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The first episode of Daredevil: Born Again season 2 includes a brief connection to Thunderbolts/New Avengers and the larger MCU in a subtle but important way that could point to the future of the series as it rolls on.
To get into it more, we’ll have to offer up a very light spoiler warning for Daredevil: Born Again season 2 episode 1, though we promise not to reveal anything extra important if you’re hoping to stay mostly fresh.
Kingpin’s Thunderbolts in comics
While Fisk was mayor of NYC in comics, he recruited a team of supervillains to protect the city from an invasion by Knull, the King in Black of the symbiotes. This was the only sanctioned super team in the city under Fisk’s anti-vigilante laws.
Fisk’s Thunderbolts roster includes everyone’s favorite mercenary Taskmaster; Mister Fear, Daredevil’s equivalent of the Scarecrow; acrobatic Captain America enemy Batroc the Leaper; classic Spider-Man villain the Rhino; cosmically powered Star, whose powers come from the Reality Infinity Stone; and finally two new villains named Ampere and Snakehead.
The team dwindles throughout their battle against the symbiotes, taking down some powerful foes, but losing members due to both death and desertion. Finally, the few remaining Thunderbolts wind up teaming up with some of the unsanctioned vigilantes to help beat back Knull’s forces.
With his team essentially decimated, Kingpin turns to one of the previous leaders of the Thunderbolts, Norman Osborn, the former Green Goblin who is now reformed and a tenuous ally of Peter Parker. Osborn forms his own team of Thunderbolts from B-list supervillains, rejoining the fray against the symbiotes.
After the invasion, Fisk reassigns the team as the tip of the spear for his anti-vigilante task force. This incarnation of the team includes US Agent, Electro, Rhino, and many more, including the entire Serpent Society, a veritable army of supervillains repurposed to take down NYC’s many heroes.
When Kingpin’s reign as mayor crashes and burns, Luke Cage is elected as mayor in his stead. Cage, the former director of the Thunderbolts program designed to rehab supervillains, recruits Hawkeye, yet another former Thunderbolts leader from the team’s early days, to remake the team as heroes. This version didn’t last long, and the team has since undergone several reinventions totally separate from their time as Kingpin’s enforcers and NYC’s official protectors.
Will Kingpin get his own Thunderbolts team in the MCU?
It’s hard to say whether Wilson Fisk will create a whole Thunderbolts team of his own in the MCU, and if he does do something like that, they may not be called the Thunderbolts, given the cinematic origin of the name being Yelena Belova’s little league soccer team.
That said, there are some pieces in place that make it a possibility. Valentina’s involvement in the series, which could expand as it rolls on, might offer a larger connection to, if not a new Thunderbolts team, the New Avengers.
Most of the MCU New Avengers were part of different incarnations of the Thunderbolts in comics. And with Bullseye returning to play a key role in Daredevil: Born Again season 2, another former Thunderbolts member is also in play. In fact, Bullseye wasn’t just a member of the Thunderbolts, he was also the faux-Hawkeye of Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers.
It might be a stretch for Kingpin to start adding superheroes to his anti-vigilante taskforce in the MCU. But we do know that Daredevil has allies of his own helping him behind the scenes, so there’s definitely a chance Wilson Fisk could attempt to meet force with force.
There are still seven more episodes to go, and at this point, just about anything could happen. We’re not entirely holding our breath for an MCU version of Kingpin’s Thunderbolts, especially as Daredevil: Born Again has stuck largely to its own corner of the Marvel Universe. Nonetheless, it’s not impossible that we could at least see the building blocks of a new, Kingpin-led Thunderbolts team by the end of the season. Judging by the first episode, it seems at least one thing is for certain. We’re in for some big surprises as Daredevil: Born Again season 2 rolls on.
The first episode of Daredevil: Born Again season 2 is out now on Disney Plus, with subsequent episodes dropping weekly. Make sure you never miss an episode with our Daredevil: Born Again season 2 release schedule, or get up to speed with the rest of Marvel Phase 6 with our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows.