There’s much we don’t know about the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Doctor Doom, but he appears to be taking a great interest in the next generation of would-be superheroes. The villain made his debut in the Fantastic Four: First Steps post-credits scene, seemingly on the verge of kidnapping young Franklin Richards. There’s also speculation that Steve Rogers is responsible for the collapse of the multiverse, putting him (and his infant child) in Doom’s crosshairs. The midseason trailer for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 confirmed the existence of yet another child of superheroes, and Marvel fans are already thinking it could be the continuation of Doctor Doom’s kidnapping trend.
After the Daredevil: Born Again trailer revealed that Jessica Jones has a daughter, a Reddit user replying to a thread in the Marvel Studios subreddit jokingly commented, “another kid to get stolen by Doom.” This served as a jumping off point for a larger discussion about what the future might have in store for Jessica’s daughter in the MCU. In the comics, Jessica and Luke Cage have a child, Danielle Cage, together. Danielle, who inherited superpowers from her parents, goes on to become Captain America.
Will Jessica Jones’ Daughter Appear in Avengers: Doomsday?
As amusing as the “another kid to get stolen by Doom” comment is, it’s highly unlikely that actually happens in Avengers: Doomsday. There’s always the possibility things could change, but right now, Krysten Ritter (who has never appeared in an MCU movie) is not part of the official Avengers: Doomsday cast. Odds are, she’ll stay in the small-screen corner of the franchise. Doomsday already has a plethora of characters to juggle, and integrating Defenders heroes would run the risk of confusing general audiences. Not everyone who will see Doomsday is familiar with what’s happening on the streaming shows, and in light of projects like The Marvels bombing, Marvel is trying to cut down the amount of “homework” fans need to do to follow the films.
It remains to be seen if Jessica’s child in the MCU even is Danielle Cage. Considering what transpires in the comics, that’s what makes the most sense, but Marvel Studios could make changes to the source material and take things in a different direction. That said, Jessica and Luke Cage have been lovers in the MCU, and Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 set photos have revealed the long-awaited Defenders reunion, with Mike Colter reprising Luke Cage. It would be reasonable to assume that he and Jessica rekindled their relationship offscreen in the time since we last saw them. Once Jessica makes her first appearance in Born Again Season 2, these details should come to light.
If the MCU is indeed about to introduce Danielle Cage, it’ll be interesting to see how her story unfolds in the MCU. At first glance, it would seem like the first step to setting her up as the next Captain America. Marvel likely wouldn’t bring someone as notable as Danielle Cage into the fold unless they had a plan for how to utilize her moving forward. That said, Danielle is likely too young to be a superhero at this point in the MCU timeline. She’s probably years away from taking up the shield, and there’s no guarantee she’ll even get to that point. After Avengers: Secret Wars, Marvel is going to institute a soft reset to streamline the continuity, and Kevin Feige has talked about the prospect of recasting characters like Steve Rogers before.
Depending on how things play out in the MCU after Secret Wars, there could be a new Steve Rogers variant in place to headline future Captain America movies. Should that happen, it’s unlikely we’ll see Danielle Cage as Captain America anytime soon, but it would still be fun to see one day. It would be a fresh and exciting angle to explore with the IP, plus it’d be a great way to honor the legacy of the Defenders shows. Perhaps Danielle could even track down her fellow superhero offspring and put together a team of next-gen Avengers.
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