Marvel Just Confirmed Sam Wilson’s Captain America Successor Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight in the MCU
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 plunges New York into a shadow war as Matt Murdock and Karen Page mount a covert resistance against Mayor Wilson Fisk’s iron rule. Three episodes in, the city’s defiance is surfacing—and his grip is already slipping.
We are only three episodes into Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, and Marvel is already seeding plot threads that stretch way past this batch of eight episodes. The big tease this week: Jessica Jones drops a bombshell in the midseason trailer that could set up one of the wildest legacy heroes Marvel has in its back pocket.
Where Season 2 stands right now
Season 2 picks up with Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) working from the shadows, trying to loosen Mayor Wilson Fisk's (Vincent D'Onofrio) chokehold on New York. The city is not rolling over for Fisk; an underground resistance is building fast and becoming the spine of the conflict. The show has also been dangling a powder-keg alliance with Bullseye (Wilson Bethel), and it already name-dropped Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) before confirming she shows up in full later this season.
Marvel Television just dropped a midseason trailer and fresh images that make it pretty clear they are thinking well beyond Season 2. Case in point: Jessica's reveal.
The trailer twist: Jessica Jones is a mom
'They showed up at my house with my daughter there.'
That line is straight from Jessica in the new trailer. We never see the child, and the MCU has not revealed her name or who the father is. On paper, though, comics fans know exactly where this could be headed: in Marvel Comics, Jessica and Luke Cage have a daughter named Danielle Cage.
Why fans are connecting the dots
Set photos for Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 show Mike Colter and Finn Jones back as Luke Cage and Iron Fist, which strongly points to a full Defenders reunion next season. With Colter back in the mix and a very clear comics template in play, it is hard not to read Jessica's 'my daughter' line as a nod to Danielle Cage — a character who, in certain timelines, grows up to take the Captain America mantle. That is a pretty bold breadcrumb to drop in a trailer.
Comics crash course: Danielle Cage
- First appearance and family: Jessica gives birth to Danielle in The Pulse #14, a follow-up to the early-2000s Alias run. Luke proposes right after, and the two marry in New Avengers Annual #1 (2006). They name her after Luke's best friend, Danny Rand — Iron Fist.
- Main continuity kid years (Earth-616): Danielle mostly appears as a child across New Avengers and Mighty Avengers. During Secret Invasion, a Skrull posing as Edwin Jarvis kidnaps her; her parents and their allies track down the impostor and rescue her unharmed.
- The future twist (Earth-15061, year 20XX): In this alternate future, Danielle inherits her dad's unbreakable skin and her mom's super strength, becomes Captain America, and carries a thought-controlled anti-gravity shield with the classic star-and-stripes look.
- Ultron and a time hop: She is among the heroes summoned to topple All-Father Ultron's rule in that future. In U.S.Avengers #2-3, she even visits the present-day Marvel Universe and tells current heroes she has met multiple versions of herself across the multiverse — and all of them became Captain America.
- Defenders family tree: In one future storyline, Danielle marries Lucy Rand, the daughter of Iron Fist and Misty Knight, tying together just about every major street-level thread those heroes share.
What this could mean for the MCU
Avengers: Secret Wars is on the horizon, which is prime territory to sneak in a future-Captain-America variant like Danielle. Even without multiverse shenanigans, simply introducing Jessica's daughter on Daredevil: Born Again can lay groundwork for a next-wave legacy hero in the main Sacred Timeline. Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) currently wears the stars and stripes after Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) retired, but Marvel is going to need the bench set for whatever comes after the Multiverse Saga. Danielle Cage neatly connects Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Misty Knight — and she is a very plausible long-game successor to Sam if Marvel wants to go there.
The road ahead
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is streaming now on Disney+, with new episodes dropping Tuesdays. Only three of eight episodes are out, Ritter is set to fully appear this season, and she is also lined up for Season 3. With Luke Cage and Iron Fist showing up in those Season 3 set photos, keep an eye out — Marvel Television is clearly building to something bigger than a mayoral takedown.
So, who do you think the MCU just introduced off-screen — and should she eventually pick up the shield?