The final episode of Daredevil: Born Again season two was bombastic to say the least. With disgraced Mayor Fisk choosing violence rather than stepping down and Matt Murdock outing himself as Daredevil to save Karen, we had more than our fair share of surprises. But one moment at the end of the episode can’t go without comment. That is, of course, answering a big Defenders-related question we’ve had for the past few weeks: What became of Luke Cage?
As the previous episode told us, Luke Cage had left Jessica Jones and their daughter Danielle after forcible recruitment to government work. Thanks, Mr. Charles (Matthew Lillard). Jessica threatened Mr. Charles about coming for her and her daughter again. But now, the seedy CIA man doesn’t need Luke to do his dirty work anymore. In the closing moments of the finale, we see that Luke (Mike Colter) is back, fully discharged and home free. It’s a touching moment of reunion for he and Jessica (Krysten Ritter). It also, seemingly, leaves the door open for, if not a full Defenders remount at Disney+, at least a Jessica Jones/Luke Cage miniseries.
Why would Mr. Charles be okay with letting Power Man off the hook? Well, he has a brand new assassin to set loose on America’s enemies. None other than Dex, aka Bullseye (Wilson Bethel), will continue his attempt at bettering himself, kind of, through killing people for good. Or whatever. Bullseye is what he is, as Matt never seemed to be able to wrap his head around. At least with him working for Mr. Charles overseas, Bullseye won’t darken Daredevil’s door again any time soon. Perhaps.
I’d be surprised if Mike Colter’s return to Luke Cage were merely this tiny cameo. Fans have hoped for more from him since the demise of the Netflix Marvel shows. Plus, someone’s gotta, ahem, defend New York now that Matt’s in prison. Will some Heroes perhaps put themselves up For Hire? Hint hint, nudge nudge, say no more.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.