‘Iron Fist’ Season 2 Confirmed to Take Place Before ‘Avengers: Infinity War’

Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been some huge questions about the timeline after Avengers: Infinity War, with other series like Iron Fist and Luke Cage hitting Netflix after Thanos snapped away half of existence.

Now we finally have some clarity on these events, as Iron Fist show runner M. Raven Metzner revealing the series serves as a prequel to the events of Infinity War. While answering fan questions on Twitter, Metzner explained that decision came from higher ups in Marvel Television.

Explaining that it’s a decision from Jeph Loeb makes sense, as the Marvel Television series on Netflix continue to remain unencumbered by the movies in the MCU, but make the connections when it’s convenient. Much like the case of Jessica Jones’ superpowered mother being imprisoned in the Raft, which first debuted in Captain America: Civil War.

But with the case of Thanos snapping away half of the population of Earth, that storyline would likely overwhelm and dominate any sort of story event that would take place in any of the Netflix series. Which would take away from any narrative momentum each series has picked up, and would derail any attempts to tell their own original story as Marvel fans wonder how they could deal with Thanos’ metaphysical genocide.

Instead, Marvel Television boss Loeb made the smart decision to set the new series before the events of Infinity War, allowing them to remain separate from the big screen events. Just like Iron Fist, it’s safe to say that Daredevil and The Punisher will follow suit when they premiere.

“For the most part our stories will take place BEFORE Thanos clicked his fingers,” Loeb previously wrote on Reddit. “A lot of that has to do with production and when we are telling our stories vs. when the movies come out. So hang in there. I remember in the comics, one of my favorite stories was the KREE-SKRULL war… which was universal, but in X-Men, no mention. Huh. And it all worked out in the end!”

There were discussions of including the Defenders characters in the film, as screenwriter Stephen McFeely previously stated, but they ultimately decided against with good reason.

“In a movie this big, we certainly had the conversation, ‘Should we put Luke Cage in this? Here we are in New York…’ That kind of stuff. As you could probably tell, it would be just a glorified cameo at this point,” McFeely said to Collider. “We’re trying to honor the MCU movies and if we then further tell the audience, ‘Oh, you should also have a good knowledge from this streaming service over here that you may or may not be subscribing to.’ That’s really asking a lot. We’re already asking a lot.”

Iron Fist Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix. Avengers: Infinity War is now available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital HD.