DEFENDERS: 6 Characters From The Netflix TV Shows That Need To Be Recast For The MCU

With Daredevil and The Kingpin now part of the MCU, fans are wondering which characters will soon join them. Well, while we hope to see this lot again down the line, it should be with different actors...

By JoshWilding - Mar 28, 2022 12:03 PM EST

Filed Under: Defenders

Earlier this month, Marvel Studios added all of Marvel Television's Netflix TV shows to Disney+. This has left fans more eager than ever to see those characters in the MCU, especially after Daredevil and The Kingpin's recent returns in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye, respectively.

It's clear Kevin Feige is now looking to make use of (some of) these characters, and while those we've seen make their presence felt thus far have been played by the same actors, that's unlikely to be the case for everyone. After all, these shows are only very loosely tied to the MCU, and Marvel Studios being beholden to continuity they had nothing to do with makes zero sense.

However, in the case of those listed here, our hope is that new actors will be brought in to take over. We have nothing against these performers, but their characters are in desperate need of a fresh start and were often miscast in the first place. While Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio can only benefit from an MCU overhaul, it's too late for this lot, so Marvel Studios needs to start over.

To take a look through this feature, all you guys need to do is click on the "Next" button below!

6. Luke Cage

Mike Colter is an undeniably talented actor, but he was never quite right for Luke Cage. While he was a good fit for Power Man in the first half of the show's debut season, the second the series headed down a more comic accurate route, Colter just felt wildly out of place as this character. Now, at 45-years-old, we'd go so far as to argue he's too old to continue playing this beloved Hero for Hire in the MCU.

The actor certainly doesn't look his age, but the Luke Cage role feels like one that would be better suited to a young, up-and-coming African American performer who can make Power Man their own. We've no doubt there is an amazing comic book movie role for Colter, but Cage needs to take centre stage in this shared world moving forward as a major player who projects Harlem and the entire MCU.

5. Trish Walker

Hellcat is one of Marvel Comics' oldest characters, and she's stepped back into the limelight in recent years as a love interest to Iron Man. She's always been a great hero in her own right, of course, but Jessica Jones dropped the ball on Hellcat in a way that can only be described as unforgivable. After gaining superpowers, "Trish" Walker tried her hand at being a vigilante before losing her mind and becoming a killer.

Rachael Taylor did what she could with the material, but the sooner this take on Patsy Walker is forgotten, the better. We're hoping Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones returns one day, though it would be better for that to happen without her childhood best friend. As for Hellcat, she can be rebooted as a totally different character, and we wouldn't be surprised if Marvel Studios always had that planned.

4. Leland Owlsley

What a disappointment this was. While The Owl has never been one of the Man Without Fear's greatest foes, he's certainly given Daredevil more than his fair share of problems over the years. In fact, Leland Owlsley has even pretty successfully terrorised Spider-Man, proving that there's a lot Marvel Television could have done with this villain before ageing him up and killing him off.

Bob Gunton, referred to as a "doddering pencil pusher" at one point in Daredevil, was fine in the role, but there's no way he should be asked to reprise this character. The fact his Owl was killed off so soon is probably for the best as it means most fans will have likely forgotten him and would be all too happy to see a new, younger version of the character make his presence felt in Hell's Kitchen.

3. Mary Walker

Alice Eve did a decent job in Iron Fist's second season, and on the surface, she's actually a pretty perfect choice to bring Typhoid Mary to life. Unfortunately, the version of the character we got in this series was watered down beyond belief and we'd actually forgotten all about her until the time came to put this feature together. That tells you all you need to know about why Mary should be recast!

This was a typical example of Marvel Television taking a comic book character and stripping away everything that makes them, well, a comic book character. In recent years, Typhoid Mary has become an unexpected love interest to Wilson Fisk, and there are lots of avenues to take her down. Moon Knight has introduced the idea of DDA in the MCU, so it would be easy to introduce a new take on Mary.

2. Will Simpson

Nuke is an absolute behemoth in the comic books, and the unhinged Vietnam vet can most often be found squaring off with Captain America. The failed super-soldier has provided a fascinating insight into what could have happened to Steve Rogers, and he'd be a fitting opponent for Sam Wilson now he wields the shield. Assuming that is the case, we're not looking for Wil Traval to reprise the role.

Marvel Television very much did its own thing with "Nuke," and Traval's interpretation of the character had little to nothing in common with his comic book counterpart. A fresh start with a comic book accurate take on this villain would be for the best, and is far removed enough from what we saw on Netflix that no one is likely to be confused or question why a new take on the villain is part of the MCU.

1. Iron Fist

We'd argue that Iron Fist is where Netflix's Marvel Television projects really started going downhill, and whether they ever truly recovered after is up for debate. Why Scott Buck would be put in charge of anything after Dexter and Inhumans is beyond our comprehension, but as bad as the series was, there's no getting around the fact that Finn Jones just wasn't a strong enough actor for this role.

Even with Marvel Studios in charge, we don't see that changing. Some believe an Asian actor should be given the role, and while there's certainly a strong argument to be made there, remember that Danny Rand found himself in K'un-Lun after a plane crash, with the whole fish out of water element a big part of who he is. Regardless, both the MCU's Heroes for Hire should return with new faces.

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61 Comments

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Origame - 3/28/2022, 12:14 PM

Almost all of these are writing problems. Not casting issues. I really don't see why characters need to be recast because the writing was off.

