One of the weirdest things and, we’ll be honest, most self-consciously awkward things about the Netflix Marvel shows is the way none of them ever explicitly acknowledge the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
We know “Jessica Jones,” “Daredevil,” Luke Cage,” “Iron Fist” and “The Punisher” take place in the same world as movies like “Iron Man” and “Captain America: The First Avenger.” But when the hit film franchises that run parallel to the TV shows come up — always in tiny doses meant to provide context for audiences — characters use terminology that almost feels deliberately evasive.
In-universe historical icon Captain America is called “the old dude with the shield” or “the flag waver.”