There is some speculation that Defenders could introduce us to some new heroes that may or may not be apart of the second wave of shows. It all depends on how the Defenders wants to approach the Hand-Chaste War and if they’ll be adapting Shadowland story as well.
Beware there are some Daredevil spoilers ahead.
In season two of Daredevil, The Hand are digging a deep hole and speculation/rumor points to them attempting release Mephisto upon the Earth. This could mean that we are just getting Elektra and undead army of The Hand versus the Defenders team, along with the possibility of other demonic threats.
Unleashing a demonic/supernatural character like Mephisto could lead to us seeing characters like like Hellcat, Daimon Hellstrom, Blade, Ghost Rider, and Moon Knight introduced into this side of the Marvel universe. Doctor Strange and Iron Fist will help establish and reinforce this exploration of the supernatural side of the comics.
There’s also the chance Matt could end-up brainwashed/possessed by the Hand, like in Shadowland where he becomes a villain himself.
Fighting a supernatural threat might cause some supernatural heroes to make the scene.
We’ve been hearing for over a year that Marvel has been considering a Moon Knight series and introducing him in Defenders or Daredevil season three wouldn’t be too shocking. There had been two previous attempts at a Moon Knight series before the rights eventually reverted back to Marvel.
Considering that Moon Knight like Punisher, has connections to the New York City sandbox and they share a couple of villains including Bullseye. Out of the rumored second wave shows Moon Knight makes the most sense to be the next hero introduced.
Marc Spector started out as a heavyweight boxer before eventually joining the U.S. Marines where he was trained as a commando. Shortly afterwards, his skills led to his recruitment into the Central Intelligence Agency where he worked with William Cross (Crossfire) and his own brother, Randall Spector (Shadow Knight).
Fed up with the CIA, Marc went independent and became a fierce soldier of fortune, renowned for his willingness to do anything providing the job paid well enough. In Africa, he met a French mercenary, Jean-Paul “Frenchie” DuChamp, who would become one of Marc’s closest friends and Marc’s pilot.
While working for the terrorist Raoul Bushman, they stumbled across an excavation of an Egyptian Pharaoh’s tomb. Believing there was gold and riches within, they attempted to rob the site. After murderous events that Spector wasn’t going along with, Bushman brutally beat Spector and abandoned him in the desert so that he wo
uld suffer before he died. Spector suddenly came back to life claiming that he had a vision that Khonshu had brought him back from the dead in order to be the Moon’s Knight of Vengeance.
Returning to New York City, he would crate four different personas, a street-smart cabbie (Jake Lockley), wall street millionaire playboy (Steven Grant), mercenary (Marc Spector) and finally the vigilante Moon Knight.
If they need one more member for the Defenders lineup it wouldn’t hurt to actually call upon a real member of the team, along with Hellcat.
We haven’t heard if Frank Castle will indeed be returning for the team-up, which seems unlikely if he’s going to be prepping his own series and wouldn’t exactly have any motivation to help. The end of Daredevil gives the impression he’s going off to do his own thing for a while. Spector taking Castle’s spot could make sense, and his origin could make for an interesting episode.
The solo series itself could be unique as it doesn’t have to only be set in New York City, I’ve mentioned before that the second wave could break the mould of wave one, taking place outside of NYC. Moon Knight being a West Coast Avenger and Marc Spector being a soldier of fortune it gives the impression Marvel could move the show around to different cities and countries.
I know a lot of people had been fan-casting Welsh actor Luke Evans (Dracula Untold, Fast and Furious 6, Hobbit, The Girl on The Train, Beauty and The Beast) for Marvel roles like Doctor Strange and Namor The Sub-Mariner, but he might make a better Marc Spector aka Moon Knight, a role that is essentially Marvel’s Batman.
Spector being a former boxer and soldier/mercenary, you’d need to hire someone who can pull-off the massive amount of psychical attributes, along with the action chops for the heavy stunt work needed.
It wouldn’t be as different when Marvel hired Jon Bernthal for Frank Castle, it doesn’t hurt to pursue bigger names for these lead roles. At this point Evans isn’t entirely committed to any franchise, and there had been talk of his Dracula now being excluded from Universal’s cinematic monster universe.
There’s an assumption that we could be seeing a stronger force of Hand membership in Defenders, leading to the reason behind the formation of the heroic team. Some other assassins that are apart of The Hand include Bullseye, Typhoid Mary, Lady Bullseye, gangster Tombstone and even a brain-washed White Tiger.
However, it’s possible that these villains might not even make the Defenders series or won’t even be apart of the yet to be announced season three of Daredevil. Although, I’m not entirely convinced that Daredevil will still have a solo series post-Defenders. I could see Marvel TV taking some of these villains and repurposing them for other shows where they might be better suited.
Luckily, a lot of the villains that also face Marc Spector just happen to be supernatural, assassins and fellow mercenaries. We could easily see some of the these Daredevil villains spill over into a series like Moon Knight. I’m sure after Vincent D’onofrio, David Tennant and Jon Bernthal being hits with fans they’ll likely be aiming to hire more known film actors for these kinds of heavy roles and leads.
