Do you know your Jessicas from your Jeris?
No matter how much we love Robert Downey Jr's quippy one-liners and Joss Whedon's sarcasm soaked Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, there's something addictive about Netflix's gritty, grimy and deadly take on the Marvel Universe.
From Jessica Jones fighting her demons, to Kingpin de-stressing with a head and a car door (it still gives us nightmares), Netflix has managed to take some of Marvel's less... dare we say it... Hollywood heroes and give them the platform they deserve. The only problem is, there's a lot of names and faces to keep track of and they don't make it easy with the secret identities and the popping in and out of each other shows. Rather than run the risk of mixing up your superheroes (and sidekicks) check out our ultimate character guide to all the main players in the... Metflix? Narvel? (don't judge us) universe. Also... spoilers!
Images: Netflix
Matt Murdock/Daredevil
Need to know: A quiet, chivalrous and generally all-round nice guy with a crime-fighter dark side. He was blinded as a child by a freak accident, but uses his incredible senses to become a gritty defender of the innocent (especially in alley ways and long corridors). Hes also the founder of Nelson and Murdock law firm with his best friend Foggy Nelson and has helped to expose Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, and send him to prison.
Main TV show: Daredevil... obviously.
Appeared in: Just Daredevil so far, but we would love to see Matt and Jessica Jones appear in an episode together. If we had to make a bet, wed say Matt will make a cameo in Luke Cage and Jessica Jones will cameo in The Punisher - keeping us waiting until The Defenders arrives.
Links to: Although we hope to see Daredevil link up to Iron Fist as well as the current Marvel/Netflix gang in season two, were excited to see how Elektra and The Punisher shake things up.
Jessica Jones/Jewel
Need to know: Shes a determined, kick-ass private investigator with super strength and the ability to fly also known as jumping with a carefully planned landing. She tried the superhero game as Jewel, but returned to Hells Kitchen after being used and abused by The Purple Man, aka Kilgrave.
Main TV show: Jessica Jones. Well, it is named after her.
Appeared in: Were hoping to see Jessica bump into Daredevil at some point during their mutual Hells Kitchen crime-fighting (she only lives round the corner), and were expecting a link-up to the standalone Luke Cage series too.
Links to: Jessica found herself drawn to brooding strongman Luke Cage, but then we discovered she killed his wife while under Kilgraves spell. That kind of threw a spanner in the romantic works.
Luke Cage
Need to know: Walking muscle Luke Cage meets Jessica Jones during the course of one of her investigations. He runs a bar in Hells Kitchen which is swiftly burned to the ground during a particularly disastrous run-in with Kilgrave. He has super-strength and impenetrable skin making him impervious to most weapons.
Main TV show: Luke Cage, but it's not started yet.
Appeared in: Luke made his debut in Jessica Jones as a secondary character, but we would love to see him and Matt Murdock square off now that would be a fight worthy of the single shot corridor scene.
Links to: Hes had a dysfunctional relationship with Jessica Jones, been controlled by Kilgrave and been injected STRAIGHT INTO THE EYE by Claire Temple. And his own TV show hasn't even started yet.
Claire Temple
Need to know: Hells Kitchen resident and night shift nurse Claire Temple is constantly patching up individuals whove been beaten or saved by the masked vigilante, aka Daredevil. When she finds him almost beaten to death in a dumpster outside her house she tends to his wounds, keeps him safe and becomes his de facto nurse whenever things get ugly. Theres also a romantic connection between the two.
Main TV show: We guess Daredevil, but something tells us we'll be seeing a lot more of her in the rest of the Netflix-Marvel universe.
Appeared in: Daredevil and Jessica Jones as the only human link between the two TV shows. Were expecting her to play a role in the upcoming Luke Cage spin-off too, especially considering she saved his life.
Links to: Matt Murdock, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and to a lesser extent Jessicas friend Malcolm Ducasse, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. Basically, her skills as a nurse make her an invaluable acquaintance.
Elektra
Need to know: Elektra Natchios is described as a mysterious woman from Matt Murdocks past whos arriving to give Daredevil season two a blast of fresh air. She studied at Columbia University where she took Spanish classes something which is referenced by Foggy in season one implying her and Matt were a little more than friends. In the comics, Elektra is seen as a violent mercenary and assassin whos often jumping the fence between good and evil.
Main TV show: She'll be making her debut in Daredevil season two and then, who knows?
Appeared in: Elodie Yung will play Elektra in season two of Daredevil, and if the trailer is anything to go by, shell be doing a whole lot of seducing
Links to: In the realm of Netflix well have to see, but in the comic books Elektra helps Daredevil bring down Kingpin. Shes also linked Black Widow, Luke Cage, Wolverine and S.H.I.E.L.D in the wider universe.
