Marvel has had a ton of star actors over the years. Even just since the onset of the MCU in 2008, tons of actors have made their way into the franchise on both the big and small screens. Before some of the mergers, there were even some that were only part of the Netflix, Fox, and Disney sectors of the brand, all of which are one and the same now.
One that might get overlooked is Mike Colter, who did a phenomenal job bringing the iconic Luke Cage to life on Netflix, reappearing alongside the other streaming show characters in The Defenders. Many of those characters and actors have returned, and Colter says he could come back sometime, too.
Marvel Actor Mike Colter Could Return Soon
Charlie Cox helped kick the Netflix Marvel series off with Daredevil, and he eventually returned in Spider-Man: No Way Home before his show got rebooted/continued with Daredevil: Born Again. In the same sense, Vincent D’Onofrio returned as Kingpin in Hawkeye, Echo, and Born Again.
Jon Bernthal was a side character in Daredevil before getting his own spinoff series. He also returned in Born Again and is getting his own special in the MCU as well. Jessica Jones was played by Krysten Ritter and is confirmed for Season 2 of Born Again, so she’s back as well.
Iron Fist was such a disaster that everyone at Marvel probably wants to forget it and move on, so Finn Jones probably won’t come back. That wasn’t really the case for Luke Cage actor Mike Colter, who has yet to return. However, according to the actor, he might.
He said, “I’ve had conversations, and I’ll leave it at that. Daredevil’s back. Jessica’s back. We’re in a better position to see this come into fruition faster than we think.” Lately, almost everyone who’s ever played a character in this franchise has come back in some way shape or form, including:
- Tobey Maguire
- Patrick Stewart
- Famke Janssen
- James Marsden
- Sir Ian McKellan
- Alan Cumming
- Wesley Snipes
- Jennifer Garner
- Hugh Jackman
Via ComicBookMovie, Colter added, “I love the fans and I love that world. And so it’s been years now. So now like, I’m doing other projects, but now I think to myself, ‘I have some unfinished business there’…. I talked to Cheo [Hodari Coker] about it, [the] showrunner.”
Pretty much everyone is coming back for Avengers Doomsday, but Colter’s unlikely to show up in that one. Cox’s Daredevil might, but it seems highly unlikely. However, the sequel to that, Secret Wars, could bring everyone back if Marvel wanted.
The entire premise of Secret Wars is that it’s a clash of multiverses, so it would make sense for Colter and everyone else to return in some way, even if it’s a brief cameo while their world is destroyed as Doctor Doom paves the way for a new timeline.
The less likely option, but one that could still come to fruition, is after Secret Wars. That’s going to serve as a soft reset for the MCU, so they could start with some shows and series to get things back up off the ground. Luke Cage wasn’t that popular to start the new-age MCU again, but perhaps Colter returns as part of the new MCU.
Conclusion
It can be hard to keep track of all the actors that have come and gone in this franchise, especially since most of them are coming back now as Marvel attempts to rekindle its audience’s interest. Mike Colter hasn’t yet come back, and he might be getting overlooked because of it. He and Luke Cage were an integral part of the early interest, though, so it would be nice to see him come back.
