Multiverse no more! Looks like the Netflix Marvel shows are officially MCU now

Well, this is a bit confusing, isn’t it?

After the Defenders shows ended on Netflix with a somewhat bad taste, it was assumed that Daredevil, Kingpin, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and all the others were no longer part of the MCU and rather were part of the massive Marvel multiverse. meaning that they have a place, but it’s not on the core timeline/story that is the MCU.

After Charlie Cox’s Daredevil/Matt Murdock was brought into the MCU in Spider-man: No Way Home and the She-Hulk series and then Vincent D’Onfrio’s Wilson Fisk/Kingpin appeared in the Hawkeye series, they were portrayed differently, making us believe that they were not the same characters that we had met previously on Netflix but rather they were variants (to use the Loki lingo).

Vincent D’Onofrio and Charlie Cox’s Kingpin and Daredevil to meet in upcoming Echo series

Now, however, it’s all go a bit, well, blurred and it’s starting to seem that Netflix’s Daredevil – at the very least – is now part of the bigger MCU story.

It all kicked off a few days back when Marvel Studios producer for the Echo TV show Brad Winderbaum was asked about Daredevil and Kingpin’s appearances in the show – which arrives on January 9th – and revealed that these might be the same people we met on Netflix: “I can say that up until this point, we’ve been a little bit cagey about what’s Sacred Timeline, what’s not Sacred Timeline. That was born of, frankly, a period at the studio where we were like, “We have to stick the landing with the vendors.” It was another part of the company developing the Netflix stuff. We were aware of what they were doing, they were aware of what we were doing, but there was a lot to balance anyway.”

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Going on, he added: “But now that some time has passed; now that we see actually how well integrated the stories are, I think that I personally, Brad Winderbaum, would be confident in saying it is part of the Sacred Timeline.”

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Now, adding to this, star of these shows, Vincent D’Onofrio also confirmed in a new interview that his Wilson Fisk/Kingpin and Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil are the same as the ones we first met in the Netflix shows, simply replying “Oh, yeah,” when asked.

This all seemed to be confirmed in a new teaser for Echo, which has scenes from the Netflix Daredevil series:

Interestingly, Marvel boss Kevin Feige, back in October last year, had this to say in the introduction to Marvel Studios: The Marvel Cinematic Universe—An Official Timeline book: “On the Multiverse note, we recognize that there are stories—movies and series—that are canonical to Marvel but that were created by different storytellers during different periods of Marvel’s history.

“The timeline presented in this book [the official Marvel timeline] 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 crash or converge (hint, hint/spoiler alert).”

Could the Netflix shows be what Feige was hinting at? It certainly seems so.

It’s also worth noting that Echo will kick-off a new subset of Marvel shows called Spotlight which Winderbaum described as “a platform to bring more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen.

“Marvel Spotlight gives us a platform to bring more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen, and in the case of ‘Echo,’ focusing on street-level stakes over larger MCU continuity.

“Just like comics fans didn’t need to read ‘Avengers’ or ‘Fantastic Four’ to enjoy a ‘Ghost Rider’ Spotlight comic, our audience doesn’t need to have seen other Marvel series to understand what’s happening in Maya’s story.”

I’m also betting that these Spotlight shows may also contain more adult material, opening the door to content similar to the Netflix shows.

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If this is true, there are still storylines that need to be wrapped up, most notably the story of Bullseye/FBI Special Agent Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter played by Wilson Benthal, which was superb and unresolved… I need an end to that story, folks.

On a related note, Marvel Studios has hired their first-ever showrunner in the form of The Punisher’s (on Netflix) Dario Scardapane who will oversee the Daredevil: Born Again series on Disney+, hinting that yes, there is a connection.

First look at Daredevil vs Echo fight pic.twitter.com/vzlmVZJaab

— Daredevil Updates (@DDevilUpdates) January 1, 2024

Marvel has had a bumpy road so far with their MCU TV shows but after ending 2023 with both Loki and What If…? season 2, it seems they got their act together as both were superb, adding in the fact that there is now a showrunner for the Daredevil show, it seems that things are changing with the aim being shows with multiple arcs and seasons, rather than limited shows – this means there’s a possibility for much bigger stories to be told and, if they’re as good as Loki and What If…?, then I can’t wait to see what’s coming next.

Also, this might just explain all the Jessica Jones and Punisher appearing in Daredevil: Reborn rumours too… just saying.

Echo starring Alaqua Cox, Zahn McClarnon, Vincent D’Onofrio, and more. All episodes of Marvel Studios’ Echo are streaming January 9th on Disney+ & Hulu.

WATCH: Kingpin dominates in trailer for Marvel’s Echo

Source: Screen Rant, THR