In case you've missed it, Netflix has set out to create four series that will play a part in their installments to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They will eventually piece together how each of their stories will come to form the Defenders, street-level superheroes that fight everyday crime in Hell's Kitchen. These four story lines; Daredevil, A.K.A. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist are said to be happening in linear time with the Avengers. They make reference to "the incident" that turned Hell's Kitchen into the violent place it is today, and that incident being the major fight in the Avengers movie .
These shows are 100% worth the binge watch if you're even remotely into the superhero world. If you choose to watch them, here is a quick guide to how these shows connect to one another.
Daredevil
The first season of the Netflix Daredevil series picks up with Matt Murdock as Daredevil. Daredevil has a long history in the Marvel world with quite a few reboots and character changes. The basics however are that as a kid he saved an old man from being killed by a truck, but a chemical spill resulting from the crash blinded him and enhanced his sense to superhuman levels. As an adult, he and his friend Foggy Nelson are budding lawyers in New York when Daredevil starts fighting crime in the city. We meet a reoccurring character, Claire Temple (also known as Night Nurse) who nurses Daredevil after a particularly brutal beating. His major fight is against Wilson Fix or Kingpin, a calculating and violent mastermind with a connection to Daredevils childhood.
Jessica Jones
A.K.A. Jessica Jones is a grungy, gothic "gifted" person living in Marvel's Universe. As a kid, she was in a car accident with a military convoy that killed her family and left here with super strength and almost invincibility. She is adopted by a family with a TV star daughter the same age as here, who becomes her best friend Trish who we meet on the show. She has a short career as a super hero, but when we meet here in her Netflix series she's hung up her spandex for a life as a private detective and working with a lawyer Jeri Hogarth who knows of her special tactics. Jessica has a dark past she drinks, swears and shares a connection with Luke Cage, another super humanly strong man who actually has indestructible skin. There is a hint at romance, but in their comic book history, they were at one time married, but Luke Cage also dated Claire Temple on and off throughout the graphic novels. In the Netflix show however, we meet Claire Temple again when she helps Jessica nurse Luke Cage back to health after he was mind controlled and left in comatose. Her major fight is with Kilgrave or the Purple Man, a man who has mind-control powers.
Luke Cage
Like mentioned above, we first meet Luke Cage in the MCU because of his connection to Jessica Jones. His backstory doesn’t have the same tragedy as Murdock or Jones while imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, he was experimented on causing him to have unbreakable skin and super strength. Since the show is not set to premier until April 2016, we don't know exactly what will take place in this installment of the MCU but we assume they will take place after the events that happened in Jessica Jones. Possibly with Nuke, the officer we meet in Jessica Jones for dating her best friend, Trish.
Iron Fist
The Iron Fist's story is a little different than the others. At a young age, his Daniel Rand was taken to this mystical city, K'un L'un, in the Himalayas by his dad. On their journey, both of his parents die and he is taken in by the ruler of K'un L'un and becomes extremely gifted in martial arts. At 19, he is given the opportunity to gain the power of the Iron Fist by fighting and defeating the dragon of Shou-Lao the Undying who guards its molten heart that has been torn from its body. During the battle, Rand throws himself on scar of the dragon and burns a dragon tattoo on his chest defeating Shou-Lao. He plunges his hands into the molten heart and gains the power of the Iron Fist and Chi Manipulation. It's a lot more complicated and a chosen path for the Iron Fist. The one connection we can currently tell about this 2016 TV series is that Hogarth, the lawyer friend of Jessica Jones, is also the lawyer of Daniel Rand. And a possible connection could be formed between Rand and Jone's best friend Trish Walker and their shared knowledge of the mystical world.
There are definitely more connections and clues to be riddled out, but the more reason for you to go watch the two released shows and be excited for the two to come.
