Spoiler alert! This article contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again episodes 1 & 2.
With the premiere ofDaredevil: Born Again, theMarvel Cinematic Universe’s chronology has once again found itself in the spotlight. While many were excited to see Charlie Cox return as Matt Murdock inShe-Hulk: Attorney at LawandEcho,Born Againraises new questions about where exactly it fits inthe larger MCU. The more I analyze it, the more convinced I am thatAvengers: Endgameirreparably brokethe MCU’s timeline.
Daredevil: Born Againrevives Netflix’s acclaimedDaredevilseries, which kickstartedThe Defenderstelevision franchise. These were originally made as official MCU cannon but were subsequently removed when Marvel began making their own series on Disney+. However, after Charlie Cox’s Daredevil and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin were so widely praised, they were incorporated back into the franchise. This led to the Netflix saga also being reintergrated into the convoluted MCU timeline.
How Daredevil: Born Again Fits Into The Post-Endgame MCU Timeline
Marvel Have Not Confirmed When Daredevil: Born Again Is Set
Figuring out whenDaredevil: Born Againoccurs is a headache, but some clues help us piece it together. Charlie Cox has previously stated thatShe-Hulktakes place beforeBorn Again. Meanwhile,EchoandHawkeye(which introduced Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin back into the MCU)were both set in late 2024. Given that Matt Murdock appeared inShe-HulkafterEcho, that meansShe-Hulklikely takes place sometime in 2025.
I Can’t Believe I Missed The Coolest Detail About The Daredevil: Born Again Scene When Matt Murdock Uses His Heightened Hearing For The First Time
Daredevil: Born Again sees The Man Without Fear in a brand new series that includes new visual references to his enhanced superhuman abilities.
Based on details fromBorn Again, it appears the series opens in 2025, when Matt Murdock was still active as Daredevil. However, there’s a major time jump: roughly 12 months later, the story moves forward to 2026. One of the biggest indications of the timeline is Wilson Fisk’s campaign for mayor, which culminates in a major New Year’s Eve event –likely marking the transition from 2026 to 2027. This means thatDaredevil: Born Againwill be one of the latest entries in the MCU’s current timeline.
Avengers: Endgame’s 5-Year Time Jump Broke The MCU Timeline
Avengers: Endgame Introduced A Time Jump To Depict The Blip
BeforeEndgame, the MCU followed a timeline thatlargely mirrored real-world chronology.Iron Man(2008) was set in 2008,The Avengers(2012) took place in 2012, and so on. It was easy to track the passage of time and understand when events happened relative to each other. Then cameEndgameand its infamous five-year time jump. The movie begins in 2018 (the yearInfinity Warwas released) but jumps ahead to 2023 after the Avengers kill Thanos.
Every Daredevil Character Who Doesn’t Return In Born Again
The new series serves as a sequel to the Netflix-produced Daredevil show, but several important characters from the 2015 show do not return.
Since then, Marvel has struggled to keep its post-Endgametimeline coherent, leading to contradictory statements, inconsistencies, and a general sense of confusion about when exactly certain events take place. Now, everything is skewed with most of Phase 4 and Phase 5 stuck ina nebulous period between 2023 and 2026. Nevertheless, Marvel Studios still tries to maintain some sense of real-time progression, but it often contradicts itself.
For example,Agatha: All Alongis set three years afterWandaVision, placing it around 2026. Meanwhile,The Marvelsseems to take place in 2025, overlapping withMs. MarvelandSecret Invasion. Shows likeMoon KnightandMs. Marvelhave vague placement,with no direct indicators of when they happen. The biggest issue is that Marvel still wants to pretend the world naturally moved forward from the Blip, but because they’re forced to stick to their timeline, the cracks are increasingly visible.
How Marvel Can Fix The MCU Timeline
The MCU Timeline Is Reportedly Going To Be Tidied Up
At this point, there are only a few options for Marvel to fix the timeline mess. The simplest (and what they’ve largely been doing) is tojust ignore it. Most audiences don’t actively analyze the timeline, so as long as each story makes internal sense, it’s easier to gloss over the inconsistencies.
A Daredevil: Born Again Episode 1 Easter Egg Has Me Convinced The MCU Show’s Major Death Could Be A Fake Out
Daredevil: Born Again’s sneaky comic easter egg may be hinting at the return of a major character, whose death may not be as permanent as it seems.
However, for viewers who do attempt to map things out, the contradictions pile up fast. The more radical and possibly necessary solution is a soft reboot, which could come inAvengers: Secret Wars. If Marvel usesSecret Warsasan opportunity to reset the timeline, they could bring everything back in sync with real time. This would be the cleanest way to restore order and make future releases easier to place.
Secret Warsis already rumored to be a major multiversal event that could rework the MCU’s structure, so reverting back to something closer to real-world time could be achieved. For now, though, we’re stuck in a post-Endgameworld where the MCU timelinefeels increasingly fragile. WithDaredevil: Born Againfurther complicating things, it’s clear thatEndgame’sfive-year jump was a storytelling gamble that may have done more harm than good.
