The street-level Defenders family of Marvel Television, which includes Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and The Punisher (tangentially), has very few connections to the larger MCU. Back in the Netflix days, we’d get a reference here and there to the events of the first Avengers, or a mention of Thor. Matt Murdock finally appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home, essentially confirming the Netflix shows as MCU canon. But the sixth episode of Daredevil: Born Again has just introduced us to a future Captain America. Only right now, she’s just a toddler. And this future Cap is Danielle “Dani” Cage, the daughter of heroes Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.
Jessica Jones Returns as a Mother in Daredevil: Born Again
In episode six, “Requiem,” we see that Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), since the events of the third season of her own series, is now living in a suburban home, and raising a young daughter named Danielle. The suggestion here is that she’s living a low-key life, trying to stay out of the government’s way. Danielle appears to be no more than three or four at this point. Some Marvel Comics fans watching may know that Danielle is the offspring of Jessica and Luke Cage. It seems that in the years since their respective Netflix series ended, these two got together for real, not just friends with benefits, and produced a child. Although, at least from this episode, Luke seems MIA. But that’s a mystery for another day.
Danielle Cage in the Pages of Marvel Comics
Danielle, or Dani for short, was born in The Pulse #16, published in 2006. Danielle’s name was a tribute to Danny Rand, the Iron Fist, Luke Cage’s best friend. With the birth of their daughter, Jessica more or less semi-retired from adventuring to raise her. Danielle played a role in the aftermath of the 2009 event series Secret Invasion. Yes, the comic that Marvel Studios later adapted into a rather infamous Disney+ series. A Skrull version of Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers’ butler, kidnapped her. But Dani was ultimately rescued. Thus far, that’s Dani’s biggest Marvel storyline (hey, she’s just a kid). In the comics, she’s still a small child, stuck in the same eternal toddler mode as the Fantastic Four’s Franklin Richards was for decades.
Dani Cage Becomes the Future Captain America
However, we have been introduced to her future adult self, first in 2015’s Ultron Forever mini-series. And we learned that Danielle inherited her mother’s super strength and her father’s invulnerable skin. She becomes the new Captain America. This future Danielle Cage hails from the alternate future of Earth-15061, roughly thirty years in the future of Earth-616. In her future, most of Earth’s heroes die in a battle with Thanos, including her parents. Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, is one of the survivors, and begins a new A.V.E.N.G.E.R.S initiative. She rescues and raises Danielle and trains her how to fight. When she reaches adulthood, with her powers she inherited and Nat’s training, she becomes the future Captain America. In Dani’s own words, because of her impenetrable skin, she doesn’t just carry a shield. She is a shield.
The Danielle Cage Captain America eventually travelled to the past to meet the U.S.Avengers on Earth-616, as well as 400 years in the future to battle a version of Doctor Doom. A variant of her also exists in the dystopian future of the Old Man Logan series, where she discovered she could wield Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, just like her namesake, Steve Rogers. After many temporal adventures, the Dani of Earth-15061 eventually went back to her own reality/timeline. Meanwhile, in the main Earth-616 timeline, Dani is still a toddler. Her parents remain unaware of her destiny as a future Cap. But comic book readers know her future as a legacy hero likely comes to pass.
The MCU Future of Danielle Cage
What does this mean for MCU Dani Cage? Well, the MCU has been known to give us large time-jumps. It’s entirely possible we get a future version of the Avengers at some point, with an aged-up Danielle Cage taking over the Captain America role from Sam Wilson. Unlike Sam, Dani actually has powers comparable to Steve Rogers. At some point, the MCU will age up young T’Challa II, and maybe even Morgan Stark, so who knows? Maybe we’ll see a future Avengers someday, with the adult kids of the heroes who once saved all of reality from Thanos. Certainly, Daredevil: Born Again has just planted those seeds. Now to see if they will actually grow into anything.