Marvel Cinematic Universe - Timeline

[TalonCard]

Haven't seen Luke Cage, but I think that for things like NBA 2K16 and the mention of the Knicks, we should just hand-wave it as the video game release date and the Knicks season being at different dates in the MCU than in the real world if they contradict, while reverse-calculating other dates from how the show matches up with the other two Netflix shows if possible.

Is there really that much to hand-wave in this case, though? The video game is a non-issue, as its September 2015 release date is before any of the suggested dates for episode 1. How specific is the Knicks conversation; can someone translate it for a non-sport person? Looking at the 2015 schedule, there were still plenty of games left as of November/early December, which seems to be around when this episode takes place.

TC

 

[TalonCard]

Actually, maybe there isn't a week span between 1x05 and 1x06.

In 1x08, Misty is interviewing the hostess, Candace, who mentions she saw Luke and Misty together the "other night" at the club. This refers to the first episode, so there must not have been any large expanse of time between those two episodes (1x05 and 1x06) as I previously thought. Maybe Luke was using his powers more subtly to stop problems in neighborhood before?

I would think that's a vague enough statement that it could account for any period of time in the recent past--all it means is that she can't remember exactly what date or how long ago it was. Given that Luke Cage only takes place over a couple of months at the absolute most, it would work for any point in that timespan, IMO.

We just have to assume the dash cam is wrong due to the hard Christmas dates in Daredevil Season 2, and Luke Cage occurring after DD Season 2 (at the very least after 2x11, and given 2x12-2x13 follow immediately after, its safe to assume entirely of Luke Cage picks up after DD Season 2.

Its easier to assume the dash cam was wrong than trying to rewrite when Christmas occurs in the MCU.

I wouldn't bend over backwards to accommodate the dashcam date either, but what was the context for the Christmas references in DD? I think it might work; it looks like there's only a couple of weeks difference as the timeline stands now.

TC

 

[DIrishB]

The fact Daredevil Season 2's episodes follow one after the other. There's a few day span max between episodes when Frank's trial starts (think it's in 2x07 off top of my head), but it leads directly into Christmas in final episode. There can't be too large a span of time between rest of episode and the closing on Christmas Eve due to physical injuries and Frank's motivations/accepting the Punisher identity.

We also know per Luke Cage that Daredevil 2x11 recently happened, and since Daredevil 2x12 and 2x13 follow directly from there, ending on Christmas Eve, Luke Cage having Claire Temple confirm that it's occurring after events of Daredevil 2x11 and that she took a bit of time off to collect herself after the Hand attack at hospital, it's likely the entirety of Luke Cage occurs after Daredevil Season 2's finale. Further, even IF there is some direct crossover link (which there is no evidence of), it doesn't solve the fact DD's 2x11 happen in mid/late December, and must occur BEFORE Luke Cage 1x05 (which also MUST occur before Luke Cage 1x09 which features the dash cam footage showing Dec 1)... it doesn't work, no matter what.

And since the Christmas holiday is referenced directly in decorations and dialogue in Daredevil 2x13, there's no way to ignore that or override that. It's more logical to assume the dash cam was wrong. Well, actually that they made a mistake, but for cohesiveness of timeline assume the Dec 1 date isn't accurate, else we have to ignore Daredevil's Christmas references in 2x13.

I'm going to finish researching Daredevil Season 2 once I'm done with Luke Cage and see if it's possible to insert a longer span of time between the Christmas portions for Daredevil. I may do so anyway, to help account for the heat wave and July date and the later episodes... maybe several months pass in that final episode and I viewed it wrong originally? I'll see.

IF that's the case, though, it would allow pushing Daredevil Season 2 up to occurring from mid to late July/early August through most of 2x13, then Luke Cage from late November to early December, then the Christmas scenes of 2x13. That could account for all the current timeline problems relating to heat wave, the Dec 1 date in Luke Cage, and the Christmas scenes in Daredevil.

 

[SexySnorlax]

How specific is the Knicks conversation; can someone translate it for a non-sport person? Looking at the 2015 schedule, there were still plenty of games left as of November/early December, which seems to be around when this episode takes place.

