It’s Finally Time For The MCU To Make Its Street

It’s Finally Time For The MCU To Make Its Street-Level Heroes Relevant

If this is the last time we see these characters, why were they born again?

The original Daredevilpremiered on Netflix 11 years ago, raising the benchmark for live-action superhero television and launching an interconnected slate of street-level Marvel TV shows on the platform. While Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.was technically the first MCU show, it was Daredevilthat proved to audiences that superheroes could also make for prestige television, and without its original three-season run, it’s hard to say if we’d ever have had shows like Watchmenor Lanterns.

Although Netflix canceled Daredevil in 2018 after its third season, Disney+ gave it a second life with Daredevil: Born Again, a direct sequel that began in 2025. Now, two seasons later, history is repeating itself, as Born Againis also set to end after its third season. It’s a bittersweet announcement, but it’s also a golden opportunity for the MCU to rectify a mistake that started with the original Netflix shows and properly fold Daredevil and the other Defenders into the MCU’s larger narrative.

When Daredevilpremiered in 2015, the MCU was just a few months away from the release of Age of Ultron,and the Netflix shows felt like a game-changer thanks to their sensible integration of the universe’s larger narrative into a more grounded show. Wilson Fisk’s rise to power was set against a backdrop of infrastructural change in New York City after the Chitauri invasion in The Avengers,and the whispered references to “The Event” in Daredeviland Jessica Jones felt sincere and realistic. But just like with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,it was a one-sided dynamic — the shows’ narratives never impacted the films, even when events like the destruction in New York City caused by The Hand in The Defenders would’ve certainly caught the Avengers’ attention.

When Charlie Cox officially returned to the role of Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home,it felt like a sign things would be different, and that Daredevil would get to be a bigger player in the MCU. And when Born Againloosely adapted Chip Zdarsky’s 2019-2023 run on the character, which sees Wilson Fisk become mayor of New York City and initiate strict anti-vigilante legislation, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally have the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen be relevant to the films, because The Kingpin becoming mayor is just the kind of thing that should concern NYC-based superheroes like Spider-Man. But when Spider-Man: Brand New Dayhit theaters earlier this year, there was a befuddling lack of consequences regarding Born Again’stwo-season story arc, and even though Jon Bernthal’s Punisher played a major role in the film, his presence felt completely detached from his last appearance in his Disney+ special.

Part of what makes the cancellation of Born Againso disappointing is the confirmation that the other three Defenders (Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist) are all returning for Season 3, along with Elodie Yung’s Elektra, which truly makes it a Netflix-era reunion. It would be a shame to waste a return that many MCU fans have been hoping for since Born Againwas announced by not having them appear in another capacity. It wouldn’t make much sense for Daredevil and the Defenders to join the fight against Doctor Doom, but there are other ways those characters can make their presence felt in the larger universe.

Multiple comic book crossover events have centered Daredevil and the more street-level aspects of the Marvel Universe, including Shadowland, a storyline in which Matt Murdock becomes possessed by an ancient demon worshipped by The Hand and temporarily rules Hell’s Kitchen. It would make a perfect event film or Disney+ special, and would be a great way for characters like Spider-Man or Shang-Chi to interact with the other Defenders. There’s also a simpler solution: have them co-star in another hero’s film, like The Punisher in Brand New Day. The street-level corner of the Marvel Universe has produced so many fantastic stories, and there’s a reason why the Netflix era was so beloved — it would be a shame for all that potential to disappear along with Daredevil: Born Again.

• TV Shows
• Superheroes
• Marvel Universe