MCU Theory Reveals Daredevil Is Setting Up His Own Avengers Team

The return of Daredevil (Charlie Cox) to the MCU could lead to Matt Murdock setting up his own Avengers-style team in Daredevil: Born Again. After a brief cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Daredevil's next MCU appearance is in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law with his own 18-episode Disney+ show scheduled for 2024. Having largely disappeared from the MCU alongside his other Netflix stablemates like Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) and Luke Cage (Mike Colter), it now appears that Daredevil will become a major MCU player going forward.

Hawkeye also played a part in setting up Born Again by introducing the character of Maya Lopez, who will also get their own miniseries, Echo, and reintroducing Vincent D'Onofrio as Kingpin. Daredevil will also appear in Echo prior to leading Born Again. The increasing number of MCU characters that Matt Murdock and his vigilante alter-ego are coming into contact with suggests that he could assemble his very own version of the Avengers.

In the comics, Daredevil assembled a roster of superhuman vigilantes which, while never officially named, was referred to as the Marvel Knights by readers, but never within the fiction. Daredevil's unnamed superhero team comprised a membership that included Moon Knight, Luke Cage, and Frank Castle a.k.a The Punisher. Following the release of Moon Knight on Disney+, and with the current whereabouts of Cage and Castle unknown, Matt Murdock's cameos in other MCU shows could set up Marvel's second attempt at a Defenders-style show.

Daredevil's MCU Return Means He's Meeting A Lot Of Other Heroes

She-Hulk, Spider-Man, and Echo have all met Daredevil in the MCU

As with the set-up for 2012's The Avengers, Marvel Studios are taking their time in reintroducing Daredevil to the MCU. Daredevil: Born Again isn't due for release until 2024, so to start setting up his return in 2021's No Way Home feels premature. Except, it's very similar to how they began setting up the Avengers in the MCU, via a post-credits scene in 2008's Iron Man that introduced Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) and his Avengers Initiative. This was four years before the Avengers were finally assembled to defeat Loki and bring the MCU's Phase 1 to a close. Having Daredevil, and indeed Kingpin, appear across multiple MCU shows three years before Born Again begins suggests a similar plan for the new Daredevil show.

In seeding Matt Murdock across multiple MCU movies and shows, Marvel has made Daredevil a major character. He's already met Peter Parker, though he won't remember it, and is due to meet Jen Walters in an upcoming episode of She-Hulk and Maya Lopez in Echo in 2023, where he'll also likely face off against Kingpin once more. It seems likely that Echo will be the key MCU show to lead into Daredevil: Born Again, perhaps giving Murdock the impetus to set up his own superhero team.

Theory: Daredevil Sets Up His Own Superhero Team (Who Else Could Join)

Marvel's Defenders promo image of Netflix series, with Luke Cage, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist

In setting up The Avengers, Samuel L Jackson as Fury and Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson played an integral role in bridging the separate MCU movies and heroes. Phase 1 of the MCU was meticulously planned, and paid off brilliantly in the 2012 blockbuster smash. It feels as if, with its 18-episode order from Disney+, Daredevil: Born Again will be a project of similar magnitude for the MCU's streaming shows. Introducing Daredevil to characters like Spider-Man and She-Hulk will allow him to call on their services to help him face whatever threat awaits him in Born Again.

The MCU appears to be setting up multiple post-Avengers superhuman teams at the moment, such as the Young Avengers, the Midnight Sons, and the Thunderbolts. It therefore wouldn't be a surprise if Daredevil's Knights become another of these potential teams, with plenty of MCU heroes as potential recruits. Moon Knight largely existed outside the wider MCU, but the longer the Moon Knight goes on handing out nighttime street justice, the more attention he'll attract from someone like Daredevil. In the comics, Daredevil and Moon Knight initially clashed with each other but teamed up to defeat their common foes. Interestingly, Moon Knight and Echo also teamed up in the comics, when cleaning out criminal hideouts. With all three characters appearing in their own MCU shows, they seem an ideal starting point for a Daredevil-led superhero team.

Shang-Chi was also another original member of the Knights and potential addition to the MCU version, but with his story appears to tie in more to the wider Multiverse Saga now that he's been introduced to Wong, Bruce Banner, and Carol Danvers. He'll likely be kept too busy to join Daredevil's vigilante team. Depending on the nature of Daredevil and She-Hulk's interaction, she could also feature as a member of the team, especially as she's a member of the Defenders in the comics. Though with Jen Walters' distaste for superheroes, and her fourth-wall-breaking determination that She-Hulk remains a lawyer show, she's far more likely to recruit Matt Murdock to the law firm of GLK&H in the MCU.

The original Knights line-up also included Black Widow, but with Natasha Romanov having died during Avengers: Endgame, and Scarlett Johansson's legal dispute with Disney, it's unlikely for her to feature in Born Again. Florence Pugh's Yelena could take her sister's place, but it's more likely she'll lead the MCU's Thunderbolts. The most likely iteration of the Knights in the MCU will combine the Netflix Defenders with the current Disney+ heroes to create an unstoppable superhero team. The Marvel Knights feel like the easiest way to bring back the Punisher, Luke Cage, and even Jessica Jones. While Jones was never in the Knights, she, Cage, and Daredevil were all members of Marvel's Defenders team, so hopefully they'll reunite once more for Daredevil: Born Again.