Cottonmouth referred to Captain America by name on "Luke Cage".
I don't get most of this thread. They clearly take place in the same universe, even if The Defenders don't appear in the MCU. I don't even get this outcry for it in the first place. Black Widow and Hawkeye are the most useless Avengers, so why do people want
more useless heroes like Punisher and Daredevil fighting Thanos? Even Jessica Jones and Luke Cage wouldn't be able to do shyt against him.
If they appear and it's just a quick shot as fan service, cool. If they don't
And as far as Marvel's internal problems keeping the TV/MCU separate, if Marvel and Fox can work together for "Legion", then anything is possible.
Fred.