2021 saw the returns of Kingpin and Matt Murdock, who both starred in the Netflix Marvel series, Daredevil. Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin recently returned in the Disney Plus series, Hawkeye, while Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock made a brief cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Both D'Onofrio and Cox's returns were celebrated by fans of Daredevil, but these characters are not the only stars from the many comic-inspired series available on Netflix.
Daredevil was the first Marvel series to debut on Netflix, but its success was quickly followed by Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. Jones is portrayed by Krysten Ritter throughout the series, while Mike Colter acts as Cage. The three characters eventually met one another in the Netflix miniseries The Defenders, which also included Finn Jones' Danny Rand from the Iron Fist series. Both Jessica Jones and Luke Cage have grounded stories like that of Murdock, but Jones and Cage's origin stories are much darker.
Jessica Jones (which is the only other Marvel Netflix series aside from Daredevil to run for 3 seasons) followed its name character in her life as a private investigator after a tragic accident that altered the course of her life for good. Along the way, Jones is forced to face her abuser and confront countless forms of trauma from her past. Among them is Kilgrave (David Tennant), who routinely took advantage of both Jones and her heroic gifts, and the Walker family who took Jones in following the supposed deaths of the rest of her family. The series features other notable characters from the Jessica Jones comics including Will Simpson (Wil Traval), Hellcat (Rachael Taylor), Malcolm Ducasse (Eka Darville), and Jeri Hogarth (Carie-Anne Moss).
Cage made his on-screen debut in Jessica Jones before the premiere of his own series in 2016. Luke Cage follows the character after his imprisonment as he tries to keep his head down following the experiments that gave him super strength and impenetrable skin. Focused in Harlem, Luke Cage tackles racial themes, particularly for the Black community and how they are perceived and treated by those outside their culture. Colter is joined by Academy Award-winner, Mahershala Ali who plays Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes, Simone Missick as Misty Knight, Theo Rossi as Shades, Alfre Woodard as Mariah Dillard, Erik LaRay Harvey as Diamondback, Mustafa Shakir as Bushmaster, and Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple.
Claire Temple is the only character in the Netflix Marvel series to appear in all of them (with the exception of The Punisher). Temple works as the piece that connects Murdock, Rand, Cage, and Jones in The Defenders, and is capable of uniting this unorthodox group of characters. Temple's history as a caregiver to vigilantes may prove to be useful in the upcoming Marvel series including She-Hulk, Moon Knight, or even Echo.
It is early for Marvel to begin throwing all Netflix characters into its Marvel Universe, but with many of the upcoming projects, it's not impossible to eventually see characters like Cage and Jones return. Kingpin's return in Hawkeye has proved that these characters don't have to show up in a Marvel film to be significant. With an upcoming series like Echo, it is more than likely that Cox's Daredevil will make his second appearance in the MCU after his No Way Home cameo. Jones and Murdock are both based out of Hell's Kitchen, so it is possible that their paths will be the first to cross, giving her the opportunity to debut in the MCU.
As the MCU continues to expand, the stories of both Jones and Cage will prove to be useful. The introduction of Kingpin and Daredevil have already led some that previously dismissed these Netflix series to go back and watch them. By bringing these characters into the MCU, the Netflix series (and any reboots that may or may not take place) will carry much more bearing. Given the emotional and rather tumultuous journeys that both Cage and Jones have experienced individually and the ones they have endured collectively, they would fit in with the recent trend of grief and healing in the MCU.
Colter has previously acknowledged that he hasn't received closure for the role of Cage and if given the chance to return to the role, he may be able to achieve it. No Way Home granted Andrew Garfield the opportunity to tie up some of the loose ends from The Amazing Spider-Man series and could provide Colter with a similar experience even if they do not plan to utilize the character in a huge way. However, the MCU has continued to diversify its heroes over the last several years, and adding Cage to the mix would allow them to explore yet another Black character and the experiences he brings with him. These themes have already begun to be studied in Marvel's Black Panther but were explored further in the Disney Plus series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Marvel has never made a habit of introducing characters that they do not plan on exploring at some point and Kevin Feige has teased that other Defenders characters could appear in the MCU. If all of Daredevil's history follows him to the MCU, then the history he shares with fellow Defenders stars will have to come into play. With the New York setting that these characters share, it's impossible to say that Cage and Jones will never find a reason to involve themselves with the ongoing conflicts well-known Marvel characters constantly find themselves attempting to solve. Now that the two-year hold on the Netflix Marvel characters is up, anything is possible.
Luke Cage and Jessica Jones are now streaming on Netflix.