TC

In the real world, a Latvian player named Kristaps Porziņģis joined the NBA and the New York Knicks on June 25, 2015 and Knicks fans booed him because they thought he was terrible.

On October 7th, he played his first game with the team (preseason) to mixed reviews.

On October 28th, he played his first season game and people who were paying attention to the preseason were starting to warm up to him.

In the opening scene of the show, Pop finds it crazy how even tho the Knicks lost 65 games last season, they only got the fourth round draft pick (in Basketball, the worst team gets first pick at new players, the second worst team gets second pick, etc.).

Then Pop says, "that Russian kid they picked better be good"
Fisch corrects him and says "he's Latvian" (Porziņģis)
Then they change the subject to the list of people who get free cuts at the shop.

All of this is irrelevant and a continuity error tho unless someone can find a 4 month gap between DD 2x11 and 2x13.

 

[jhed13]

The Seagate prison flashbacks in Luke Cage 1x04 likely occur in 2012. The Nicki Minaj statement implies it's at least 2010, the Zoe Kravitz comment implies at least 2011 (when she gained more fame), and the GoPro HERO3 HD cameras used to film the prison fights weren't released until 2012.

This also aligns well with the established timeline of Jessica Jones which had Reva dying in January, 2014. Presumably, Luke was in prison at Seagate around 2012 when the flashbacks occur. He escapes in same year, and he and Reva live together for a year or so before her death in Jan 2014.

I believe it was the first episode that Shades made a reference that he just got done serving 3 years.

 

[TalonCard]

I'm going to finish researching Daredevil Season 2 once I'm done with Luke Cage and see if it's possible to insert a longer span of time between the Christmas portions for Daredevil. I may do so anyway, to help account for the heat wave and July date and the later episodes... maybe several months pass in that final episode and I viewed it wrong originally? I'll see.
IF that's the case, though, it would allow pushing Daredevil Season 2 up to occurring from mid to late July/early August through most of 2x13, then Luke Cage from late November to early December, then the Christmas scenes of 2x13. That could account for all the current timeline problems relating to heat wave, the Dec 1 date in Luke Cage, and the Christmas scenes in Daredevil.

Yeah, I'm hoping for something like that, where Luke Cage can end before Daredevil does, even though most of Daredevil's episodes take place before the beginning of Luke Cage. (The presence of Blake Tower at the end of LC may yet prevent this; I'm not sure.) I wasn't pushing for ignoring whatever actually takes place on Christmas Eve, but if some scenes with Christmas decorations happen to take place a little earlier, for example, I don't think that's a big deal. I might take a look too, cause I'm curious about this myself.

It really seems like the Netflix writers have a definite idea of when in the year a season takes place, but they also want events to explicitly or implicitly follow closely on one another in order to build tension and keep you watching, and the two just aren't matching up. I wonder if it would be possible to make the two ends meet better by ignoring all but the most explicit references to time passing within the shows. Not the approach of this timeline, I know, but I'm looking for a rewatch order that won't make my brain explode.

In the real world, a Latvian player named Kristaps Porziņģis joined the NBA and the New York Knicks on June 25, 2015 and Knicks fans booed him because they thought he was terrible.

On October 7th, he played his first game with the team (preseason) to mixed reviews.

On October 28th, he played his first season game and people who were paying attention to the preseason were starting to warm up to him.

In the opening scene of the show, Pop finds it crazy how even tho the Knicks lost 65 games last season, they only got the fourth round draft pick (in Basketball, the worst team gets first pick at new players, the second worst team gets second pick, etc.).

Then Pop says, "that Russian kid they picked better be good"
Fisch corrects him and says "he's Latvian" (Porziņģis)
Then they change the subject to the list of people who get free cuts at the shop.

All of this is irrelevant and a continuity error tho unless someone can find a 4 month gap between DD 2x11 and 2x13.

