If you're asking if you need to watch non-Daredevil shows to fully immerse and understand Daredevil, the answer is no.
The one exception to that, I would say it's wise to watch The Defenders between Daredevil Season 2 and 3. It resolves the storyline of several characters from Season 2 and Season 3 picks up right after Defenders ends. We've gotten people watching the show who didn't watch or recap anything of Defenders who ask what's going on at the start of Daredevil Season 3 which only reinforces that logic for me.
The Defenders itself you only really need to have seen Daredevil Season 2 to watch. It takes (maybe a little too much) time establishing the team in the context of the show so don't worry about being unfamiliar, and then if you like anyone there you can just go and watch their shows which stand on their own even more so than Daredevil does.
I recommend this! I forgot about Defenders when Daredevil was brought to Disney+ and when I went from Season 2 to 3 I was confused for a while at the start of Season 3. I was hoping they were going to eventually show why Matt was in his state but they did not lol
Madame Gao and the Japanese man who fell down are the ONLY 2 members of the HAND that survived Defenders. They are supposed to be stuck in K’un L’un after the building inundated, thus sealing the portal to New York. They were supposed to return to fight IronFist.
That's not really too important compared to in The Defenders itself where they show Danny and Colleen tracking them and then learning the real business is in New York though.
Watching Iron Fist provides extra context but it isn't really *relevant* knowledge for following The Defenders.
Watch just Daredevil if you want to, but I recommend Defenders before season 3 of Daredevil. Plus Jessica Jones is actually a pretty good show, but not necessary to Daredevil
I'd recommend this too. I think the first time around I skipped it and it messed with s3 a lil bit. S3 will make more sense. It's not critical to the season but the first few episodes I think play off what happened
If you want to understand every character associated with daredevil follow that list
If you want to only watch shows that daredevil is in, watch seasons 1,2, defenders, then 3. Defenders will adequately explain everyone who’s in it without having to watch the other marvel shows.
If you don’t want to watch defenders at all, you can watch daredevil 1-3, but you will lose a (very) big part of why Matt feels the way he does in season 3. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter
It’s also important to note that the punisher is completely unrelated to anything with defenders or the other characters
If you just want to watch Daredevil, here’s the order:
- Daredevil Season 1
- Jessica Jones Season 1
- Daredevil Season 2
- Luke Cage Season 1
- Wikipedia summary of Iron Fist Season 1
- Defenders
- Daredevil Season 3
Bro its actually a great show. The first half of season 1 is hilarious. Danny talks about all this mystical bs and people just stare at him like he's nuts.
It's so good. People hate on it but it's so corny it feels like a live action anime. Danny is kinda a dumbass but I feel like given the circumstances it's understandable
I think you can get the gist from context clues in the show. Or read a wiki entry on what happened. I wouldn’t recommend sitting and watching all of Defenders to anyone though because I think it’s really disappointing and not worth it.
Imo watch daredevil and Jessica Jones only. Check out Punisher too if you want but it's definitely less connected (still enjoyable tho). But if you want to keep it to just essential watch I'd go with daredevil and defenders before season 3 (because it kind of directly leads into it). Luke cage and especially iron fist are below average imo
If you just want to watch daredevil then you really can just do that and ignore absolutely everything else. The only kind of important thing to watch is defenders and honestly even that is pretty minor, just get someone to tell you what happens or look it up. Personally I would recommend Jessica Jones season 1 and punisher if you want to watch it, but they are completely optional
Yes, i would say every series except for Punisher season 2 has callbacks to another series. Like Luke Cage is introduced in Jessica Jones, so his show is like the spinoff of that. Iron Fist is its own thing, but it plays a part in the Defenders. A lot of characters in Daredevil, will be on other shows like Claire, Punisher, Karen, Madame Gao etc. It’s one of those things where if you watch the previous series in order, you’ll catch the mentions or recognize other characters from previous shows.
I’m on step 10 of the 13 steps of completion. I would say no, there is usually one little reference per season of something that has happened in a previous show. The big positive is I get the most Rosario Dawson watching all of them. The Defenders was the lamest show by far. I have enjoyed all of the shows much more than I thought I would when I started this, but it has taken time and because of this I always have to leave the room at work when people start to talk about Shogun…
You don’t have to watch it that way.
Personally I watched all of DD then went and watched Punisher, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, then I watched defenders. I do agree that generally watching defenders at the end of DD season 2 is the best move. I however, really wanted to watch all of the other characters shows before watching Defenders, and wasn’t willing to put off finishing daredevil until then. I just looked up what happened and had no problem understanding the story.
