The MCU Could Bring Back The Two Best Marvel Netflix Villains - Here's How
For many years, there was some uncertainty about whether or not Marvel's Netflix television series were official entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Throughout its run, the Defenders Saga existed in a sort of limbo where shows made vague references to major characters and events — like "Jessica Jones" offhandedly mentioning the Battle of New York — but never the other way around.
Since then, however, Marvel Studios has been slowly reintroducing characters and actors that debuted on Netflix, like Charlie Cox's Daredevil and Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin, and Disney+ has officially confirmed where Marvel's Defenders Saga exists on the MCU timeline, making it the perfect time to also bring back the two most celebrated Marvel Netflix villains: David Tennant's Kilgrave and Mahershala Ali's Cottonmouth.
Now, that could be a bit tricky considering they're both undeniably dead — with Kilgrave's neck snapped and Cottonmouth's skull pretty thoroughly crushed by a mic stand — but death is rarely permanent in a comic book universe, and considering reviewers singled these villains out as highlights of their respective series, revisiting them may not be a bad idea. But how?
Can Marvel bring Netflix's villains back from the dead?
If Marvel Studios wants to bring back Kilgrave and Cottonmouth, creatives have plenty of preestablished ways of doing so. The Defenders Saga itself introduces the concept of raising the dead by way of the Hand, with Elodie Yung's Elektra sacrificing herself at the end of Season 2 of "Daredevil" only to be resurrected in time for "The Defenders." Thanks to both "Avengers: Endgame" and "Deadpool 2," time travel shenanigans are another potential option. And of course, pretty much all bets are off following "Spider-Man: No Way Home" considering that characters can now just be plucked from any number of universes where they're still alive.
The bigger hurdle is the fact that Mahershala Ali is purportedly going to play Blade. On the other hand, many are worried about Marvel Studios' "Blade" given that the project has been languishing in development hell for years now, so perhaps bringing Ali back as an existing character would be the most effective way to reintroduce him into the MCU. Meanwhile, David Tennant hasn't ruled out the idea of an MCU return. Considering the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio's reappearances, it seems like a no-brainer for Marvel to bring back even more Netflix stars — and two of the MCU's best villains are sitting on the table.