When fans saw Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock as Peter Parker's lawyer in Spider-Man: No Way Home for the first time in years, they finally had optimism that their beloved blind crime fighter might join the MCU. These expectations were only heightened when Vincent D'Onofrio reprised his role as Kingpin in Hawkeye. Even before he returned as Daredevil, Kevin Feige recognized Charlie Cox as his pick for the role. With the rights to the Netflix characters and their various series now in Disney's hands, and Netflix's Marvel series departing the platform in March 2022, there's a lot of speculation that they'll all be teaming up with the big screen heroes shortly.
However, not all of the Netflix heroes may be ready for a direct entry into the MCU. Frank Castle, portrayed by Jon Bernthal in Netflix's The Punisher, is a historically violent hero, but the title "hero" is used loosely. Frank leaves a trail of blood wherever he goes, which could be a problem given that the MCU has never been particularly bloody. Bernthal has stated that he would only return to the character in the MCU if the studio remained loyal to his character's brutal nature. Of course, with Cox's Daredevil and D'Onofrio's Kingpin both being Netflix Marvel characters officially entering the MCU, as well as Hulu's reported new Punisher series, everyone is wondering: is The Punisher connected to the MCU?
In the MCU, Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio reprised their roles as Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk, respectively, with both speculated to have future appearances planned. It should be noted, however, that this does not necessarily make the Netflix shows canon. The actors from the Netflix series may remain the same, but the characters themselves are rumored to be revamped to fit Disney's lighter, family-friendly tone.
After all, neither of the Daredevil characters recognized their series arcs in their most recent appearances, so they might not be identical. Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones is reported to appear in the new She-Hulk series, which will premiere on Disney+ later this year, while Jon Bernthal's The Punisher is also rumored to appear in phases 4 and 5.
In the case of Luke Cage and Iron Fist, actors Finn Jones and Mike Colter may be out of luck because their characters may be replaced in order to conduct a complete reboot of their respective source materials. It's understandable that they'd want to recreate Iron Fist. The show's ratings were low in both seasons, and Danny Rand's character was rejected before Finn Jones was cast.
Rebooting Luke Cage's character, on the other hand, would be a poor choice given the series' great response. It wasn't flawless, but it was well on its way to becoming a truly amazing series if it hadn't been canceled. Fans who are disappointed by this rumor need not be too concerned, since Kevin Feige has not ruled out the prospect of fully merging the Netflix series into the MCU.