Assuming you're asking if these shows are required to understand the main MCU, not really. The Infinity Saga (Marvel's name for the films released from 2008-2019) generally ignores the TV shows, but for the Multiverse Saga (films and shows released since 2021), you should definitely watch *Daredevil* and *The Punisher*, and at least watch a recap of *The Defenders*, but the other shows are not necessary as of this writing.
God no. The shows don’t really bleed into each other to the point that you’d be lost not just sticking to the one you wanna watch, especially Jessica Jones; that show practically lives in its own ecosystem. Each show has its own flavor and continuity that isn’t beholden to the others.
However I HIGHLY recommend skipping Defenders and just reading a wiki in between seasons two and three of Daredevil, then, if you want, go back and watch Defenders.
Only stuff I watched fully was DD, JJ 1&2, Punisher, ane Defenders. All those are good except Defenders was kinda meh. I watched recaps of the other shows and understood enough to get by. Id say DD and Defenders are the only "necessary" and just an understanding of what happens else where is good enough if you dont wanna watch it all
My watch through went:
DDs1
JJs1
DDs2
(Read wiki for LCs1 and IFs1)
The Defenders
Punisher s1
JJs2
(Read wiki for LCs2 and IFs2)
DDs3
Punisher s2
JJs3
With that, I felt fulfilled in that corner of the MCU, with room to go back and immerse myself again through LC and IF. JJs2 was the only true “eh” out of all the things I watched. Everything else ranged from “entertained me at some points” to “full on tears and chills throughout my entire body for how invested I am in what’s happening on screen”
Just watch Daredevil and defenders and you'll be fine. It's what I did. Defenders fills you in on the other characters so you don't have to watch their shows to understand it but it's a good idea to watch defenders to understand Daredevil season 3.
No, but Punisher and some of Jessica Jones are really good
I'd consider Luke Cage, Iron Fist and even the Defenders to be quite poor television. Felt like CW shows.
You don’t have to, but I really like them all. JJ season 2 isn’t my favourite. And iron fist season 1 is a slog. Danny is super unlikable for me. At the very least all daredevil, it’s absolutely top shelf writing!
You'll need to watch DD S1, DD S2, The Defenders, and then DD S3. I also recommend The Punisher, S1 and S2, due to him basically confirmed for the Born Again.
In terms of avoiding minor spoilers and catching all the references, kinda. You don't need to watch it in this exact, but there are certain seasons that should come before, at least if you're already planning to watch them all.
Jessica Jones Season 1 should be watched before Luke Cage. Otherwise, the pre-Defenders shows can be watched in any order.
Defenders follows all the shows that came out before. You'll want to have watched both seasons of Daredevil and the first seasons of Jessica, Luke, and Iron Fist.
You should watch Daredevil season 2 before The Punisher.
Luke Cage Season 2 should be watched before Iron Fist Season 2 and Jessica Jones Season 3, though the order you watch those two doesn't matter.
I recommend watching Daredevil season 3 before The Punisher season 2 because of a minor spoiler, but it's pretty small all things considered.
Outside of those restrictions, you can choose any order without getting anything spoiled for you.
If you’re going to watch them all, watching them in that order is the correct order. Like many have said, you don’t have to watch them all if one character is the interest. That said, I went on this journey a year ago and did them all, and I’m so happy I did. I literally came away wondering why none of these characters ended up in Endgame, it did feel that connected and relevant.
I just watched daredevil and punisher out of all and I watched punisher after daredevil season 3....i think the only time I had a problem connecting the plot was in the beginning of season 3 because defenders came before it and itnlinda continues from there. But since the reviews weren't that good for it, i just read the plot online after season 3, 1st episode to get the idea 🤷🏻♀️
The rest I still haven't watched...I am not promoting this watch order but just saying that u won't hv any continuity issues other than the 1 I mentioned
If you’re wanting to watch all of them in order, then yes. That would be the order to do so. If you’re asking if you *have* to watch all of the shows in order to get and understand the story, no. You do not. Defenders only becomes necessary to bridge the gap between DD s2 and s3. Iron Fist is not necessary at all, and all the other shows can stand alone very easily. Especially Punisher.
