The biggest discourse involving the Marvel Cinematic Universe often comes in the form of debates on what Marvel-adjacent projects are a part of the MCU canon. When the film and television franchise was first launched in 2008, it was pitched as a connected universe across both film and TV that would encompass entries on both network television and streaming.
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As it turns out, that’s not necessarily the case. Because the productions were made by two different production companies (Marvel Studios and Marvel Television) the MCU, as fans know it, only includes things released by Marvel Studios. That much is according to studio head Kevin Feige in a new book about the outfit’s “Sacred Timeline.”
“On the Multiverse note, we recognize that there are stories—movies and series-that are canonical to Marvel but were created by different storytellers during different periods of Marvel’s history,” Feige says in a foreward for Marvel Studios’ The Marvel Cinematic Universe – An Official Timeline (via The Direct).
He adds, “The timeline presented in this book is specific to the MCU’s Sacred Timeline through Phase 4. But, as we move forward and dive deeper into the Multiverse Saga, you never know when timelines may just crash or converge (hint, hint/spoiler alert).”
By Feige’s own admission, that would make it seem that everything under the Marvel label is technically canon to the brand. As a part of the studio’s “Sacred Timeline,” however, is only things produced by Marvel Studios. Judging by that, anything from ABC’s Agents of SHIELD and Inhumans to Netflix’s Daredevil and DefendersVerse, to Runaways, Cloak & Dagger, and beyond are not a part of the highly-popular timeline of the MCU.
Those timelines are starting to converge at least in the slightest, given characters like Daredevil (Charlie Cox) and Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) have joined properties located in the Sacred Timeline. Now that the precedent has been set, there’s no telling which other non-Sacred Timeline characters could be appearing in future MCU properties.
Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for the latest information on Daredevil: Born Again! The first three seasons of both Daredevil, as well as The Defenders limited series, can now be seen on Disney+. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can do that right here.
What other characters do you hope to see join Marvel’s new Daredevil series? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!
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