Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 picks up with Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) operating as a resistance from the shadows, fighting back against Mayor Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) iron grip over New York City. Three episodes in, the season has already shown that the citizens of New York are not simply accepting Fisk’s regime, with a growing underground movement forming the backbone of the conflict. The show has also teased a volatile alliance with Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) and name-dropped Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), with her full appearance in the season confirmed. With only three episodes aired out of eight, the scope of what Marvel Television is building in this corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is already remarkable, but new images and trailer signal the studio is thinking well beyond the current season.
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Marvel Television dropped a midseason trailer for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 that confirms Jessica Jones is a mother, with Ritter’s character stating, “They showed up at my house with my daughter there.” The child does not appear on screen, and the MCU has not revealed her name or parentage. However, in Marvel Comics, the child is Danielle Cage, the daughter of Jessica and Luke. While the mention of the daughter is already enticing, set photos for Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 have confirmed that Mike Colter and Finn Jones will reprise their roles as Luke Cage and Iron Fist, signaling a full Defenders reunion for the upcoming season. With Colter’s return now locked in, and the comics providing a direct precedent, the identity of that child points toward a character who eventually takes the mantle of Captain America.
Who Is Danielle Cage in Marvel Comics?
In Marvel Comics, Danielle Cage’s origin is threaded through some of the most significant Avengers runs ever, when Luke Cage joined the New Avengers. Jessica gave birth to Danielle in The Pulse #14, a follow-up to the acclaimed Alias series from the early 2000s. Luke proposed almost immediately after Danielle’s birth, and the heroes then married in New Avengers Annual #1, published in 2006. In the comics, Danielle was named in tribute to Luke’s best friend, Danny Rand, also known as Iron Fist. Since there has been a major time jump from the Defenders Saga on Netflix and Daredevil: Born Again, the MCU has the opportunity to stick close to the comics when it comes to Jessica’s daughter. Given that Jones is confirmed to return for Season 3, the MCU has all the tools it needs to honor the character, especially since she could play a major role in the franchise’s future.
In the comics’ primary Earth-616 continuity, Danielle remained a child throughout most of the storylines featuring her parents, appearing across New Avengers and Mighty Avengers runs in a supporting capacity. She was notably involved in the Secret Invasion event, where she was abducted by a Skrull impersonating Edwin Jarvis and later rescued unharmed after her parents and allies tracked down the impostor. Her significance, however, truly crystallizes in the alternate timeline of Earth-15061, set in a future designated as the year 20XX. Those stories reveal Danielle possesses both her parents’ powers, including her father’s unbreakable skin and her mother’s superhuman strength, and as Captain America, she wields a thought-controlled anti-gravity shield marked with the signature star and stripes.
Danielle was among the heroes summoned to the future to end All-Father Ultron’s tyrannical reign, and in U.S. Avengers #2-3, she even paid a visit to the contemporary Marvel Universe. That crossover is particularly significant because it placed the future Captain America directly alongside present-day heroes and allowed Danielle to explain that across all her multiversal adventures, she met multiple variants of herself, all of which had become Captain America.
With the MCU moving towards Avengers: Secret Wars, the cinematic franchise has the opportunity to feature a version of Danielle Cage’s Captain America on the big screen. However, even outside multiversal storylines, the introduction of Jessica’s daughter in Daredevil: Born Again can set the stage for the character to become a prominent hero in the Sacred Timeline. Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) currently holds the Captain America mantle following Steve Rogers’ (Chris Evans) retirement, but the franchise will need a next generation of legacy heroes capable of anchoring the post-Multiverse Saga era. Danielle Cage, married in one future storyline to Lucy Rand, the daughter of Iron Fist and Misty Knight, represents a generational hero who connects virtually every major street-level hero in the Defenders’ history, and who could be gradually introduced as the successor to Sam.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is currently streaming on Disney+, with new episodes dropping weekly on Tuesdays.
Which Defender do you think is Danielle Cage’s father in the MCU, and do you believe she will eventually take up the Captain America mantle on screen? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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Image courtesy of Netflix -
Image Courtesy of Netflix