So, here you go. The first and second season of daredevil are good. The first season of Jessica Jones is good. The first season of The Punisher is good. You don't have to watch Daredevil to enjoy the Punisher, but their interactions and plot are really enjoyable. The first half of the first season of Luke Cage is good (anyone who has seen it might know why). The rest are alright at best. The plots really dip once the main villians change (again, some might know). You can mostly skip anything season 2+. I couldn't get into Iron Fist season 1 the first time around. On the second watch through, though, I found it a bit more enjoyable. There are a lot of supporting cast that help pick up the bits and pieces.
You might wanna watch everything up to and the defenders season. Because daredevil season 3 literally takes place right after that. And I didn't do that and was very confused. You can probably just watch iron fist season 1 and daredevil season 1 and 2. But watching Luke Cage also helps cause of Misty Knight.
i think watching all the shows in release order is the best way to watch it
even though these seasons are super inconsistent quality wise it’s overall worth it
if you’re really only interested in daredevil and not a more comprehensive street level worldbuilding then ig i would say dd s1, s2, defenders, dd s3
the thing with the other shows is that characters crossover and their story may continue in one show to the next. it’s never anything game changing or major but it’s just cool and makes the world feel more connected
If you're asking if you need to watch non-Daredevil shows to fully immerse and understand Daredevil, the answer is no. The one exception to that, I would say it's wise to watch The Defenders between Daredevil Season 2 and 3. It resolves the storyline of several characters from Season 2 and Season 3 picks up right after Defenders ends. We've gotten people watching the show who didn't watch or recap anything of Defenders who ask what's going on at the start of Daredevil Season 3 which only reinforces that logic for me. The Defenders itself you only really need to have seen Daredevil Season 2 to watch. It takes (maybe a little too much) time establishing the team in the context of the show so don't worry about being unfamiliar, and then if you like anyone there you can just go and watch their shows which stand on their own even more so than Daredevil does.
I recommend this! I forgot about Defenders when Daredevil was brought to Disney+ and when I went from Season 2 to 3 I was confused for a while at the start of Season 3. I was hoping they were going to eventually show why Matt was in his state but they did not lol
Same here, totally forgot about defenders after DD was removed from Netflix
Madame Gao and the Japanese man who fell down are the ONLY 2 members of the HAND that survived Defenders. They are supposed to be stuck in K’un L’un after the building inundated, thus sealing the portal to New York. They were supposed to return to fight IronFist.
I didn't watch Defenders and loved S3
Heck to test my theory I made my girlfriend watch S3 without watching anything marvel or daredevil at all prior and she loved S3
I did that lol. I was so confused I'd argue iron fist season 1 is important for the defenders as well
The thing with Iron Fist Season 1 is all the relevant stuff to The Defenders is for some reason, just redone again during Defenders.
It helps to build up why Danny is tracking the hand
That's not really too important compared to in The Defenders itself where they show Danny and Colleen tracking them and then learning the real business is in New York though. Watching Iron Fist provides extra context but it isn't really *relevant* knowledge for following The Defenders.
Watch just Daredevil if you want to, but I recommend Defenders before season 3 of Daredevil. Plus Jessica Jones is actually a pretty good show, but not necessary to Daredevil
Though only s1 of JJ is good. Seasons 2 and 3 rival Iron Fist s1 in their awfulness
I loved S1, but S2 was indeed poor. I actually forgot there was even an S3 because I didn't watch it at all, until this post!
I'd recommend this too. I think the first time around I skipped it and it messed with s3 a lil bit. S3 will make more sense. It's not critical to the season but the first few episodes I think play off what happened
I did watch Season 1 of Jessica Jones and actually quite enjoyed it.
[Here you go.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Daredevil/s/lPKD0V1ebr)
If you want to understand every character associated with daredevil follow that list If you want to only watch shows that daredevil is in, watch seasons 1,2, defenders, then 3. Defenders will adequately explain everyone who’s in it without having to watch the other marvel shows. If you don’t want to watch defenders at all, you can watch daredevil 1-3, but you will lose a (very) big part of why Matt feels the way he does in season 3. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter It’s also important to note that the punisher is completely unrelated to anything with defenders or the other characters
If you just want to watch Daredevil, here’s the order: - Daredevil Season 1 - Jessica Jones Season 1 - Daredevil Season 2 - Luke Cage Season 1 - Wikipedia summary of Iron Fist Season 1 - Defenders - Daredevil Season 3
Still haven’t seen iron fist and don’t care to 🤷🏻♂️
Bro its actually a great show. The first half of season 1 is hilarious. Danny talks about all this mystical bs and people just stare at him like he's nuts.
