Should The Defenders Death Have Been Claire Temple Instead?

Daredevil dies in The Defenders…well, not really. Daredevil Season 3 has been confirmed, Black Sky is immortal, so let’s be honest, as soon as that building came down we knew dude was going to live. Even after tears from Foggy and Karen… there’s no way the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen is gone for good. No way.

And for a second, we all thought maybe, just maybe Marvel was going to follow through with his death. They waited until the very last moment to give us confirmation Matt was still breathing. And then, the impact of the finale was gone. The Defenders saved New York and everything is fine and dandy.

I’m happy Daredevil lives. He’s my favorite, so I’m not complaining. But Alexandra died, Stick died, Bakuto died and that’s it. None of those characters really have a lot of impact. None of them are that important to the overall story. Well, Misty lost her arm, but we all wanted that. So this got me thinking, what if Claire Temple died?

There are a few reasons why this would have happened. Claire is the glue that holds all The Defenders together. That’s her purpose, but now that purpose has been served. As my colleague points out in our latest episode of Cape Talk, it would kinda be like Agent Coulson dying in the MCU…he brought everyone together by being alive, and by being dead.

While I’m glad The Defenders switched up the ‘women in the refrigerator’ strategy and didn’t just kill off a beloved character for shock value, Claire’s character is due for a new direction. She doesn't necessarily have to permanently “die,” but something meaningful needs to happen with her character moving forward in the MCU.

For all the times we’ve seen her, we actually know very little about her life. If they want to keep Claire around, the showrunners need to delve deeper into her origins to make her arc a bit more impactful relative to the other characters. I’m Team Claire all the way, and it’s strange she hasn’t been confirmed to appear in any of the upcoming second and third seasons. But if she does, we need a fresh angle.

Also, Claire’s death or disappearance might ensure Luke Cage ends up with Jessica Jones. I love Claire and Luke together, but it’s just not meant to be. He’s destined to have babies with Jessica. In the comics, Claire and Luke end up breaking up because his vigilantism gets in the way of their relationship. There’s only so many times a girl can be kidnapped…and Claire’s count is already pretty high. Plus, she and Luke had a disagreement over his lifestyle in the very first episode of The Defenders.

Not to mention, Claire should have been dead, extremely hurt, or at least deterred from the hero life already. Even though she’s been taking lessons with Colleen Wing, she’s not a very good fighter. The fact that Iron Fist and Colleen brought her to China to fight The Hand was ridiculous.

When I saw the below video posted to The Defenders Twitter account a few days before the show released, I thought Claire was a goner. Apparently not? For a second I thought maybe it would be Claire to lose her arm instead of Misty during the fight scene with Bakuto, which would have worked, but Marvel went canon instead.

But if you look closely at the scene where Misty Knight is in the hospital, on the wall there’s the Nurse’s white board which says “L Carter.” While Claire Temple certainly acted as the “Night Nurse” in the series, she’s not in the comics. That would be Linda Carter, which is probably what those initials stand for. Maybe this easter egg is foreshadowing a future without Claire Temple.

Like I said before, Claire doesn’t have to die in order to move the plot forward. Medical school would be a great way to send her away and progress her character. The “Night Nurse” storyline does rely on stereotypes that only women are nurses, and could benefit from a modern update. Claire certainly has the capacity to become a doctor and a reliable hero, forever providing wisdom, advice and medical assistance to The Defenders.