Or alternatively, a gap between that scene in Luke Cage and the bulk of his show. But, for real, thank you! It probably sounds silly, but I really needed some context for all of that. It kind of sounds like it could be as simple as everyone in the room not having been together to discuss basketball recently. Depends on how often they got their hair cut--it's possible that Pops has been using that "Russian kid" line to spark conversation since the draft. And isn't it possible that Pops still hasn't seen enough of him yet to form a definite opinion? Surely not every fan was decided on the quality of Porziņģis's playing as of October 28th? (I'm seriously asking; I have no idea how long it takes sports fans to form a consensus.)

It definitely does sound like they were using the sports talk to indicate a July-Octoberish setting, but it also doesn't seem like it would stretch credulity much if the same scene were in November. (Coming from a non sports fan.) (That said, maybe all we don't agree on is what constitutes a hand-wave in this case. )

TC

 

[fuzzyfoot]

is there something that definitely places any of the last 3 episodes of DD S2 in December outside of characters saying its Christmas Eve? I'm asking because I know someone who lived in NY for years and walked those streets all the time. November 26th, it is COLD he told me in comparison to a heat wave.

I get the feeling that time is relative to the showrunners in spite of episodes seemingly happening one after another. If there is a potential gap between scenes, perhaps days pass and we never really know. I'm saying this because its the only way to account for so much time passing on the seasons yet seemingly taking place over the course of a couple days.

 

[DIrishB]

In episode 9 of Luke Cage, Claire drives Cage to the doctor who performed the experiment on him, somewhere in Georgia.
It was likely a 10-14 hour drive depending on traveling speed and where in Georgia they drove to, but they left presumably that morning so the entire episode can still occur in a one day period.

I believe it was the first episode that Shades made a reference that he just got done serving 3 years.

Yup.

 

[DIrishB]

is there something that definitely places any of the last 3 episodes of DD S2 in December outside of characters saying its Christmas Eve? I'm asking because I know someone who lived in NY for years and walked those streets all the time. November 26th, it is COLD he told me in comparison to a heat wave.

I get the feeling that time is relative to the showrunners in spite of episodes seemingly happening one after another. If there is a potential gap between scenes, perhaps days pass and we never really know. I'm saying this because its the only way to account for so much time passing on the seasons yet seemingly taking place over the course of a couple days.

There really is no way to insert any large gaps in Daredevil Season 2. Dialogue, injuries, etc all pin the episodes down to happening one after the other, with exception of a few days, week at most, between 2x06 and 2x07 (Castle's trial was rushed to be within a week of 2x06's ending, as Foggy stated).

 

[Zpdedoda]

Is it possible to think episode 1 of Luke Cage takes place over 3 days? Or would the New York Bulliton have gotten the story out on the same day rather than the following morning?

 

[jhed13]

Yup.

Which means the prison scenes likely take place in 2013, rather than 2012 as you had said previously. I guess that's all depending on the conclusion of what you guys come up with for a definite placement of the rest of the series

 

[Hurricanebtvs]

Not related to the timeline, but it bugs me so much that Luke Cage was prolific in the news for being a metahuman (Along with Jessica Jones as there are references to her killing Kilgrave) and we're supposed to believe Tony Stark isn't interested in them?

It's things like this that make it hard to over look that the movies and shows are never going to cross over.

 

[TalonCard]

In episode 9 of Luke Cage, Claire drives Cage to the doctor who performed the experiment on him, somewhere in Georgia.
It was likely a 10-14 hour drive depending on traveling speed and where in Georgia they drove to, but they left presumably that morning so the entire episode can still occur in a one day period.

IIRC, Claire makes a reference to an approximate number of hours the trip took, on the beach after they are finished with the doctor, so that should be correct.

Not related to the timeline, but it bugs me so much that Luke Cage was prolific in the news for being a metahuman (Along with Jessica Jones as there are references to her killing Kilgrave) and we're supposed to believe Tony Stark isn't interested in them?

It's things like this that make it hard to over look that the movies and shows are never going to cross over.

Who's to say he wasn't? There's more than enough time between all of these stories for him to reach out to Jessica (probably through an intermediary) and get rejected. (I can't imagine Jessica Jones would work well at all with Tony Stark.) And depending on when and where the Defenders picks up,

Spoiler

it looks like Luke Cage will be in prison during the events of Civil War.

