‘The Defenders’ Showrunner On Possibility Of The Hand’s Return

Is there a future for the Hand in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? At the moment, that remains unclear.

SPOILERS for Marvel’s The Defenders ahead.

Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones may have defeated the Hand in Marvel’s The Defenders, but it’s known for being a rather resilient organization in the comics. Could the same prove true in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

The Defenders showrunner Marco Ramirez isn’t sure what Marvel at large may have in store, but for himself and the current plans of the Netflix Marvel show, the Hand is gone for good.

“Well, in the Marvel world — and as Jeph Loeb, the Marvel TV head, would say — in the comic-book world, you can always find a way,” Ramirez told Entertainment Weekly. “The story finds a way, so who knows? But we definitely felt like we wanted this to be the end of this specific show, so while I don’t know if it’s the end of the Hand forever — who knows what will happen in the future — it just felt like it’s the end of this story in the lore. Particularly for Iron Fist, we wanted to close that chapter [of the Hand’s story]. I don’t know what the future holds. That’s a Jeph Loeb question [laughs] but for me and for the writers’ room, it felt right to end the story here.”

In Marvel’s The Defenders, the five fingers of the Hand who created the villainous organization – heretics from K’un-Lun including Alexandra, Madame Gao, and Bakuto – were defeated and the war between the Hand and the Chaste came to an end.

However, in the Marvel Comics universe, the Hand has gone through a series of many different leaders, each with their own methods and goals. Keep reading and we’ll lay out some possible new leaders for the Hand in future Marvel Cinematic Universe stories.

Gorgon

Gorgon is a brilliant, ruthless, determined, and deadly mutant. He was a prodigy as a child and manifested the mutant ability to turn others to stone just by looking at them.

He first led a mutant terrorist organization in Japan called the Dawn of the White Light. At the age of 18, he went to extreme measures, killing all of his family, to become a part of the Hand and quickly became their leader.

During Gorgon’s time as the Hand’s leader, he formed an alliance with Hydra, effectively turning the two groups into a single organization. With the combined might of Hydra and the Hand, Gorgon began a mission to kill, resurrect, and brainwash Marvel’s heroes into becoming agents of the Hand.

Elektra

The new Hand leader that would make the most sense in the context of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how Marvel’s The Defenders ended would be Elektra.

Much like in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Marvel Comics universe Elektra was originally a warrior for the Chaste. She left the organization and began working as a freelance assassin, which is how she met Daredevil and was later killed by Bullseye.

The Hand’s attempt to resurrect and brainwash Elektra was foiled by Daredevil and Stone, another Chaste warrior, but Stone later resurrected Elektra himself.

Later, after Elektra helped Wolverine defeat Gorgon, she took over as the new leader of The Hand. However, Elektra was soon replaced by a Skrull, leaving the Hand leaderless.

Daredevil

When the Hand found itself without a leader, one of the group’s lords along with his henchman, Lady Bullseye, went to New York City and asked Daredevil to become their new master.

Daredevil refused, but the Hand warned him that they do not take no for an answer. Instead, they took their offer to the Kingpin. Though Daredevil didn’t want to lead the Hand, he couldn’t allow their resources to fall into the hands of Wilson Fisk, and so he interceded and became the leader of the Hand.

At first, Daredevil was reluctant to do much with his new ninja army, but then Bullseye brought a building down in Hell’s Kitchen, killing several innocents. Daredevil responded by building a castle in the same spot that he dubbed Shadowland, and he began sending his Hand forces out to deliver fatal justice and maintain order by any cost.

Eventually, a group of Daredevil’s friends including Luke Cage, Iron Fist, the Punisher, Misty Knight, and Elektra had to step in and take Daredevil down. Daredevil briefly became possessed by the Beast, but in a moment of clarity was able to help end his own madness.

The Kingpin

Following Daredevil’s defeat at Shadowland, the Hand was once again left without a leader.

The Kingpin saw this as his opportunity and once again offered to take over guiding the Hand. Though there was some reluctance at first, the Hand eventually agreed.

He ran the Hand the way he runs practically anything else: like a business. He hired some powerful henchmen to do his bidding, including Lady Bullseye, Typhoid Mary, the Hobgoblin, and Montana.

Sometime later, a second faction of the Hand emerged, once again led by Gorgon, who attempted to awaken the dragon under the city of Madripoor.