The Marvel rumor mill has been running at full speed in recent months, and understandably so. 2026 is a massive year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Avengers: Doomsday on track to become one of the biggest movies of the year and one of Marvel's most successful projects in recent years. Every day it feels like there is a new rumor connected to the project, but Marvel has done a relatively solid job of preventing leaks for the film.
The same cannot be said for the company's ability to prevent leaks connected to its biggest original series currently in production: Daredevil: Born Again.
With production underway on the third season of Daredevil: Born Again and the show once again filming on-location in New York, fans have been actively looking for updates on the third season. This lead to one of the biggest Marvel set leaks from recent years when photographs were released online of Mike Colter, Finn Jones, and Krysten Ritter together on set, confirming the third season will see The Defenders assembling once again. The photos clearly indicate that not only will Ritter be back in season 3 after reprising her role as Jessica Jones in Daredevil: Born Again season 2, but we're about to see Colter back as Luke Cage and Jones back as Danny Rand, aka Iron Fist.
Marvel has not commented on the leaked photos, which is to be expected as the studio never comments on rumors or leaks. Typically, the studio expects the same from its cast and creatives, who are known to go on the record and deny rumors/leaks and dance around questions about their futures in the MCU. Perhaps that's why it's so surprising that Colter has done the opposite following the release of the leaked set photos.
Mike Colter confirms his return as Luke Cage in behind-the-scenes selfie
In a surprising move, Mike Colter has seemingly confirmed that he will indeed be returning to the MCU to reprise his role of Luke Cage by posting a behind-the-scenes photo of himself, Finn Jones, and Krysten Ritter all in costume as their characters Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones.
"Been a while," Colter remarked in the photo drop, which began with the behind-the-scenes photo that all but confirms the leaked photos were correct in indicating the returns of The Defenders trio for the upcoming third season of Daredevil: Born Again. Sure, Colter didn't directly reveal he's back as Luke with a statement of any kind, but a picture is worth a thousand words, and the photos Colter dropped do all the talking in confirming his return to the MCU.
Shortly after Colter's post went live, Jones entered the conversation, remarking, "Well, guess the cat’s out of the bag," in the comments of the post.
It's certainly shocking to see Colter confirm his and Jones' return to the MCU in this manner. Yes, we all anticipated their return after they were photographed on set; however, it's not often we see a Marvel star release behind-the-scenes photos before the studio has confirmed their involvement in a project.
Not only did Colter confirm that he and Jones will both making their returns to the MCU, marking their first appearances since the conclusions of Luke Cage and Iron Fist on Netflix, but he also seemed to confirm we will be seeing the Mayor Cage storyline.
Among the photos included in the photo drop is a still of Colter wearing a yellow satin dress shirt and a black vest, a look that seems to mirror the look Luke Cage donned in the Major Cage comic storyline in which Luke Cage becomes the Mayor of New York City following Wilson Fisk's time in office. We'll have to see how that storyline comes to fruition in the show, but the photos seem to confirm it's one Marvel is looking to adapt in season 3.
As for how exactly Luke Cage and Danny Rand will be brought into the fold, we'll have to keep watching Daredevil: Born Again to see if the show begins to lay the foundation for their returns or perhaps even sets up their returns via the season 2 finale.