How to watch The Defenders Saga in order on Disney Plus

Charlie Cox in Daredevil
(Image credit: Netflix)

Thanks to the arrival of Daredevil in She-Hulk, and Echo making the Defenders Saga officially canon, you may have the urge revisit Marvel’s Netflix shows. Though they now find their homes on Disney Plus, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones – together, the Defenders – broke new ground for superhero series on Netflix.

So, if you want to relive the past adventures of Charlie Cox’s Man Without Fear from the very beginning or are just curious about some characters you may not be familiar with, you’ll want to watch the Marvel Netflix shows in order.

Below, we’ll run through how to watch the Defenders in order on Disney Plus, including the MCU appearances (so far) of Daredevil and Kingpin.

Note: These series are all set after The Avengers and reference the events of the movie, but figuring out how the Defenders Saga fits into an MCU marathon is fairly tough – and the reference drop away as the shows go on. To understand the wider MCU, check out our guide to the Marvel timeline

How to watch The Defenders Saga in order

Netflix's The Defenders

(Image credit: Netflix)

Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher, and The Defenders were formerly known as "Marvel's Netflix shows" but that description is hardly fitting now they are on Disney Plus. The watch order starts with Daredevil, the very first show released back in 2015, and culminates in Jessica Jones season 3, which ended Marvel and Netflix's partnership in 2019. 

This order (release) is also the chronological order to watch the series in, and watching in any other order will make The Defenders extremely confusing as that has significant impact on the other shows, particularly Daredevil. 

Those last three may seem a little bit out of place, but – mild spoilers – they each feature appearances from characters from The Defenders Saga. So, if you're going to do a major watch of all the shows, then be sure to check out Spider-Man: No Way Home, the Hawkeye series, that solitary episode of She-Hulk, and Echo.


Want to watch the Marvel movies after making your way through the Defenders Saga? Here's our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order.

Jack Shepherd
Freelance Journalist

Jack Shepherd is the former Senior Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar. Jack used to work at The Independent as a general culture writer before specializing in TV and film for the likes of GR+, Total Film, SFX, and others. You can now find Jack working as a freelance journalist and editor.