What is Shadowland and Will It Appear in Daredevil Season 2?

The latest trailer for Daredevil’s second season of arguably Netflix’s most popular show dropped with a bang, promising not only more footage from Frank Castle, the Punisher, but also delving further into Matt Murdock’s ex-Elektra. Elektra is back in town not just to see Matthew, but also to fight off the oncoming threat present by the Yakuza, and the ancient, terrifying organization known as “The Hand”.

The Hand is famous in Marvel lore for not only beguiling Murdock throughout his career, but nearly all the other heroes of the Marvel Universe at one point or another. In the past, they’ve managed to kill Wolverine, resurrect fallen heroes under their sway, bring back villains such as Doctor Octopus, and they’ve decided to enter into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a Vengeance. The Hand were the main antagonists in the storyline known as the “Shadowland” and based on the recent DD trailer, we may see it realized on the small screen sooner than we’d think.

Shadowland was a Marvel crossover created by writer Andy Diggle and artist Billy Tan that had Daredevil at its focal point. During this time in Murdock’s life, Matt found himself in the precarious position of being in charge of the ninja organization and using its members to strike down most of New York’s criminal element with an iron fist. As time went on, with Daredevil seemingly falling deeper and deeper into the role of leader of the Hand, he donned a new darker costume and encountered his old archenemy, Bullseye. Rather than continuing their traditional dance, Murdock killed Bullseye and constructed a stronghold/prison in the center of Hell’s Kitchen called “Shadowland”. Piquing the interest of many New York superheroes, including the Avengers, folks began to worry about Murdock and were finally forced to confront him as events began to spiral out of control.

Eventually, the heroes, including Luke Cage, Iron Fist, the Punisher, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Spider-Man and many others, discovered that Matt was possessed by a demon of the Hand, causing his much darker personality. The gang of ragtag anti-heroes managed to defeat Matt and his Hand, causing the attorney to wander the country to find himself, eventually returning with a more happy go lucky attitude.

With the latest trailer in the Daredevil Netflix series, the Hand is arriving in force presumably to taken advantage of the power vacuum left by the incarcerated Wilson Fisk at the end of season one. Matt, with the arrival of the Punisher, is walking down a darker road it seems, trying to protect his city from a darker version of himself and a supernatural threat. Shadowland is a storyline that seems to have all the trappings demonstrated by this trailer, minus the multitude of heroes, but still, storylines are changed all the time within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the Dr. Strange movie around the corner, and the supernatural aspects hinted at in the first season, Shadowland’s possession storyline could be a part of Season 2, or perhaps beyond.