The Defenders Sets Up Misty Knight's Bionic Arm

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for The Defenders

Marvel's The Defenders not only unites four of Netflix's headlining Marvel superheroes - Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter), and Iron Fist (Finn Jones) - but their adventure to save New York City from the ancient evil organization known as The Hand is grand enough to bring all of their supporting players into action as well. Iron Fist's love interest Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick), Jessica Jones' best friend Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor), everyone's favorite nurse Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), and Daredevil's closest friends Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) and Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) all join in the chaos - but none of them lose a part of themselves to the action quite like Detective Misty Knight (Simone Missick).

Misty debuted in Luke Cage as a detective working the Harlem beat who ultimately helped Cage bring down the villains plaguing Harlem, Cottonmouth (Mahershala Ali) and Diamondback (Erik LaRay Harvey). In the months since Luke Cage ended, Misty has been promoted to an all-city task force, which is how she and the NYPD are drawn into the massive web of death and destruction that the Defenders' battles with the Hand leave in their wake. After welcoming a paroled Luke Cage back to Harlem, Detective Knight gets summoned to an apartment where a cache of C4 explosives are found, along with Jessica Jones as a person of interest. Her interrogation of Jones is interrupted by Matt Murdock's surprise appearance as Jessica's new attorney. From there Misty, out of loyalty to Luke and Claire, finds herself doing her best to protect the Defenders from prosecution by the NYPD.

However, there was a literal sword of Damocles hanging over Misty throughout The Defenders. Marvel fans who are familiar with Misty Knight know that her comic book incarnation has one particular trait she is known for that her live action incarnation lacked: a bionic arm. Did The Defenders bring Misty that one step closer to her comic book form?

MISTY KNIGHT IN MARVEL COMICS

Misty Knight debuted in Marvel Premiere #21 (1975) as a New York police officer and a friend of Colleen Wing. She lost her right arm when she saw a terrorist throw a bomb into a bank. She took the bomb, but it exploded before she could throw it. The explosion maimed her, but fortunately (in a circumstance lifted from the popular television series of the era, The Six Million-Dollar Man), Misty had a bionic arm grafted to her that was designed by Stark International. Her bionic arm allows her superhuman strength, and has been upgraded since with other weaponry. However, because the rest of Misty isn't bionic, she can't lift more weight with her bionic arm than her body can safely manage.

Misty and Colleen Wing, dubbed the Daughters of the Dragon in the comics, formed a private investigation agency called Nightwing Restorations, Ltd. and have been frequent partners of Luke Cage (Power Man) and Iron Fist. In addition, in these vintage comic book adventures, it's Misty who has a longtime romantic relationship with Iron Fist, not Colleen.

MISTY KNIGHT IN THE DEFENDERS

Misty is on the sidelines for much of The Defenders, trying to get to the bottom of what's actually going on as Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage all find themselves in her precinct after a violent battle with the Hand that destroyed the Royal Dragon Chinese restaurant in Hell's Kitchen. As she gains more understanding of exactly what the Defenders are up against, Misty agrees to provide safe harbor for the Defenders' closest allies, bringing Karen Page, Foggy Nelson, Trish Walker, Malcolm Ducasse (Eka Darville), Claire Temple, and Colleen Wing to her police HQ for their own safety. Even though Misty found Colleen walking around New York City with a katana sword "weird," she allowed Colleen to keep it with her just in case.

When Murdock, Jones, Cage, and Wing broke out of the precinct house for their ultimate confrontation with the Hand at the Midland Circle building in Hell's Kitchen, Misty took Claire with her and gave chase. Misty let the Defenders into Midland Circle so they could rescue Danny Rand and save the city from the Hand, while she agreed to stall the rest of the NYPD. When Misty learned Colleen had brought the C4 explosives which she took from evidence in order to implode the building, Misty entered the building herself.

Inside Midland Circle, Misty came upon Colleen Wing battling her sensei and one of the leaders of the Hand, Bakuto (Ramon Rodriguez), in a sword fight. When Bakuto nearly executed Claire, Misty intervened and Bakuto cut her right arm off. After Colleen was finally able to end Bakuto, she and Claire were able to rendezvous with the rest of the Defenders (minus Daredevil), and they managed to get Misty medical attention before she bled out and before the Midland Circle building was destroyed.

Finally, Colleen visited a recuperating Misty in the hospital and told her Danny Rand owned a "state-of-the-art" hospital that might be able to help Misty. There's really only one direction this is heading: Misty Knight will get a robot arm. Furthermore, Simone Bissick is confirmed to be a part of season 2 of Iron Fist, so it's safe to expect Misty Knight will receive her new bionic limb in that series, unless she arrives in Iron Fist season 2 already suitably armed. Given that Danny Rand accepted Matt Murdock's plea to take Daredevil's place as protector of New York City, the Immortal Iron Fist will certainly need all the help he can get.