Marvel has officially confirmed the inclusion of the Netflix Marvel series in the Sacred Timeline of the franchise. Until now, the series Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist were developed separately from the MCU canon and had only passing references to the movies. But with the shows being placed in the official timeline order on Disney Plus, they have been officially confirmed to be part of the MCU canon.
However, the fact that the Netflix Marvel shows were separate from the films had given the studio the freedom to allow some actors to crossover from the show to the films. But, with the shows being canonized, the portrayal of certain characters may be confusing. One of the biggest examples of this flaw is the casting of Mahershala Ali, who portrayed Cottonmouth in Luke Cage and will be seen as Blade in the MCU.
Why Weren’t The Netflix Shows Canonized Before?
The MCU has been ever-expanding since the studio decided to produce more shows for Disney Plus. Though the recent batch of shows have received mixed reviews, one of the best-reviewed shows produced by Marvel have been the Netflix-Marvel collaboration. The shows Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and The Punisher were lauded for their writing and performances of the lead characters.
However, despite references to the events of the MCU, the Netflix shows were developed separately from the films as the studio was focused more on their cinematic ventures at that time. The shows were developed by Marvel Television along with Netflix, and they rarely crossed over with the timelines of the films. However, the shows were abruptly canceled after the studio decided to work on their streaming content.
Since the studio began developing streaming content, the characters from the shows have made appearances in the official MCU series. Actors such as Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio have had cameos in Disney Plus shows and will be seen in the upcoming series Daredevil: Born Again.
The streaming platform also included the Netflix shows in their official timeline order section. The gesture confirmed that the Netflix series were officially part of the MCU Sacred Timeline. Marvel’s head of streaming Brad Winderbaum also confirmed that the shows were part of the Sacred Timeline. In an interview with Screen Rant, he said,
“We’ve been a little bit cagey about what’s Sacred Timeline, what’s not Sacred Timeline…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…I think that I, personally, Brad Winderbaum, would be confident in saying it is part of the Sacred Timeline.”
The confirmation has also made several characters in the Netflix shows officially canon.
The One Problem With Netflix’s Shows Being MCU Canon
With the Netflix-Marvel shows being officially canon, many of the characters that appeared in these shows have also been part of the MCU timeline. While characters such as Wilson Fisk, Foggy Nelson, and Matt Murdock have already made their appearances in the MCU, other characters such as David Tennant’s Killgrave or Wilson Bethel’s Bullseye have the potential to appear as well.
While for most characters this might not be an issue, the canonization of the Netflix shows might be confusing for one reason. Mahershala Ali was cast as Blade in the films and was confirmed to appear in an upcoming solo film based on the character. The actor made a vocal appearance in the post-credits scene of Eternals.
However, Mahershala Ali has already played the role of the mafia gangster Cottonmouth in the Netflix series Luke Cage. The actor portrayed the role in the first season of the show and was acclaimed for his performance. Ali’s inclusion in the Sacred Timeline now exposes a flaw in the continuity of the franchise.
With the actor all set to appear as Blade, it might be tough to explain away the flaw. Though Cottonmouth is killed off in the show, Ali’s portrayal of two characters in the same franchise would be a tough one to crack.