Mary like Elektra, has a love-hate relationship with Matt we had been hearing rumblings that Katee Sackhoff (Riddick, Battlestar Galactica) was interested in the part and researching her.
In 2011, she affirmed her aggressive desire for the role in an interview with Screen Rant.
“Who do you need to fuck to get Typhoid Mary? Because obviously it’s not working for me! [Seriously though] I’m obsessed with Typhoid Mary, I think that she is a phenomenal character. A couple of years ago I actually got a bunch of Typhoid Mary comic books at the Golden Apple in Los Angeles and like five seconds after I walked out it was online…”
“I love her. I love being bad. I think it’s so much more fun, because it’s so much more challenging to make people like you. I think that’s what fun about it – when you play the villain…you want people to want you to win, and then you’ve succeeded [as an actor]. So the villains are so much more complicated and fun to play as an actor.”
“Yeah! Could you imagine? That would be pretty amazing – I’ve been talking about it for a long time. They better get this ball rolling! I’m going to age right out of the project!”
Her series Longmire was originally an A&E production, Netflix picked-up the series after it’s cancellation continuing seasons four and five. I could see the company looking at her for a role, if it doesn’t conflict with Longmire as she’s been vocal about wanting the part.
Mary could easily crossover to become a villain or supporting character for a Moon Knight series, since we’ve seen villains traditionally known as apart of the Daredevil comics used for other shows. I could see her being somewhat combined with the super obscure villainess Stained Glass Scarlet.
Keep in mind, The Purple Man first appeared in Daredevil comics before becoming the main antagonists for Jessica Jones, when the lesser known villain was repurposed in her comic origin.
Bullseye is Daredevil’s most notorious villain and there had been hints he would show-up in season two, as he potentially took a pot-shot at Matt with a sniper rifle during a stand-off with police. There had talk that Jason Statham (Fast 8, Expendables, Snatch, Crank) had been eyed for the role, that didn’t happen and we eventually saw the addition of The Punisher instead.
The character ultimately kills Elektra in a fight, and depending which comics you read they’ve killed each other as well. He’s more of a staple villain, so I doubt they’d actually kill him off since he’s fought other heroes as well such as Moon Knight, and could make a decent crossover threat.
Tombstone runs in the same circles as Kingpin, and could be a villain that’s able to stand-up to Luke Cage. His undead look might be perfect for a supernatural take within the ranks of The Hand. It’s unknown if this character is being saved for the Spider-Man films or not, he’s yet another baddie that could be workable for Moon Knight as well.
It’s also equally possible that these villains could show-up as hired by Kingpin, once he get’s out of prison to retake his criminal empire, potentially in Daredevil season three. Another perspective is that they could be hired by another criminal syndicate like The Committee, which just happen to be villains of Moon Knight.
Moon Knight’s own interesting rogues gallery includes mercenary Raoul Bushman that has ties to his origin, Crossfire (brother of Ant-Man‘s Darren Cross), Shadow Knight who is his brother Randall Spector, Black Spectre, Stained Glass Scarlet and Midnight Man.
The one rogue that screams Netflix adaptation is Bushman.
Raoul Bushman was a former mercenary working in the Sudan along with Marc Spector (later to become Moon Knight). At some point in the past, Bushman had had his face tattooed skull white with some red markings, to instill fear in both his enemies and followers. Bushman later became dictator and ruler of the African country Burunda. He was heavily funded by drug cultivation and its profits. After another defeat by Moon Knight, Bushman had his ruling status taken away. Bushman was taken away by authorities after a failed assassination attempt on some Russian ambassadors.
However, Bushman was seemingly released or escaped from his captors as he was hired by the New Committee to cause Moon Knight some sort of horrible injury, so that Moon Knight’s will to live would deteriorate.
Bushman also teams-up with criminal syndicate The Committee, which includes Parker Robbins aka The Hood. A supernatural villain that could make a fun main antagonist for Moon Knight. The Committee, is an organization of businessmen who intended to terrorize the populace into fear-based consumption.
Robbins’ father was a close associate of the Kingpin, who was frequently present as Parker grew up. With his mother in a mental institute and his father presumed dead, Parker lived with his pregnant girlfriend Sara. Parker and his cousin, John are tipped off about a shipment at a deserted factory. Later on, Parker and John check it out, finding nothing but candles, a fold up chair and what looks like tribal drawings. They are attacked by a Nisanti demon. Parker shoots it with his handgun and believes he has killed it, proceeding to steal the Nisanti’s hooded cloak and boots. Fleeing the scene, chased by a gang of thugs, Parker finds out that the boots let him fly. After a punch in the gut from his cousin Parker found that the cloak allows him to become invisible for as long as he can hold his breath.
At this point we don’t know officially what Marvel Television’s plans are concerning the next wave, but having one or two show-up in Defenders to be introduced before their solo episodes could help create a larger fan demand. Moon Knight to me feels like a strong contender to get his own series next, then comes Blade as they’d have to figure-out if they’re keeping Wesley Snipes or hiring a new actor like John Boyega.
Should Moon Knight join the ranks of The Defenders and does he deserve his own solo series?