HAUSMAN01 - 3/28/2022, 2:58 PM

@Origame - agreed but knowing Fiege and the Marvel suits they're going to want to go in a new direction

Origame - 3/28/2022, 3:10 PM

@HAUSMAN01 - I get that's sadly the reality we're getting. But I'm more criticizing the article claiming these characters need to be recast, and their reasons have nothing to do with the performances of the cast.

UXASIS - 3/28/2022, 12:16 PM

Okay the only guy I don't like on this list is Leland Owsley, but putting him on this list is also pointless, because The Owl (the famous Dd rogue) was supposed to be in Season 4 (together with Typhoid Mary), as the son of Leland, coming to get his revenge for the death of his father.

The only actress I'm afraid they'll recast, even tho she was awesome, is Elodie Yung, as Elektra.

UXASIS - 3/28/2022, 12:19 PM

I'd love for Finn Jones to return... however I think Marvel will try to go the Ultimate Spider-Man route and pick a younger actor, who'd buddy up with Spider-Man or Echo.

Maybe Shang-Chi could be his mentor (rather his opponent as we rumoured)

HAUSMAN01 - 3/28/2022, 3:03 PM

@UXASIS - If they do recast and go younger my top choices for Danny are Forrest

Wheeler,Ian

Chen,or Jace

Norman

GhostDog - 3/28/2022, 12:21 PM

The Luke Cage recasting could do a lot.

BojoDojo - 3/28/2022, 12:22 PM

Dear website, just report the news, your clickbait opinions are not required.

McMurdo - 3/28/2022, 12:23 PM

I'd recast all of em except Daredevil honestly. Including Jessica Jones.

LongMayHeReign - 3/28/2022, 2:17 PM

@McMurdo - Every single main lead can be recast except Cox and Bernthal imo, but without a shadow of a doubt Finn has to go. Whether he slightly improved in S2 or not (and whether or not it's mostly his fault or not) he is the face of one of Marvel's most disliked shows.

McMurdo - 3/29/2022, 9:10 AM

@LongMayHeReign - I agree not sure how I forgot Bernthal. He's amazing.

inkniron - 3/28/2022, 12:26 PM

Meh, they could recast the entire series and I wouldn't bat eye.

Except David Tennant. That man is a treasure.

rychlec - 3/28/2022, 12:28 PM

I'd definitely like to see a bigger, badder Luke Cage and, without a doubt, an Iron Fist who has taken at least one karate class, which is one more than Finn took. I liked Taylor as Hellcat though. She rocked that yellow suit for the 5 seconds she wore it.

UXASIS - 3/28/2022, 12:28 PM

I'm really intrigued to see how they handle Netflix actors interactions, despite Netflix being non-canon.

They really should think hard on how to make a scene between Kingpin and Daredevil and make it exciting, when technically they'd be fighting for like the second (or third if you consider the S2 prison fight) time.

They'll probably set them up as being long-time enemies, who have fought for a while.

Menks123 - 3/28/2022, 12:29 PM

Actually agree with all of these.

FilmDork1221 - 3/28/2022, 12:43 PM

What an appalling take! Alice Eve and Rachael Taylor gave outstanding performances, and Mike Colter IS Luke Cage.

Bring them all back

LongMayHeReign - 3/28/2022, 2:21 PM

@FilmDork1221 - If Mike Coulter "IS" Luke Cage then they need to put Luke Cage on the shelf, because that brotha was boring as hell. Mahershala was the only reason to watch that show imo and after he died it was just plain boring.

UXASIS - 3/28/2022, 1:24 PM

I'd definitely bring back Killgrave and make him an antagonist for Daredevil, with Tennant that could be a lot of horrific fun.

Same goes for Jigsaw.

aRush - 3/28/2022, 2:23 PM

@UXASIS - I'm not familiar with Echo's comic history so I have no idea if they've ever been put in a comic together, but I could see it being interesting to pit Echo against Tennant's Kilgrave in her show.

UXASIS - 3/29/2022, 9:20 AM

@aRush

At first I thought Echo'd be immune due to her deafness.

But in the comic books, they said he is producing some sort of pheromones with which he controls people.

(which doesn't kinda work in Jessica Jones, where he controls people through television).

aRush - 4/4/2022, 11:19 PM

@UXASIS - The show seemed to kind of play it both ways on how it worked. In my head I've gone with his ability to gain control is pheromone based (or was it a virus in the show? Not much different I suppose), but people need to know what he wants to react to his will so if they can't hear or see him there's no effect. In that vein it could be interesting to see him try to find ways to convey his commands to her like sign, writing etc to try and control her and her in turn trying to avoid using her sight to avoid that control.

UXASIS - 4/5/2022, 11:30 AM

@aRush

One thing is a must: David Tennant must return in the MCU.

I know he has been fan-cast as Nightmare and stuff, but I'd rather have him as being a recurring antagonist, rather than one-off villain.

So Purple Man being the nemesis of all street-level heroes (just as Kingpin) that would be very nice.

Dope21 - 3/28/2022, 1:37 PM

Hate these type of articles

JDL - 3/28/2022, 1:43 PM

Can we get an ignore button for article authors please ?

TheRealMandarin - 3/28/2022, 1:54 PM

Recast Time! Ana Taylor Joy for Hell Cat

Arming Joseph for Luke Cage

Lucas Till for Iron Fist

Pablo Schriber for The Owl

Don't give two table spoons about Mary walker but I'd keep Elodie Young as Elektra tho

Sam Witwer for Nuke

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