I realize the Netflix series doesn't have as much in the way of direct crossovers as of yet, but Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter both starred supporting characters from the films and have featured several appearances by other film characters to date, so it's not like there hasn't been some significant crossover activity already. True, we haven't seen TV characters in the movies yet, but it's likely only a matter of time and logistics. (I suspect some doors will open a little once some of these shows actually end, so the film writers don't have to worry about coordinating with an ongoing and fluctuating TV storyline.)

Has anyone been following the rumor that

Spoiler

the Punisher will appear on S.H.I.E.L.D. this season? I'm honestly a little ambivalent about the character at this point, but I think it's a great way to crossover with the Netflix shows without disrupting the timeline, and maybe even tie an arc through Daredevil, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Punisher series by having Castle find out where Micro is through Skye.

TC

 

[DIrishB]

Which means the prison scenes likely take place in 2013, rather than 2012 as you had said previously. I guess that's all depending on the conclusion of what you guys come up with for a definite placement of the rest of the series

Not really. Shades says in late 2015 he just got done serving 3 years. That could still place the Seagate flashbacks to 2012.

Don't forget Reva definitively is killed in Jan, 2014.

So, sometime in 2012 Luke escapes from Seagate and goes underground with help from Reva. At some point she helps him buy a bar and he tends bar there for 2-3 years. Reva dies in early 2014 and Luke continues working at the bar until it burns down during events of Jessica Jones Season 1 in early 2015.

Don't forget Luke Cage occurs in late 2015.

Not related to the timeline, but it bugs me so much that Luke Cage was prolific in the news for being a metahuman (Along with Jessica Jones as there are references to her killing Kilgrave) and we're supposed to believe Tony Stark isn't interested in them?

It's things like this that make it hard to over look that the movies and shows are never going to cross over.

Eh, who is to say Tony isn't interested? However, it's equally likely after events of Civil War, that Tony isn't willing to take chance on someone like Jessica Jones who is a bit of a head case, or Luke Cage who is a felon who escaped from prison. Even Daredevil's continued vigilantism makes him guilty of breaking Sokovia Accords at this point.

IIRC, Claire makes a reference to an approximate number of hours the trip took, on the beach after they are finished with the doctor, so that should be correct.

Yeah she mentions 28 hours ago, but that includes the time they spent at the doctor's place trying to remove shrapnel from Cage's skin, and his sleeping/recuperating time. She also mentioned it was 800 mile drive so from NYC, presuming she's traveling at 70 mph or so, it'd be around a 11-12 hour drive max.

 

[TSchweibz]

Has anyone been following the rumor that

Spoiler

the Punisher will appear on S.H.I.E.L.D. this season? I'm honestly a little ambivalent about the character at this point, but I think it's a great way to crossover with the Netflix shows without disrupting the timeline, and maybe even tie an arc through Daredevil, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Punisher series by having Castle find out where Micro is through Skye.

TC

Yea I've heard this, but isn't Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. like almost a year ahead of DDS2?

 

[DIrishB]

Yea I've heard this, but isn't Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. like almost a year ahead of DDS2?

It is but there's no reason there couldn't be a crossover, long as it's set post Daredevil Season 2 it'd work timeline wise.

That said I doubt we'll see any sort of crossover element between the ABC and Netflix shows, even though they're produced by same teams. Be great if it did happen but wouldn't hold my breath waiting on it.

 

[Donutman]

There really is no way to insert any large gaps in Daredevil Season 2. Dialogue, injuries, etc all pin the episodes down to happening one after the other, with exception of a few days, week at most, between 2x06 and 2x07 (Castle's trial was rushed to be within a week of 2x06's ending, as Foggy stated).

Hey, DIrishB, i did some research on DD Episode 13 to look for possible time-jumps to Christmas. I think a lot can have happened between Elektra's Funeral and Christmas Eve.
Making it even possible to end Luke Cage in mid-december. Thus explaining the lack of Christmas decoration, snow etc.

