Marvel Studios is rolling out the red carpet for a Netflix villain team, and it could mean big things for Daredevil. The trailers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day haven't shied away from showing off the movie's villains, such as Boomerang and Scorpion. However, the most interesting addition to the marketing has undoubtedly been the Hand, the ninja clan that's gearing up to pick a fight with the Wall-Crawler in a prison.
The Hand made its live-action debut in Netflix's Daredevil Season 1, being one of the groups Wilson Fisk aligned himself with as he tried to take advantage of the real estate crisis in Hell's Kitchen. It took until Season 2 for the group to truly step out of the shadows. And when they did, they caused all kinds of problems for Matt Murdock, with an assist from Frank Castle being the difference between victory and defeat for the hero.
When all of Netflix's heroes came together in The Defenders, the Hand were the thorn in their sides. Once that show ended and the streaming giant relinquished control of its comic book characters, though, the Hand was left in a holding pattern. Not even the first two seasons of Daredevil: Born Again did much to bring the organization into the MCU proper.
Well, Brand New Day is picking up the slack, not only putting the Hand on the big screen but also canonizing their exploits in the Netflix shows. Ahead of the movie's release on July 31, Sony and Samsung have collaborated on the Spider Tracker, a platform that tracks all of Ned Leeds' notes about the hero he's trying to unmask.
One section of the Spider Tracker mentions the emergence of the Hand. But Ned isn't all that surprised by their appearnce in New York, being more confused about their sudden resurrection. It appears that the Hand's defeat in The Defenders is public knowledge, which makes their return all the more interesting.
The dots that many fans have connected trace back to the end of Born Again Season 2, when Matt went to jail for all the crimes he committed as Daredevil. While the titular hero seemed content as the credits rolled, since he knew his sacrifice sent Kingpin away, other parties, including the Hand, might not like the arrangement.
With the Hand choosing to fight Spider-Man in a prison in Brand New Day, the assumption many are making is that they're dueling over the fate of Daredevil. That may or may not be the case, as Peter Parker has been known to fight ninjas on his own in the source material from time to time. However, it doesn't really matter if Daredevil is in Brand New Day because his team-up with Spider-Man feels inevitable at this point.
Spider-Man & Daredevil's Worlds Are Starting To Intertwine In The MCU
Peter and Matt first crossed paths in Spider-Man: No Way Home. After having his identity exposed, the Wall-Crawler needed a lawyer, so he reached out to Hell's Kitchen's best for help. The two came up with a legal game plan but didn't talk at all about crime-fighting, since Matt was still keeping his night gig a secret at the time.
Circumstances have now changed. Nobody remembers Peter after Doctor Strange's spell was a success, which means Matt likely has no memory of their meeting. Daredevil surely knows Spider-Man, though, and he's likely going to want to return the favor after the Hand is dealt with in Brand New Day.
There's also the Frank Castle of it all. Punisher is going to offer Spider-Man some assistance in Brand New Day, like he's done for Daredevil so many times before. Spider-Man and Daredevil could meet through their mutual friend and form a partnership from there.
But the most promising connective tissue between the two heroes remains Kingpin. Despite being primarily a Daredevil villain in live-action, Fisk and Spider-Man have had plenty of battles in the comics and animated shows. Vincent D'Onofrio has even expressed interest in making the jump to the big screen and sharing a few action scenes with Tom Holland.
Rights issues have seemingly kept that option off the table. However, if Punisher is fair game for Sony to borrow, it's hard to imagine Kingpin and Daredevil are off-limits for the company.
The road to Spider-Man 5 is sure to be long, as two Avengers movies are releasing right after Brand New Day. Of course, Holland has yet to be announced as part of the cast of either film. But there's no way Spider-Man is kept on the sidelines the whole time; it's just not in Marvel Studios' nature to bench its most important hero.
Once the dust has settled and it's time for Spider-Man to recruit his next partner, Daredevil is clearly going to be the first in line. There's just too much smoke around too many fires to claim otherwise.
