‘Daredevil’ Season 3, ‘Jessica Jones’ Season 2, ‘Luke Cage’, ‘Iron Fist’ and ‘The Punisher’ Release Dates; What is Next for The Netflix/Defenders/Marvel Cinematic Universe?

By Mark Rollins
The Defenders
Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist: The Defenders. Marvel/Netflix

As we reported last week, the third season of Daredevil could be delayed due to other Marvel/Netflix series.  It was always the plan to combine all of the four characters of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist into one show known as The Defenders.  That plan was thrown slightly out of proportion as Frank Castle, aka The Punisher was revealed on Season 2 of Daredevil, who will be getting his own spin-off series.  Like all the Marvel superheroes on The Avengers, there is a long-term plan for these darker superheroes. 

The issue is, what is the plan?  Daredevil Season 2 left some plot threads that were not snipped.  One of them was this ninja organization known as the Hand, who was dealt with at the end of the season with the death of Elektra (Elodie Yung).  It is possible that something is being set up for future plots on other shows, and it is possible that this is a set up for Iron FistIron Fist is a superhero with a mystical origin mixed with the martial arts, so it feels like a good fit. 

Coming up on September 30th is Luke Cage, a character that was given more than enough proper introduction with Jessica Jones, and his show will take place in Harlem and deal with him going up against crime.  A recent report from Blavity states that Mike Colter, the actor playing Luke Cage, says that his show will be about shady politicians and conflicting visions of the best interest for his character's stomping grounds. 

So, what is in store for Jessica Jones Season 2?  A recent interview with showrunner and series creator Melissa Rosenberg from HuffPost Entertainment has revealed that she has acknowledged the challenge ahead of her when creating a new conflict for the PTSD-laden heroine Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter).  With Jessica, it is not about the villain, but about how things the villain does affect her.  Kilgrave (David Tennant) was the villain last season, and his ability to take control of minds was very creepy, but (spoiler alert) he was killed at the end.  That means that there is a void as far as who Jessica Jones will go up against. 

There is also news that the character of Jeri Hogarth, a character from Jessica Jones, is planning on joining the cast of Iron Fist, from Den of Geek.  This character is played by Carrie-Anne Moss, and she is a gender-swapped version of a character from the Iron Fist comics.  So that is a definite tie-in, for sure. 

Okay, so, that's Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and then the order gets kind of wacky as it could be The Defenders, The Punisher, Daredevil Season 3, or Season 2 of Jessica Jones.  Hopefully, there is some long-term plan for this, as Daredevil and Jessica Jones have had very little tying them together.  Something more has to happen to get this conjoined story going.