It might’ve taken seven years to get there, but finally, Charlie Cox has been able to continue his legacy as Daredevil in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Following the unceremonious cancellation of Netflix’s Daredevil series and the rest of the ‘Defenders’ shows, fans were left twiddling their thumbs and waiting for the rights to expire to see whether any of the old guard would leap into the MCU. Our prayers were answered when the Man Without Fear finally popped up in Spider-Man: No Way Home, with beefed-up appearances in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Echo. Although 2021’s Hawkeye sowed the seeds of a full Daredevil revival, we had to wait until March 2025 for Daredevil: Born Again to be born again.
There was a time when no one was sure what was going to happen with Daredevil and the rest of the Defenders, and while it was always likely that fan-favorites like Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk/Kingpin would be back for more, there were rumbles that future stories would be set in a new continuity away from the Netflix era, or maybe even take place in one of those many convoluted branches of the Multiverse. Back when Netflix was churning out these street-level adventures, shows like Daredevil were annexed from the wider MCU aside from the odd mentions to the Battle of New York or a Stan Lee cameo.
The Defenders need to be a part of Daredevil: Born Again
Much like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., continuity conundrums have dogged the Netflix era, although that debate was finally ended when Marvel Studios Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum reiterated to The Hollywood Reporter how these characters and shows are canon. Explaining their absence from Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Winderbaum confessed, "It was just too much for us to wrap our minds around at the time," but how the development of Born Again spurred them on to confirm The Defenders Saga’s canon status. Although that’s all well and good, that Mike Colter’s Luke Cage and the rest could find a proper home in the MCU, fans are rightly asking where the rest of the Defenders are right now.
With things ramping up in the final episode of Born Again, April 15’s “Straight to Hell” felt like it was missing some important names from the Defenders Saga. Following the unsurprising reveal that Wilson Fisk was still up to his old Kingpin ways, the city was sent into lockdown, and his no-nonsense Anti-Vigilante Task Force went off to round up all the vigilantes as martial law was declared.
There was the welcome return of Jon Bernthal’s Punisher from earlier in the series, and while it was great to see the former foes crack skulls like the good ol’ Netflix days, many are disappointed that Murdock and Castle were going it alone. The series ends with Murdock meeting with Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page at Josie’s Bar, with "Daredevil’s Army" forming to take on Kingpin. While Camila Rodriguez’s Angela del Toro/White Tiger is sure to be a recruit, the Defenders could finally be put back into action.
Born Again served as a (very) loose adaptation of 2021’s "Devil’s Reign" comic arc, but aside from D’Onofrio’s Kingpin ruling as Mayor of New York City, there were some vast departures from the source material. The upcoming The Fantastic Four: First Steps means "Devil’s Reign" mainstay Sue Storm was nowhere to be seen, and sadly, we didn’t get a return of Oscar Isaac's Moon Knight. It would’ve been relatively easy to reinsert Mike Colter’s Luke Cage and Finn Jones’ Iron Fist, although the death of David Tennant’s Kilgrave in Jessica Jones might’ve made Purple Man’s prominence a little difficult.
As we head into Born Again season 2 and set photos have spoiled that Cox will be slipping into Daredevil’s iconic “Shadowland” suit, we’re likely to get another MCU take on an iconic comic series. Iron Fist and Luke Cage are again major players in this arc, although there’s no sign of them in the Born Again finale.
Aside from the frustration that we didn’t get to see Tony Dalton’s Swordsman in action, the season finale would’ve been the perfect chance to bring someone like Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones back into the fold. Ritter has been particularly vocal about wanting to return as Jones after her own series was axed alongside the rest of the Netflix crop.
"Listen, I love Jessica Jones. I think it's so exciting that there seems to be such an appetite to see her again. I get asked about it almost every day. We remain cautiously optimistic. If they asked me, I would be there ready. I may or may not have the jacket that I stole from set," Ritter revealed in a recent interview with CBS Mornings.
There’s apparently a good reason any well-known Marvel vigilantes aren’t part of the ensemble, with Born Again directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead telling Brandon Davis that they wanted it to feel like our heroes have "lost."
"If you had had a bunch of superheroes show up, it almost gives so much hope. That's no longer about the grit and the uncertainty and going forth and just doing it even though you know you might lose, even though you're probably gonna lose."
Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity is a chance to bring back Rosario Dawson’s Claire Temple. Although we know she’s pretty busy playing Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars, Dawson’s Temple was pitched as a street-level version of Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury. She appeared in every Netflix show aside from The Punisher, telling Collider how she wanted to pop up in the Bernthal-led series, "but it doesn’t always work that way."
Harking back to the very origins of the MCU, Born Again could've homaged Iron Man’s post-credit scene where Fury said he was putting together the Avengers Initiative and featured Temple reuniting the Defenders. The Marvels did recently tease this with the Young Avengers, but walking into Josie’s Bar and finding Temple sipping a glass of O'Melveny's would’ve been the final cherry on top of a stellar season. Instead, Born Again ended with a post-credit tease of the Punisher and Swordsman escaping Fisk's torture dungeon, presumably setting the pair up as a dynamic duo for the upcoming Punisher Special Presentation.
Thankfully, all signs point to some (if not all) of the gang getting back together sooner rather than later. Even with Sigourney Weaver turning out a villainous performance as Alexandra, it’s no secret that The Defenders was hardly up there with The Avengers in terms of must-watch ensembles. This marked the end of the road for many of these characters (for now), but according to Entertainment Weekly, Winderbaum suggested it’s only a matter of time until we see them again when he said, “I can't say much, but I'll tell you that it's so exciting to be able to play in that sandbox.”
The pieces are all there, and with Born Again even featuring an ad for Harlem's Paradise nightclub, we’re one step closer to at least getting Colter back. Luke Cage showrunner Hodari Coker even recently threw his hat into the ring for a potential Heroes for Hire series after the idea was reportedly scrapped, and although the missteps of The Defenders has left Marvel Studios a little burned, Ritter and co. would be more than welcome to give DD a hand in taking back New York from Kingpin.