Could the return of Daredevil lead to a revival of The Defenders? Marvel and Disney seem to think so!
Fans of Disney+ and Marvel are eagerly awaiting the debut of Daredevil: Born Again. The new Disney+ series is a sequel to the Netflix show with Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, the blind lawyer whose special abilities allow him to be the costumed crime fighter Daredevil.
The show brings back the rest of the cast, notably Vincent D'onofrio as Wilson Fisk aka the Kingpin. It will also have Jon Bernthal reprise his role as Frank Castle, better known as the brutal vigilante the Punisher, who he played in a Netflix spinoff.
With fans happy to see Daredevil back, there's a question if the other Marvel Netflix series could return. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Marvel's head of streaming, television, and animation, Brad Winderbaum, confirmed, "We are very much exploring" that possibility.
"I can't say much, but I'll tell you that it's so exciting to be able to play in that sandbox. Obviously we don't have the unlimited storytelling resources like a comic book. If you can draw it, you can do it. It's dealing with actors and time and the massive scale of production in order to build a cinematic universe, especially on television. But I can just say that all those variables taken into account, it is certainly something that is creatively extremely exciting and that we are very much exploring."
This would be a welcome revival of what many feel is some of the best Marvel TV projects ever made.
Why The Defenders are so popular
Back in 2013, as the MCU was getting underway, Marvel and ABC Studios worked on various TV shows. While Agents of SHIELD got on ABC, Marvel wanted to make Netflix shows about some of their "street level" heroes, with Daredevil the first.
The second was Jessica Jones, starring Krysten Ritter in the title role of a sardonic superstrong private eye. The first season introduced Mike Colter as Luke Cage, a superstrong ex-con.
That led to Cage getting his own spinoff. That was followed by Iron Fist, starring Finn Jones as Danny Rand, an expert martial artist. While the first season was criticized for poor writing and pacing, season 2 was seen as an improvement.
This all led to The Defenders teaming up with Daredevil, Jessica, Luke, and Danny in a big adventure. However, in 2018, as Disney was planning the launch of Disney+, they took back rights to those characters with the Netflix shows canceled and later removed.
The shows all remain popular with fans who enjoyed the gritty action and crime drama. Having them all linked together made the MCU feel more cohesive and there have been hopes for a revival that may come true.
Is Elektra returning?
Besides the Defenders, there's also a question of whether Daredevil: Born Again will bring back Matt's femme fatale love interest, Elektra. It doesn't sound like she'll be appearing, mostly due to star Elodie Yung's role on the Fox series The Cleaning Lady. But Winderbaum hopes to bring Elektra and the ninja group the Hand into a possible future installment.
"Who knows what the future brings? Once we arc out here, there's obviously any number of stories that we'd want to revisit or pull from the comics that involve Elektra or the Hand or any part of the Daredevil mythos."
It would be a shame not to use Elektra again as she's so important to the Daredevil mythos. It'd be fun to see Yung back in the part and the possibility of a spinoff of Elektra seeking redemption is perfect for a Disney+ series.
The time is right for a Defenders reunion
The timing of this would be perfect. Colter just saw his Paramount+ show Evil end, while Ritter's Orphan Black: Echoes was canceled by AMC after one season. So they and Jones are all available to reprise their Marvel roles.
Disney+ is working on Marvel shows that use more "street-level" heroes such as Echo. Those are less expensive than a lavish special effects-filled work like WandaVision and can give the characters some shine.
A complaint on the Netflix shows was that each had to spread things out over 13-episode seasons. Nowadays, Disney+ can have six to eight-episode seasons, allowing the writers to plan things out better and improve the storylines.
It's obvious the writers of all three shows had plenty of ideas and plots to build on. Luke Cage ended with Cage becoming the "boss" of Harlem while Iron Fist concluded with Danny gaining mysterious new powers. Those are cliffhangers that need to be followed up on and both actors, as well as Ritter, can still slip into the roles.
So fans of Marvel's Netflix shows are holding out hope that Daredevil: Born Again also leads to these past shows enjoying a rebirth and becoming better than ever.
Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Defenders streaming on Disney+. Daredevil: Born Again premieres on Disney+ on March 4.