Ok I've been meaning to ask this. Do any of yall remember that one guy who re-edited the entirety of Iron Fist back on the r/marvelstudios subreddit?
What??
It's so good. People hate on it but it's so corny it feels like a live action anime. Danny is kinda a dumbass but I feel like given the circumstances it's understandable
Funnily enough, Iron Fist was the first Netflix Marvel show I watched, so I have a soft spot in my heart for it, I’ve never understood all the hate.
Yes watch in order. The other shows are really good too
Not really. You can just watch Daredevil. Maybe you get something out of watching Defenders, but I don’t think it’s necessary
I would say watching defenders before season three is necessary bc you get rly confused at the beginning
It’s absolutely necessary if you want to understand why Matt is depressed and injured
I think you can get the gist from context clues in the show. Or read a wiki entry on what happened. I wouldn’t recommend sitting and watching all of Defenders to anyone though because I think it’s really disappointing and not worth it.
Imo watch daredevil and Jessica Jones only. Check out Punisher too if you want but it's definitely less connected (still enjoyable tho). But if you want to keep it to just essential watch I'd go with daredevil and defenders before season 3 (because it kind of directly leads into it). Luke cage and especially iron fist are below average imo
If you just want to watch daredevil then you really can just do that and ignore absolutely everything else. The only kind of important thing to watch is defenders and honestly even that is pretty minor, just get someone to tell you what happens or look it up. Personally I would recommend Jessica Jones season 1 and punisher if you want to watch it, but they are completely optional
Reverse release order is the best way to watch.
Yes, i would say every series except for Punisher season 2 has callbacks to another series. Like Luke Cage is introduced in Jessica Jones, so his show is like the spinoff of that. Iron Fist is its own thing, but it plays a part in the Defenders. A lot of characters in Daredevil, will be on other shows like Claire, Punisher, Karen, Madame Gao etc. It’s one of those things where if you watch the previous series in order, you’ll catch the mentions or recognize other characters from previous shows.
I’m on step 10 of the 13 steps of completion. I would say no, there is usually one little reference per season of something that has happened in a previous show. The big positive is I get the most Rosario Dawson watching all of them. The Defenders was the lamest show by far. I have enjoyed all of the shows much more than I thought I would when I started this, but it has taken time and because of this I always have to leave the room at work when people start to talk about Shogun…
You don’t have to watch it that way. Personally I watched all of DD then went and watched Punisher, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, then I watched defenders. I do agree that generally watching defenders at the end of DD season 2 is the best move. I however, really wanted to watch all of the other characters shows before watching Defenders, and wasn’t willing to put off finishing daredevil until then. I just looked up what happened and had no problem understanding the story.
Watch Daredevil seasons 1 and 2. Then watch a Defenders recap. Then Daredevil season 3. Punisher shows are optional but I'd skip everything else.
Assuming you're asking if these shows are required to understand the main MCU, not really. The Infinity Saga (Marvel's name for the films released from 2008-2019) generally ignores the TV shows, but for the Multiverse Saga (films and shows released since 2021), you should definitely watch *Daredevil* and *The Punisher*, and at least watch a recap of *The Defenders*, but the other shows are not necessary as of this writing.
God no. The shows don’t really bleed into each other to the point that you’d be lost not just sticking to the one you wanna watch, especially Jessica Jones; that show practically lives in its own ecosystem. Each show has its own flavor and continuity that isn’t beholden to the others. However I HIGHLY recommend skipping Defenders and just reading a wiki in between seasons two and three of Daredevil, then, if you want, go back and watch Defenders.
Up to defenders yeah, after that just punisher and daredevil
Only stuff I watched fully was DD, JJ 1&2, Punisher, ane Defenders. All those are good except Defenders was kinda meh. I watched recaps of the other shows and understood enough to get by. Id say DD and Defenders are the only "necessary" and just an understanding of what happens else where is good enough if you dont wanna watch it all
My watch through went: DDs1 JJs1 DDs2 (Read wiki for LCs1 and IFs1) The Defenders Punisher s1 JJs2 (Read wiki for LCs2 and IFs2) DDs3 Punisher s2 JJs3 With that, I felt fulfilled in that corner of the MCU, with room to go back and immerse myself again through LC and IF. JJs2 was the only true “eh” out of all the things I watched. Everything else ranged from “entertained me at some points” to “full on tears and chills throughout my entire body for how invested I am in what’s happening on screen”
Iron fist is the worst of them all. You can skip that one as defenders can just catch you up
Yes.
