing Jessica, Luke, and Danny receiving official police badges, with Jessica remarking that it "should be four badges." This references Matthew Murdock's arrest at the end of Daredevil: Born Again season 2.

Another major character from Daredevil and The Defenders returning in season 3 of Daredevil: Born Again is Élodie Yung's Elektra. Several set photos and videos have confirmed Elektra's return. Elektra, Matt's former lover and a vigilante in her own right, was first introduced in Daredevil season 2 before seemingly dying near the end, only to be resurrected by The Hand in The Defenders. Elektra then faced off against the titular team before regaining her memories of her relationship with Matt. A building then collapsed on the two, leading into Matt's story in Daredevil season 3.

A big focus of Matt's journey in that show was overcoming his grief over Elektra's supposed death. However, Elektra's body was never found, raising questions and theories alike about whether she may have survived. Evidently, as Daredevil: Born Again season 3's set photos seem to confirm, she did. How Elektra ties into the upcoming season is yet to be revealed, but she is the latest of many Defenders characters to reappear in the MCU.

What The MCU's Future Holds For The Defenders

With Daredevil: Born Again season 2 reintroducing Jessica Jones and Luke Cage to the MCU, it's easy to wonder if they'll appear in any other MCU projects down the line. Many were disappointed that Netflix cut their stories short, especially Iron Fist and Luke Cage, who each had only two seasons and were primed to team up in their next appearance. Though they're all thankfully returning in Daredevil: Born Again season 3, it's unclear how the Defenders' Disney+ legacy will grow from there.

The upcoming season of Daredevil: Born Again will be the final season. This significantly affects the chances of additional Defenders-centric solo shows getting off the ground. Instead, characters could headline more one-off Special Presentations, like The Punisher's, or appear in New York-set movies, just as Matt appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Frank had a major role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Best-case scenario, they create another version of The Defenders in which all the characters come together after Daredevil: Born Again season 3.

Daredevil: Born Again season 3 premieres on Disney+ in 2027.