Is the MCU Netflix continuity pendulum the new "Ross and Rachel"?
How often can you really change your mind?
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Continuity really shouldn't be that complicated, right? Especially considering that Marvel Studios is in charge of all its own projects. And yet, it seems like Marvel Studios still can't quite make up their minds on whether or not the Netflix Marvel shows are part of the MCU.
Though Netflix's Marvel shows Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and The Defenders were once considered canon by Kevin Feige, James Gunn also said that no Marvel shows before Disney+'s WandaVision counted as part of the MCU. Then, we reported in November that The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline does not mention Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, or Danny Rand in the MCU timeline at all. Daredevil is mentioned, but only from his appearances in No Way Home and Disney+'s She-Hulk.
It seemed, that with this new official timeline (and Feige's written statement in the book that reads "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. 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"), the Netflix Marvel shows were finally and officially erased from the MCU timeline.
But then. Daredevil: Born Again's Vincent D'Onofrio confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that new MCU series Echo is directly tied into the Netflix Daredevil show. And then. Disney+ added a Marvel section on their streaming app that read "Timeline Order." which did include Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Defenders. So are the Netflix shows part of the MCU timeline? For now, maybe?
As we continue to follow the news and updates and corrections as they come out, it's starting to feel like we're getting in-continuity, out-of-continuity whiplash - and that all of this grey area and back tracking may just show that Marvel Studios just can't make up their minds, like a certain particular iconic couple from the sitcom Friends. What's the real truth, Marvel Studios? Perhaps there is no real truth at all, and Marvel Studios is just stringing us along like Friends did, as we closely follow the drama of whether the Netflix shows and the MCU are really, truly on a break.
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