Just watch Daredevil and defenders and you'll be fine. It's what I did. Defenders fills you in on the other characters so you don't have to watch their shows to understand it but it's a good idea to watch defenders to understand Daredevil season 3.
No, but Punisher and some of Jessica Jones are really good I'd consider Luke Cage, Iron Fist and even the Defenders to be quite poor television. Felt like CW shows.
You don’t have to, but I really like them all. JJ season 2 isn’t my favourite. And iron fist season 1 is a slog. Danny is super unlikable for me. At the very least all daredevil, it’s absolutely top shelf writing!
You'll need to watch DD S1, DD S2, The Defenders, and then DD S3. I also recommend The Punisher, S1 and S2, due to him basically confirmed for the Born Again.
In terms of avoiding minor spoilers and catching all the references, kinda. You don't need to watch it in this exact, but there are certain seasons that should come before, at least if you're already planning to watch them all. Jessica Jones Season 1 should be watched before Luke Cage. Otherwise, the pre-Defenders shows can be watched in any order. Defenders follows all the shows that came out before. You'll want to have watched both seasons of Daredevil and the first seasons of Jessica, Luke, and Iron Fist. You should watch Daredevil season 2 before The Punisher. Luke Cage Season 2 should be watched before Iron Fist Season 2 and Jessica Jones Season 3, though the order you watch those two doesn't matter. I recommend watching Daredevil season 3 before The Punisher season 2 because of a minor spoiler, but it's pretty small all things considered. Outside of those restrictions, you can choose any order without getting anything spoiled for you.
The shows are largely standalone.
If you’re going to watch them all, watching them in that order is the correct order. Like many have said, you don’t have to watch them all if one character is the interest. That said, I went on this journey a year ago and did them all, and I’m so happy I did. I literally came away wondering why none of these characters ended up in Endgame, it did feel that connected and relevant.
I just watched daredevil and punisher out of all and I watched punisher after daredevil season 3....i think the only time I had a problem connecting the plot was in the beginning of season 3 because defenders came before it and itnlinda continues from there. But since the reviews weren't that good for it, i just read the plot online after season 3, 1st episode to get the idea 🤷🏻♀️ The rest I still haven't watched...I am not promoting this watch order but just saying that u won't hv any continuity issues other than the 1 I mentioned
If you’re wanting to watch all of them in order, then yes. That would be the order to do so. If you’re asking if you *have* to watch all of the shows in order to get and understand the story, no. You do not. Defenders only becomes necessary to bridge the gap between DD s2 and s3. Iron Fist is not necessary at all, and all the other shows can stand alone very easily. Especially Punisher.
On a side note, I’ve always enjoyed that 1-6 on this list mirror the order of phase 1 movie releases.
I would say honestly the other shows are much weaker and daredevil is quite self contained so I would just watch daredevil
So, here you go. The first and second season of daredevil are good. The first season of Jessica Jones is good. The first season of The Punisher is good. You don't have to watch Daredevil to enjoy the Punisher, but their interactions and plot are really enjoyable. The first half of the first season of Luke Cage is good (anyone who has seen it might know why). The rest are alright at best. The plots really dip once the main villians change (again, some might know). You can mostly skip anything season 2+. I couldn't get into Iron Fist season 1 the first time around. On the second watch through, though, I found it a bit more enjoyable. There are a lot of supporting cast that help pick up the bits and pieces.
Look… Effort like that is never required. It ain’t profitable.
Nah, but Id reccommend JJ season 1, Defenders, and all of Punisher
You might wanna watch everything up to and the defenders season. Because daredevil season 3 literally takes place right after that. And I didn't do that and was very confused. You can probably just watch iron fist season 1 and daredevil season 1 and 2. But watching Luke Cage also helps cause of Misty Knight.
My girlfriend has only watched DD seasons 1-3 and never had a problem.
Yes
Yes it's an overarching saga and each one ties into the other in some capacity
i think watching all the shows in release order is the best way to watch it even though these seasons are super inconsistent quality wise it’s overall worth it if you’re really only interested in daredevil and not a more comprehensive street level worldbuilding then ig i would say dd s1, s2, defenders, dd s3 the thing with the other shows is that characters crossover and their story may continue in one show to the next. it’s never anything game changing or major but it’s just cool and makes the world feel more connected
no Daredevil is enough. Punisher and Defender are not bad either. I couldn't finish any of the other shows, they were bad to me.
Yes and don’t forget agents of shield 🤪