Marvel Television finally confirmed where Mike Colter’s Luke Cage is during the events of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, and it confirms a popular theory. Daredevil: Born Again is continuing to ease fans into a full-on revival of Netflix’s Defenders Saga in Season 2, having just brought back Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones (now with a daughter, Danielle) after already featuring Jon Bernthal’s Punisher last season. Jones’ return has come alongside a particular interest in Matthew Lillard’s Mr. Charles, the new CIA villain who links to Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin and another MCU Phase 5 villain, along with a beloved Netflix hero.
In Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Episode 6, Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones revealed that her home had been attacked by a “wetwork” team sent by Matthew Lillard’s Mr. Charles. She explained that the CIA operative had been “running guns with Fisk,” but, more interestingly, he had been looking to recruit super-powered people, an offer she refused, while “not everyone [she knows] did:”
“After you called, I did some digging. Found out who’s been running guns with Fisk and giving him all this cover… A while ago, this guy called. Obviously agency. Obviously sketchy as hell. He was interested in people like us. I told him to f***. Not everyone I know did.”
Jones’ tease that another super-powered familiar was working for Charles had many convinced that Mike Colter’s Luke Cage was now in his employ. It is believed that Cage and Jones have gotten even closer since they were last seen together, with the bulletproof man all but confirmed to be the mother of her child, Danielle.
Season 2, Episode 7 has finally confirmed, yes, Luke Cage is working for Mr. Charles and is “overseas… doin’ the lord’s work so you don’t have to.” The interaction arises when Jessica Jones confronts Charles over the men attacking her at home, to which he says, “they were just supposed to tell [her] to back off” from investigating his arms deal with Wilson Fisk.
Wherever Cage happens to be, he seems to be rather isolated from the world, as Charles claims that he is the “only one who can connect [her] with Luke.” As such, it seems unlikely Cage will be back as soon as this season, especially after showrunner Dario Scardapane explained Luke Cage and Iron Fist’s absences.
Interestingly, these weapons that Charles has been running with Kingpin are, in fact, developed by OXE Group from Thunderbolts*, which is led by Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. As the Disney+ series has already confirmed that Charles and Valentina are in cahoots, that only makes sense.
Born Again Season 3 is already in production, to be released next year, and Luke Cage is all but confirmed to return alongside the other Defenders. As such, it may not be long until fans get more answers on what he has been doing overseas, as he makes his way back to New York to reunite with Jessica and Danielle.
Luke Cage’s New Job Is Setting Up the MCU’s Next Thunderbolts
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Thunderbolts* made it clear that Valentina was recruiting super-powered assets to work on her sketchy black ops missions, including the group that became the New Avengers. Despite the 2025 flick’s title, that group didn’t exactly represent the Thunderbolts most are familiar with from Marvel Comics, but that’s not to say that it can’t still happen in the MCU.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 officially takes place after Thunderbolts*, meaning that Valentina is no longer fully in control of her super-powered assets. That may explain why she has Charles out on the recruiting drive, seeking superhumans to do her bidding and perhaps form a new version of the Thunderbolts.
One has to wonder what would compel a family man, Luke Cage, to travel overseas to work for shady CIA officials like Charles and Valentina, but the answer to that question may also lie with his bloodline and a familiar MCU villain.
Luke Cage Season 2 pitted the Hero of Harlem against his brother, Willis Stryker, aka Diamondback, in a Hammer Industries battle suit. After his eventual defeat, Stryker was locked away in the Raft with other MCU villains, where he could easily have been recruited by Valentina or Charles, thereby leveraging Cage into signing up too to keep an eye on his villainous brother abroad.
Interestingly, Born Again showrunner Dario Scardapane hinted that he has a “story in the back of [his] head” for Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina in the show, signaling that her super-powered hiring may prove central to future seasons.
