Complete Marvel’s Daredevil & Defenders Watch Guide (Including What to Skip)

The characters from Netflix’s Marvel TV shows have been coming back into the spotlight gradually, but with the release of Daredevil: Born Again on March 4th, they’re expected to become more important than ever to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. These “Defender-verse” characters were always connected to the MCU, but kept at arm’s length, so their stories weren’t completely necessary to the larger “Infinity Saga” plot. If you’re interested in a complete binge-watch, you’ve got 161 episodes ahead of you, and chances are that not all of it will be relevant to what’s ahead. There’s a lot you could skip — either because it’s unlikely to effect the Multiverse Saga, or because it’s simply not that good.

Marvel Studios teamed up with Netflix for a series of MCU TV spinoffs starting in 2013 — long before the launch of Disney+. The idea was popular from the start, and it was successful enough to warrant a total of six interconnected series with 13 seasons between them. These shows are considered MCU canon, but many fans are disappointed by how little they’ve crossed over into the movies. That trend has changed now with the release of Disney+ shows, and thankfully the studio is going back to give these Defenders another chance.

[RELATED: Daredevil: Born Again Boss Says New Series Is Pivoting From She-Hulk Appearance]

So far, only Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox) and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) have reprised their roles in non-Netflix productions, while Frank Castle/Punisher (Jon Bernthal) is confirmed to be returning in Born Again. However, with the Netflix shows now officially added to Marvel’s “Sacred Timeline,” it’s possible that any and all of these characters could be returning to the MCU in this show or any other titles to follow. That could make for a daunting watchlist, so read on for the complete guide with notes on what is most likely skippable and what is not.

Complete Watch Order

For the completionists out there, here’s the complete list of Netflix Marvel shows in the proper chronological order:

• Daredevil Season 1
• Jessica Jones Season 1
• Daredevil Season 2
• Luke Cage Season 1
• Iron Fist Season 1
• The Defenders
• The Punisher Season 1
• Jessica Jones Season 2
• Luke Cage Season 2
• Iron Fist Season 2
• Daredevil Season 3
• The Punisher Season 2
• Jessica Jones Season 3

If you’re ambitious enough to binge all of these in anticipation of Born Again, more power to you. This is a lot of content — nearly ever season listed above has 13 episodes, and they’re all about an hour in length with no ad breaks. The exceptions are The Defenders limited series, which only has eight episodes, and Iron Fist Season 2, which only has 10 episodes. While we’re at it, let’s go over the MCU movies and shows that have featured Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk since then.

• Spider-Man: No Way Home
• Hawkeye
• She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
• Echo
• Ms. Marvel

Only the Essentials

We know for sure that Daredevil: Born Again will be about a new conflict between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk, and that Frank Castle will be involved as well in some capacity. If you’re just looking to get to know these characters, then things are pretty straightforward — you’ll get the bulk of their stories and character development by watching their shows and skipping their appearances in other titles. For good measure, you’d probably want to throw in The Defenders as well. It doesn’t include Fisk or Castle, but it’s an important story for Murdock and it will give you at least some familiarity with the other three main heroes. The watchlist would look like this:

• Daredevil Season 1
• Daredevil Season 2
• The Defenders
• The Punisher Season 1
• Daredevil Season 3
• The Punisher Season 2
• Hawkeye
• Echo

Is the Full Defenders Binge-Watch Worth It?

At this point, it’s impossible to say whether all the Netflix Marvel titles will be relevant in upcoming MCU stories, but we know for sure they’re all fair game. Echo officially confirmed that all six of these shows are canon, even giving them placement on the chronological timeline. Still, we may be able to narrow down which characters might return based on how enthusiastic the actors are.

The last time we heard from each of these actors, Finn Jones sounded the most excited about reprising his role as Iron Fist, previously saying he’d “like to continue to grow with Iron Fist.” He was particularly hopeful about tackling the Heroes for Hire storyline alongside Luke Cage (Mike Colter). However, he claimed he hasn’t heard from anyone about a potential comeback, so it’s all theoretical.

Perhaps the best sign for an Iron Fist reprisal comes from actress Jessica Yu-Li Henwick, who played Colleen Wing, and revealed she actually turned down the role of Xialing in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings because she was still hopeful that Colleen would return in a future MCU production. That may have been wishful thinking on her part, but if she had that much confidence, maybe we should to.

Meanwhile, Colter has said that he would be happy to reprise his role as Luke Cage “if they found some story, some way, somewhere, to take it,” but in general he says he sees this role “in the rearview.” Ritter spoke about this topic most recently, where she reacted to Marvel’s Brad Winderbaum hoping to get her character back in the MCU.

Fans couldn’t help but notice that she was more judicious with her words than the others, perhaps indicating that she is the most likely to be keeping a secret. Marvel is notorious for its non-disclosure agreements, but right now we can only speculate. However, fans who want to be ready for anything may want to add Jessica Jones into their watchlist just to be safe.

At the time of this writing, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher are all available to stream on Disney+. They are no longer available on Netflix. Daredevil: Born Again premieres on Tuesday, March 4th on Disney+.