While doing the promotional rounds for upcoming Disney+ Marvel series, WandaVision, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is being bombarded with questions regarding whether audiences will ever see the likes of Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and The Punisher join the MCU. Well, despite being rather cagey at first, Feige is gradually being worn down, and has now provided the most promising update yet.
“Everything is on the board. That’s one of the fun things about the comics is that characters would appear and disappear and come and go. All of it is inspiration for the future. There are some great characters and actors from those shows.”
That sounds very much like there is a display board somewhere in Marvel HQ covered in pictures of Daredevil and the gang, with a web of lines made of yarn planning out when and how to introduce them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe sometime down the line. Considering that Kevin Feige recently revealed that the franchise has been planned out to “about 5 to 6 years out,” it is not too surprising to learn that The Defenders will factor in eventually.
While the respective Netflix Marvel series were mostly a big success, the streaming giant canceled Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist in late 2018, before axing Jessica Jones and The Punisher the following year. Many fans hoped that this would result in their immediate revival on Disney+, but while the rights to the characters reverted to Marvel, contractual obligations between themselves and the streaming service meant that they could not be revisited for a certain amount of time.
The likes of Daredevil, The Punisher and the rest of The Defenders all remain hugely popular Marvel staples but have sadly been trapped in limbo thanks to the dealings between Marvel and the streaming service. While there is currently no news of their return, this is far from the first time that Feige has been asked to address the issue. “Well, certainly you’ve seen what we announced at Comic-Con a year and half ago and on Disney Investor Day a few weeks ago, so that’s our focus,” Feige said recently when asked whether we will ever see the characters return. “But I’ve been at Marvel long enough to never say never about anything.”
Feige has even responded somewhat vaguely-but-positively to the idea of Charlie Cox reprising the role of Daredevil with an enticing “we’ll see.”
As for Cox himself, he has not holding his breath when it comes to suiting up again as The Man Without Fear, though he would love to do so. “Look, I had a great time. I’m so grateful I got to play that character as long as I did. Of course, I’d love to keep going. I’d love to be involved with it,” Cox said last year of playing the role. “As a fan of the Marvel movies, I’ve loved the little stuff where they pop up here and there but because we were on Netflix, we weren’t able to do as much for legal reasons, I don’t know why,” he added. “But I love the idea of Jessica and Matt showing up in the background or Matt as a lawyer advising Peter Parker. That’d be really, really cool.”
For now, there is plenty of Marvel material to get excited about including the imminent release of WandaVision, as well as many other Disney+ series such as Loki, She-Hulk, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and Hawkeye. This comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter.
