Return of Netflix Defenders in the MCU Is “Inevitable” According to Marvel TV Boss

Daredevil: Born Again is just the beginning of an all-out Defenders revival — if Marvel Studios executive Brad Winderbaum has his way. The Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation spoke to ComicBook ahead of the Born Again premiere, confirming that the studio is still looking for ways the other Defenders characters could work their ways into the MCU. This series is a good start, as Winderbaum pointed out it would be practically “inevitable” for Matt Murdock to encounter his old allies in New York City at some point. The executive producer wasn’t sharing any specifics, but it’s clear that Marvel TV is interested in bringing all of its Netflix characters over to Disney+.

“I don’t know, I want to follow the characters and see where they go,” Winderbaum said. “I think the two characters that are most important for Daredevil: Born Again are obviously Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. They live and breath in a world where these other Defenders characters are walking around somewhere, so I think collisions are inevitable.”

Winderbaum did not say how he envisioned other Defenders characters returning — whether it was in their own series, in reunions with Murdock, or in one big comeback event. When asked if Finn Jones might reprise his role as Iron Fist, Winderbaum chuckled, “I don’t know, we’ll see. Only time will tell.”

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Of all the “Defenderverse” characters from Marvel’s collaboration with Netflix, Daredevil has been back the most, with cameos in Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and Echo. Meanwhile, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist have not appeared in the MCU at all since their shows were canceled. Trailer and promotional materials show that The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) will be back in Born Again, but there’s no hint of the other Defenders.

The series will also bring back Murdock’s non-vigilante allies Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) and Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), so we know the history of these spinoffs will be preserved. At the same time, any revival of the other Netflix shows might struggle to incorporate all the side characters and B-plots, especially with more MCU integration and shorter season orders. We can only speculate for now, and in doing so we get ahead of ourselves since Born Again hasn’t even premiered yet.

Daredevil: Born Again premieres on Tuesday, March 4th on Disney+ with two episodes. It will air week-to-week after that with one or two episodes at a time. The Netflix-era “Defenderverse” shows are streaming now on Disney+ as well.