An 11-year MCU timeline trend is about to be broken courtesy of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2's debut on Disney+. Born Again Season 1 already broke major ground for the MCU, as it helped integrate Netflix's Defenders Saga into the canon story for Earth-616 and the Sacred Timeline. Looking ahead to its second season, the show will continue to buck trends in a way that should be a cause for celebration in the MCU fandom.
Daredevil: Born Again star Vincent D'Onofrio confirmed when Season 2 takes place on the greater MCU timeline. D'Onofrio is in the midst of an MCU revival with his role as Kingpin, returning to the franchise to play Wilson Fisk in Hawkeye before playing the villain again in Echo. With Fisk looking to be an even more terrifying force after Born Again's Season 1, MCU fans have a better idea of what to expect upon his return.
Speaking with Gold Derby, D'Onofrio said, "We pick up where we left off" when Daredevil: Born Again returns for Season 2, indicating it will take place immediately after Season 1. Touching on how New York is under martial law after Season 1, the Kingpin star teased things getting "even more intense" and spoke on the "feeling of a resistance being formed" on Matt Murdock's side of the fight:
"We pick up where we left off, and things are just getting increasingly intense. At the end of the first season, he's declared martial law, and that doesn't go away. That gets even more intense, and there's a feeling of a resistance being formed with Charlie's side of the show. Aspects of that continue through the second season in very intense ways. So I really can't say much more than that, but the story continues to move forward."
This will be the first time any MCU Netflix show or series associated with the Defenders Saga has a season pick up immediately after the events of its respective previous season. It bucks a notable trend from the Netflix shows in which the overall timeline had large gaps between when seasons ended and began, especially since it was made up of six different stories overlapping with one another.
However, this detail is most likely due to the creative overhaul that took place during the middle of Season 1's production. Initially, Born Again was meant to kick off with one season that was 18 episodes long, which would have been an MCU Disney+ record. During initial production, it was split into two nine-episode seasons, which explains why they take place so close to one another.
Daredevil: Born Again continues the story laid out in Netflix's Daredevil series and the Defenders Saga behind Matt Murdock and his crew of friends. Starring Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio, the show picks up with Matt Murdock in the midst of his run as Daredevil while Kingpin becomes the Mayor of New York and wreaks havoc on the Big Apple and Hell's Kitchen. Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 will debut on Disney+ in 2026.
Will This New Timeline Trend Continue After Daredevil: Born Again Season 2?
While this news about Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is exciting, the MCU is so big that it remains difficult to keep a trend like this going. Phase 5 already has a couple of notable inconsistencies from a timeline perspective, and upcoming projects are set to expand the timeline further.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is confirmed to take place well after its predecessor, with set photos indicating it will be set as far as three years after Spider-Man: No Way Home in the MCU timeline. This marks a change from the last two Spider-Man movies, which used the same method as Born Again's two seasons by taking place directly next to one another in the grand scheme of the MCU.
The only other notable comparison is to Loki Season 2. Season 2 of Tom Hiddleston's series also picked up right after the cliffhanger of the prior season finale. Perhaps this could indicate that Marvel Studios will try to keep its multi-season live-action shows more tightly contained to a specific timeframe rather than having major time jumps.
Along with a horde of Disney+ projects, multiple timelines will play a huge role, as the next two confirmed movies after Spider-Man 4 are Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. While Doomsday is already partially confirmed to be set 14 months after Thunderbolts*, fans will not know how it relates to Secret Wars until at least the end of 2026 in the real world.
Richard Nebens joined The Direct in March 2020, now serving as the site's Senior Writer and also working as an assistant editor and content creator. He started his journalism career as a hobby in 2019 and is passionate about sharing news and stories from the entertainment industry, especially comic book movies, comedy, and sci-fi. Richard looks to expand his knowledge about movies and TV every day, and he is eager to stay locked into the latest releases and breaking news at every opportunity.
