The MCU Secretly Just Set Up a New Avenger After 10 Years of Asking

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Following some less successful projects like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Secret Invasion, Marvel Studios has been working hard to regain fan confidence. Recent releases have shown positive results, with Thunderbolts scoring 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and The Fantastic Four: First Steps earning 86% – marking the first time since 2019 the studio has had two consecutive films with such high ratings. On Disney+, the show Wonder Man was a critical hit and quickly renewed for a second season, and the animated series Marvel Zombies offered a unique new direction for the franchise. Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday are now highly anticipated movies slated for 2026. Meanwhile, Daredevil: Born Again continues to connect the more grounded, street-level stories of the Marvel Cinematic Universe while hinting at bigger events to come.

Be warned, the following contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2, Episode 6, “Requiem.” In this episode, Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) makes her return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but she’s quickly attacked at home by people working for Mr. Charles (Matthew Lillard). Charles is a CIA agent who’s secretly finding individuals with superpowers for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Jessica reveals that Charles had previously tried to recruit her for secret missions, but she refused. She implies others weren’t so hesitant. The episode doesn’t explicitly state who joined Charles, but strongly suggests it was Luke Cage (Mike Colter). The show establishes that Jessica’s daughter is essentially Luke’s child, explaining his long absence from the MCU after the Netflix series. This suggests Luke accepted Charles’s offer and is now working within the same government organization that recently formed the New Avengers.

Luke Cage Was Part of One of the Best Avengers Eras

In 2004, writer Brian Michael Bendis completely revamped the Avengers. He broke up the existing team and created a new one made up of heroes who hadn’t been Avengers before. This new team formed unexpectedly during a large-scale escape from the Raft, a high-security prison for supervillains, and debuted in New Avengers #1 in early 2005. Luke Cage happened to be at the prison that night as security for lawyers, and Captain America invited him to join the team. Bendis used Cage to bring a new social awareness to the Avengers, connecting them to issues of race and the everyday lives of working-class people – themes that were central to Cage’s character when he first appeared in the 1970s. As New Avengers became the main Avengers series during Bendis’s run, Cage became the team’s moral compass, consistently questioning how they used their immense power.

The issue of Luke Cage’s role as a hero came to a head during the 2006 ‘Civil War’ event. When Congress passed the Superhuman Registration Act, the hero community fractured, and Cage chose to defy the law, joining Captain America’s secret resistance. This made him a fugitive, even though he and Jessica Jones had recently married and were expecting a child, as shown in New Avengers Annual #1. After ‘Civil War’ ended, he continued to lead a team of unregistered Avengers, known as the Secret Avengers. When Norman Osborn took control of the Avengers during the ‘Dark Reign’ storyline and their daughter Danielle was threatened, Cage briefly tried to negotiate before fighting back. Following the ‘Siege’ event, he officially became the leader of the New Avengers, operating out of Avengers Mansion until 2012. He then stepped down to focus on raising Danielle full-time, following the Avengers vs. X-Men conflict.

Throughout his time with the Avengers in the comics, Luke Cage evolved from a self-employed hero into a key leader. For ten years, he consistently fought against the kind of powerful organizations that Valentina Allegra de Fontaine now represents, making his potential role as a government agent in the MCU particularly intriguing. Since Cage’s most important stories always focused on his commitment to the people he served rather than blindly following authority, the MCU could stay true to his roots by having him reject Valentina’s plans. However, involving Cage with the government could also create a compelling storyline where he’s a conflicted figure within the superhero world. Either way, we’re closer than ever to seeing Luke Cage officially join the Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Daredevil: Born Again continues weekly on Disney+.

Okay, let’s talk Luke Cage. Could we realistically see him teaming up with the New Avengers in the MCU? It’s a fun thought, and I’m genuinely curious what you all think. Head over to the ComicBook Forum – the link’s below – and let’s discuss! I want to hear your opinions now.

https://comicbook.com/movies/list/7-powers-even-the-mcu-forgot-its-own-avengers-had/embed/#

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2026-04-27 20:43