The Marvel Cinematic Universe has repeated a couple of stories with various characters, but it can’t keep repeating one particularly tragic one with its street-level heroes. As the MCU continues to expand and explores its multiverse, more characters are being introduced and brought back, which is great news for the street-level heroes that led their own TV shows over at Netflix a couple of years ago. The first one to become an official part of the MCU was Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox), who made a surprise appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home and is now preparing for his solo TV series, Daredevil: Born Again.
ing Daredevil in his new TV series will be Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher (Jon Bernthal), and his return has given even more hope for the appearances of the rest of the street-level heroes from Netflix’s Marvel shows: Luke Cage (Mike Colter), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), and Danny Rand/Iron Fist (Finn Jones). Kevin Feige has confirmed that Spider-Man and Daredevil will lead the MCU’s street-level heroes side, but if the aforementioned characters return, the MCU can’t keep repeating the same tragic villain stories they had in their original TV series.
Three Defenders' Villains Have Very Similar Backstories
Back in 2017, Marvel saw the formation of the Defenders when Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist teamed up to fight the Hand, but before that, each one led their own TV series, but everyone except Daredevil fought villains with similar backstories, as they were all close to each hero. First was Jessica Jones, who saw her best friend and adoptive sister Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor) become a vigilante and self-described supervillain, forcing Jones to apprehend her and turn her over to the authorities. Later, Luke Cage was betrayed by his best friend and half-brother Willis Stryker (Erik LaRay Harvey), who framed him and sent him to jail and ended up becoming the criminal known as Diamondback.
Danny Rand/Iron Fist also saw his best friend, Joy Meachum (Jessica Stroup), turn into an enemy, who allied with Davos to seek revenge against Rand. Although he’s not a member of the Defenders, The Punisher also went through the same type of villain storyline in his TV series. Frank’s best friend, Billy Russo, was driven by his desire for power, which led him to betray Castle, allowing his family to be murdered, and he was later ordered to kill his former best friend, eventually becoming the villain known as Jigsaw. These friends-turned-enemies storylines added to the darker tone of Marvel’s street-level heroes, setting them apart from the rest of the MCU, but if all of them are ing the rest of the MCU soon, Marvel will have to change its approach to their villains and their stories.
How The MCU Can Make Street-Level Villains Better
If Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist the MCU, their main enemies can still find redemption, except for Diamondback, who is also a villain in the comics. Trish Walker became the superhero Hellcat, while Joy Meachum eventually becomes an ally of Iron Fist, so there can be hope for them to find redemption if they follow their former best friends into the MCU. However, Marvel could also opt for adapting other villains with a more unique origin that will put an end to the trend of “best friend turned villain”, such as Denny Haynes for Jessica Jones, Bushmaster for Luke Cage (and Iron Fist, too), and Master Khan for Iron Fist. Bringing the remaining Defenders to the MCU will require a couple of changes, but they are all for their benefit and to finally give them a more consistent future.
