Charlie Cox's Daredevil is finally making his long-awaited return to the MCU, meaning that it's also time for Marvel to bring back Jessica Jones and The Punisher. While Daredevil is undoubtedly the most popular of the Defenders, Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones and Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle are also the definitive versions of their respective characters. Since Marvel is bringing back Daredevil, they also have to bring back other Netflix characters like Jessica Jones and The Punisher - right?
Debuting in 2015, Daredevil was the first entry in the Defenders-verse, a long-term collaboration between Netflix and Marvel that would focus on expanding the MCU with several R-rated streaming series. While all of Netflix's MCU shows have ended, many viewers have been clamoring for Defenders-verse characters to be integrated into the MCU for years now. Since then, Daredevil and Wilson Fisk have made appearances in MCU projects, and the two are slated to appear in future shows like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Echo. At Comic-Con 2022, Marvel even announced an 18-episode Disney+ series titled Daredevil: Born Again, confirming that the MCU has plans to continue the Netflix series in a big way.
Daredevil is not the only popular Defenders-verse show, as Netflix's other five shows were successes, gaining devoted fanbases and garnering mostly positive reviews. The MCU hasn't made the Defenders-verse 100% canon just yet, but Charlie Cox's return is a good indicator that other elements from the Netflix shows will be ported over to the MCU. The Punisher and Jessica Jones are beloved characters, and with how close they are to Daredevil, it would only make sense to add them to the MCU sooner rather than later. Daredevil: Born Again getting an 18-episode order also indicates the success and immense popularity of the Netflix shows, as most of the Disney+ MCU shows are only six episodes. If Daredevil is popular enough to get three times more episodes than other MCU heroes, it only makes sense that Marvel would want to bring back equally popular characters like Jessica Jones and The Punisher.
Will Jessica Jones & The Punisher Be In Daredevil: Born Again?
While Marvel will likely bring back Jessica Jones and The Punisher, it is still unclear how they will do it. One possibility is that the two characters could appear in the upcoming series Daredevil: Born Again. Considering that it is 18-episodes, the show has a lot of time to fill, and bringing back some of Daredevil's peers would be the perfect way to do it. The MCU has to explain what Matt Murdock and The Defenders have been up to for the past few years, so appearances from Jessica and Frank would be warranted. It has been heavily rumored that Daredevil will be looking for Jessica Jones in She-Hulk, and if this storyline comes to fruition, it could pay off with her appearance in Born Again. The Punisher would also perfectly fit into the show, as he originally debuted in Daredevil season 2. While nothing is confirmed, there is no better time to bring back Jessica Jones and The Punisher than in Daredevil: Born Again.
The MCU's Phase 5 seems like it will have a heavy focus on new street-level characters like Daredevil, so it only makes sense to continue this by bringing Jessica Jones and The Punisher back into the MCU. Both characters are incredibly popular, have strong histories and fanbases, and are rumored to appear. So, whether it be in Daredevil: Born Again or somewhere else, the inclusion of Daredevil probably means that the MCU will also bring back Jessica Jones and The Punisher soon.