Karen Page
Need to know: Karen Page is the secretary for Nelson and Murdock law firm, working alongside Foggy and Matt to solve crimes and help the needy in Hells Kitchen. She was emailed a file containing damning information about her previous employer, only to find herself framed for the murder of her colleague. She later called upon the support of newspaper journalist Ben Urich, who was also dead by the end of the season, but she was instrumental in bringing Wilson Fisk to justice so we can forgive her.
Main TV show: Daredevil. How Karen will cope with the events of season one is anyones guess
Appeared in: So far only Daredevil, but wed be interested to see kind-hearted Karen pitted against Jessica Jones in a blazing row.
Links to: Karen has a thing for Matt Murdock, but Foggy Nelson has a thing for her cue love triangle.
Foggy Nelson
Need to know: Franklin Foggy Nelson is Matt Murdocks best friend and law partner. Foggy has to quickly adapt when he discovers Matt is actually Daredevil, but much of this tension is compounded by the fact that Foggy loves Karen, who in turn admires Matt. The character offers a splash of light relief in-line with the original comic book set-up, which also painted Foggy as kind-hearted, optimistic and generally the polar opposite of Matt Murdock.
Main TV show: Daredevil, but wed pay good money to see an uncomfortable confrontation scene between Foggy and Luke Cage.
Appeared in: Daredevil
Links to: Matt Murdock, Karen Page, Clare Temple, Ben Urich and the whole Hells Kitchen gang. A quip in season one also proves that Foggy knows who Elektra is... and what she means to Matt.
Kilgrave/Purple Man
Need to know: Kevin Thompson, also referred to as Kilgrave, is the villain of the first season of Jessica Jones. After being experimented on as a child, Kilgrave developed mind-control powers allowing him to make anyone do or say whatever he chooses. His control over Jessica Jones is so absolute that she kills Luke Cages wife the shock of which breaks her compulsion and kick starts the Jessica Jones Netflix series.
Main TV show: Jessica Jones, and as she snapped his neck were guessing we won't be seeing him control anyone else... which is probably a good thing.
Appeared in: Jessica Jones
Links to: Jessica Jones, Trish Walker, Luke Cage and the wider Jessica Jones ensemble. It's safe to say he made their lives miserable.
Patricia 'Trish' Walker
Need to know: Having grown up as a super successful child star with a string of toys, books and TV shows to her name, Patricia Trish Walker is pegged as a type-A control freak with serious security issues. Although excelling in hand-to-hand combat, her childhood friend and surrogate sister Jessica Jones helped to bring Trish from under the thumb of her mother. She also encourages Jessica to use her powers to help people as Jewel.
Main TV show: Jessica Jones. Despite not sounding so hot on paper, Trish is actually one of the more interesting secondary characters in Netflixs Jessica Jones, with some particularly memorable fight-scenes.
Appeared in: Although Jessica Jones is Trishs TV home, her role in the original Marvel comics is a little more complex. She started life as Patsy Walker in a teen romantic comedy setting before being integrated into the Avengers and The Defenders as superhero Hellcat. Take note Netflix!
Links to: Jessica Jones, Kilgrave, Luke Cage and (loosely) Claire Temple.
The Punisher/Frank Castle
Need to know: Army vet and badass marine Frank Castle experiences the worst possible trauma when his family is killed, forcing him to take some good old fashioned vigilante justice. Expect a kind of powerful single-mindedness and rage thats at odds with Matt Murdocks save the world approach.
Main TV show: Well, it will be his own show, but as that's some time off, The Punisher will just have to be satisfied with making his debut in Daredevil season two.
Appeared in: Season two of Daredevil and eventually The Punisher spin-off show.
Links to: The whole Marvel universe.
Kingpin/Wilson Fisk
Need to know: A gangster with a soft side, Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin is completely unpredictable, ruthless and prone to violent outbursts that make you want to vomit. Come on, you all saw the head in the car door scene, right? His presence caused series problems for Daredevil in season one.
Main TV show: Of course, its Daredevil but as the fate of this character remains unknown it would be interesting to see him pop up elsewhere.
Appeared in: As one of the most feared and powerful crime supervillains in the whole Marvel Universe, Kingpin was initially the enemy of Spiderman before taking on Daredevil. Do we spy a potential crossover?
Links to: Daredevil, Karen Page, Foggy Nelson and Hells Kitchen as a whole. He has his fingers in a lot of pies.
Jeri Hogarth
Need to know: Jeri is a hard line, no-nonsense lawyer who provides Jessica with a steady stream of people to follow and lines to cross. In her personal life, Jeri is going through a particularly nasty divorce something which Kilgrave uses to his twisted advantage as the series progresses.
Main TV show: Jessica Jones, but we already know she'll be making appearances in Luke Cage and Iron Fist.
Appeared in: She made her debut in Jessica Jones as a female version of the original comic book character Jeryn Hogarth making her the first lesbian character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Links to: Mainly just Jessica Jones (she likes to stay out of harm's way), but as I said above, we'll be seeing a lot more of her soon.