This way, the Dashcam board works. What you think?

JJ Season 1

??-?? LC S01x02 Turk shows up in Harlem and flees back to Hell's Kitchen (Where it's safe)
??-?? DD S02x02 Turks gets attacked by DD and gets (off-screen) arrested.
??-?? DD S02x11 Claire quits her job
??-?? DD s02x13 Turk is taken hostage. Due to his arrest, he wears a ankle bracelet and gets cut in the leg.
??-?? DD s02x13 0:43 Timejump to funeral Elektra (+/- a few days)
??-?? LC S01x05 Claire arives in Harlem
01-12 LC s01x09 Dash cam footage
??-12 LC S01x12 Turk is back in Harlem, released from his ankle bracelet and healed from his cut.
??-12 DD s02x13 0:46 Timejump into Christmas decoration at Josie's bar with karen (probaly +/- a few days for Christmas eve)
24-12 DD s02x13 0:48 Timejump to the New York Bulletin, where Karen is still working on her article. First sight of snow.
??-?? DD S02x13 0:55 Possible timejump to where Elektra is removed from her grave.

 

[Zpdedoda]

Hey, DIrishB, i did some research on DD Episode 13 to look for possible time-jumps to Christmas. I think a lot can have happened between Elektra's Funeral and Christmas Eve.
Making it even possible to end Luke Cage in mid-december. Thus explaining the lack of Christmas decoration, snow etc.

This way, the Dashcam board works. What you think?

JJ Season 1

??-?? LC S01x02 Turk shows up in Harlem and flees back to Hell's Kitchen (Where it's safe)
??-?? DD S02x02 Turks gets attacked by DD and gets (off-screen) arrested.
??-?? DD S02x11 Claire quits her job
??-?? DD s02x13 Turk is taken hostage. Due to his arrest, he wears a ankle bracelet and gets cut in the leg.
??-?? DD s02x13 0:43 Timejump to funeral Elektra (+/- a few days)
??-?? LC S01x05 Claire arives in Harlem
01-12 LC s01x09 Dash cam footage
??-12 LC S01x12 Turk is back in Harlem, released from his ankle bracelet and healed from his cut.
??-12 DD s02x13 0:46 Timejump into Christmas decoration at Josie's bar with karen (probaly +/- a few days for Christmas eve)
24-12 DD s02x13 0:48 Timejump to the New York Bulletin, where Karen is still working on her article. First sight of snow.
??-?? DD S02x13 0:55 Possible timejump to where Elektra is removed from her grave.

I think it's more likely to have all of LC happening after the Elektra funeral, snow is on the ground for it which then gives time for it to vanish in order to make the LC weather work before jumping back to DD for the Christmas scenes.

 

[DIrishB]

Yeah it seems clear Luke Cage picks up after events of Daredevil Season 2 with exception of last few scenes set around Christmas time.

 

[DIrishB]

So I'm almost done rewatching Daredevil Season 2.

The first six episodes must occur in late July, based on the heat wave and the police report date. These episodes follow one after the other without breaks. We can assume 2x07 picks up sometime later. It's said the trial will start next week in 2x06, but we can push it several months later to make sense of Christmas stuff in final episode, as well as the fall colors/leaves changing as shown in 2x10. In that same episode Matt mentions Foggy is watching a Jets game, so that means it must occur between September and December. If we push 2x07 to 2x13 to November (there is a break point in 2x13 which allows a few weeks to pass to place it around Christmas), it solves most of the timeline problems for the Netflix shows.

So, Daredevil Season 2 (2x01-2x06) begins in July, then 2x07-2x13 occur in November with final portion of 2x13 occurring around Christmas. Luke Cage occurs from late November to early December.

Fisk mentions in 2x10 that he met Matt at the art gallery several months ago (placing Season 1 only several months before), but the weather shown in late Season 1 makes that impossible unless we assume snow is falling in Spring/Summer, which is unlikely. We'll just have to assume he was under-estimating.

I'll have timeline updated tomorrow for new dates.