Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

The latest trailer for new Disney Plus show Echo seems to confirm that the Netflix Daredevil is canon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but does it really matter when we’re playing in a multiverse?

Ever since the Marvel Cinematic Universe became a pop culture phenomenon, there has been a raging debate about whether the Marvel television series, Netflix or otherwise, were canon to the MCU. But does this really matter when there is a multiverse in play? 

Why there was a historical debate

For anyone playing catch-up, let’s recap…

With Agents of SHIELD (2013) it was obvious that there was an intended canonical link, at least on the show’s side. Created as a vehicle for fan-favourite Agent Coulson, the show directly referenced the events of The Avengers and other key moments, such as the collapse of SHIELD in Captain America: Winter Soldier. It was clear that the show was intended to be a cousin of the MCU if not a sibling in respect of canon.

The hugely popular Netflix Marvel shows announced in November 2013, and airing from April 2015 with the release of the first season of Daredevil, were definitely marketed by Jeph Loeb, the Head of Marvel Television at the time, as being set in the MCU. Indeed the shows seemed to follow the formula created by the movies: individual heroes were showcased in their own properties before being brought together in a team outing The Defenders (2017). While the critical reception of the various shows differed, they were generally well-received and their darker, more adult tone and content was warmly received by many Marvel fans.

(Let’s not speak of the disaster that was Inhumans (2017) and I really don’t know enough about Cloak and Dagger (2018) to comment).

Yet it wasn’t clear if any of the shows were considered canon in the movie world. Between April 2015 and November 2021, none of the MCU movies made reference to the TV shows. Events in New York were not referenced; characters were not referenced (outside of Coulson who remained dead in the movies); none of the popular actors appeared in the movies (note: Coulson did return for Captain Marvel which was set in the MCU’s past when canonically he was still alive). There was a distinct lack of connection that seemed to speak volumes about whether those in charge of the movies considered them canon.  

Once Disney Plus kicked off and the TV and movies were brought under the same stewardship, it was clear from the off that the shows for Disney Plus, such as WandaVision (2021), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), etc. would be considered canon, but side-stories that delved deeper into the characters or told stories that were more suited for television than movies. 

In November 2021 Vincent D’Onofrio reprised his role as Wilson Fisk in Hawkeye (2021) sparking a flood of speculation on whether this meant Netflix’s Daredevil was canon. Yet the character seemed altered from that show’s depiction of him and fans generally complained that the changes were not for the better. Better received was Charlie Cox reprising the role of Matt Murdoch in Spiderman No Way Home (2021), the first of the MCU movies to start to delve into the multiverse with the addition of former movie versions of Peter Parker turning up to assist Tom Holland’s MCU Peter.

More speculation bubbled up on the canon debate.

And then Disney Plus began to air the other television shows in 2022, and there was an announcement that there would be a new series of Daredevil with both Cox and D’Onofrio back. There was a statement from Cox that indicated the new show was going to be its own thing and some fans were quick to point out that the new show couldn’t possibly be canon if other roles like Foggy were recast and the original TV actors not invited back (of course, roles have been recast within the MCU before, see Iron Man’s James Rhodes). 

In October 2023 many online sites reported that President of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige had written a foreword in Marvel Studios The Marvel Cinematic Universe The Official Timeline which indicated that while the book covered the Sacred Timeline (the one true timeline blown up in the Loki TV series) there were other Marvel canonical stories told by different story-tellers in the same period which exist in the multiverse and who knew what might happen if they crashed or collided with each other.

This week Echo dropped its latest trailer ahead of its release on January 9th and it included flashbacks to events in Daredevil. Suddenly the confirmation that the old show was considered MCU canon is seemingly just there. 

That brings us up to date on the history…so back to the question…

Does any of this matter when you’re dealing with a multiverse?

Well, yes.

There still has to be internal cohesion and consistency when building fictional worlds, universes or multiverses. Nonsensical things can exist so long as there is an in-universe (or in-multiverse) explanation for them. If there isn’t, they remain nonsensical and while a writer or creator may aim for a surrealist and/or abstract take, it may make the story much less satisfying to an audience watching a show or movie, or a reader immersed in a novel. It’s why fans complained about the last seasons of Game of Thrones and Lost.

Returning to the MCU, it’s why one of the major fan complaints has been the seeming inconsistencies within the MCU about how the multiverse and time travel works between the various different movies and shows.  

It’s why Hawkeye‘s take on Wilson Fisk wasn’t warmly received. It was inconsistent with expectation and was perceived therefore as nonsensical. We went from a complex and gritty depiction of a crime boss to what seemed like a cartoonish caricature of the villain. Hawaiian shirts anyone? Yet here’s the rub: in the multiverse, there could exist a Wilson Fisk who loves Hawaiian shirts; who looks and sounds the same and who has perhaps lived a very similar life, but is different.

Maybe none of the fans wanted such a Fisk, but one could exist.

I truly believe that nothing outside of the movies and the new Disney Plus shows was meant to be canon to the MCU except where there was a “crash” which acknowledged that version of the character(s) existed – prime examples being Spiderman No Way Home‘s team-up of Spidermen or the Other Universe Illuminati depicted in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse (2022) which included Fox’s X-Men (2000-2020) version of Professor X and bizarrely Anson Mount from Inhumans returning as Black Bolt. 

But then a new version of Fisk wasn’t wanted; the old one was. 

And Marvel has been struggling to engage fans in Phase 5 with complaints about the quality of story-telling and consistency – both for the movies and for the Disney Plus TV shows.     

The second season of Loki ended with the Sacred Timeline destroyed and Loki holding the branches of a multiversal Yggdrasil. This enables Marvel to consider what they want to keep as truly ‘owned’ by the main storyline and characters, and what they want to handwave away as ‘it is canon, but it all happened in another universe’ (and please let one of these things be She-Hulk) as it provides an in-story reason for why things might be different.

Over the course of 2023, it was clear that Marvel was resetting its creative direction and I believe its decision on what is consistent for its canon from the TV shows and what is not. 

Indeed, the production of Daredevil: Born Again is evidence of that since in September 2023 news broke that it was doing a reset with a new showrunner hired and the previous head writers fired. We went from actors alluding to the idea that the show was its own thing before the creative shuffle to statements from writers that its being reimagined to be much more aligned with its Netflix past.

When Echo’s first trailer dropped in November 2023, it’s clear that its creative looks to be much more in line with Netflix than the previous Disney show versions. It is adult-rated with a darker tone and violence. A lot of fans went from not excited at all based on Echo’s introduction and the depiction of Fisk in Hawkeye to at least intrigued. This latest trailer which confirms elements at least of the old shows are canon has increased that intrigue a tad with fans, if not generated actual real interest and excitement. Hopefully Echo will deliver on its promise.

And I am hopeful. The success of the MCU was built on leaning into fans’ desires and expectations, even if there were twists and different takes, not outright ignoring and completely subverting them.

Updated 16/01: Review: Echo.