Oh, it’s good to be a fan of the Netflix Marvel universe. It was a long time coming and quite a journey back to the character we’d come to know and love from Hell’s Kitchen (and other areas around New York City). But when the Netflix era ended, we weren’t sure when we’d see our favorites again. Luckily, it seems as if the MCU is slowly bringing the Defenders into the fold.
When Charlie Cox returned to the role of Matt Murdock/Daredevil in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans rejoiced. Shortly after, they wondered whether or not the rest of the Defenders universe would head to the larger MCU as well. For the most part, it’s been quiet. But now we know that Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle is also returning to the Marvel world in Daredevil: Born Again!
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bernthal will be reprising his role as Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, in the series, which already has Cox reprising his role as Matt Murdock and Vincent D’Onofrio back as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin. But the news that Bernthal is coming back suggests that Disney and Marvel are not opposed to bringing all our faves back together.
That said, THR‘s report is less sure about Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page and Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson. So whether the entire team is back with Matt remains unknown at this time. Still, Frank coming back to the Marvel universe does give fans some hope that we’ll see our other favorites back in action.
We want more of the Netflix Marvel world
The Netflix Marvel series were great and ushered in a whole new group of fans to the franchise. But when it ended, we weren’t sure when we were going to see these characters again or if they’d be played by the same actors. There have been some hints, like Krysten Ritter and Mike Colter recently posting pictures of each other and reigniting the love for Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.
That excitement, paired with Bernthal’s return, has made one thing clear: We want this. And most of the people who don’t care are people who probably didn’t watch the Netflix shows, or else they’d understand that the Defenders shows were so incredibly good for these characters. It was a perfect way to establish heroes like Daredevil and Jessica Jones who might not have worked as well in their own big movie right out the gate.
But getting to know them on this smaller level works and when they all got canceled, it felt like we wouldn’t see them again. The reintroduction of Matt, Fisk, and now Frank does reignite the hope that we could see the rest of the Defenders joining the MCU. How Frank and Matt are going to function in this, especially with their past relationship in the Netflix world, will be interesting to see play out.
Until we know more, we can all just scream from the rooftops that Frank Castle is back!
(featured image: Marvel)
