Does Daredevil's Spider-Man: Freshman Year Involvement Decanonize the Netflix Show?

By Adam Barnhardt

San Diego Comic-Con is often the biggest weekend of the year for fans of pop culture, with Hollywood's largest studios descending upon the San Diego Convention Center's Hall H to reveal the latest greatest movie and television programming. Friday, Marvel Studios' Brad Winderbaum was on-hand to reveal news of the upcoming projects on the outfit's animated front. That includes Charlie Cox's return as Daredevil during the events of Spider-Man: Freshman Year.

The problem is, when the series was first announced, it was reported to be set in the same continuity as the main Marvel Cinematic Universe, showing Peter Parker's earliest days as the web-slinging hero. Winderbaum and crew confirmed Friday the series does, in fact, take place sometime prior to Captain America: Civil War. Should that be the case, Daredevil's appearance in the animated series raises a lot of questions regarding the show's continuity status.

In the animated series, Daredevil will sport a new look, one he didn't wear in his live-action series. As such, it's reasonable to believe he wore it either before Season 1—which would make Parker far too young to be a high school freshman—or after Season 3, which would be set far after Civil War. There's always the chance the character could have used the suit off-screen with Daredevil and Freshman Year running alongside each other, but given the building of the suit was actually written into the show's plot, that's entirely unlikely.

Now all that said, the Comic-Con presentation for Marvel Studios Animation raised even more questions about the continuity of Freshman Year given the involvement of characters like Norman Osborn, Nico Minoru, and Doctor Octopus. If Freshman Year isn't considered in the same continuity as the live-action films and television shows, then there's no reason to fret and this point is all moot.

If Marvel Studios is serious enough to put Freshman Year in the MCU canon, though, then fans hoping to see Daredevil set within the same timeline as the ever-expanding franchise might be out of luck.

Spider-Man: Freshman Year is set for release in 2024 while the Daredevil series is now streaming in Disney+.

What other characters would you like to see join the show? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!

Trending Now: