Hector Ayala's run as White Tiger was always going to be short. Introduced in Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 and portrayed by the late Kamar de los Reyes, the proud Puerto Rican vigilante was shot dead by a corrupt cop on the courthouse steps, just moments after Matt Murdock won him an acquittal. The show honored de los Reyes, who passed away in December 2023, in a touching way. But Hector's story wasn't ending; it was transferring.
In Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Episode 3, Camila Rodriguez's Angela del Toro officially stepped into the White Tiger identity. Hector's niece shows up at the Red Hook facility wearing White Tiger-inspired clothing instead of the full costume, which she's likely to get later. She had the Amulet of Power around her neck. She helps Daredevil free the Anti-Vigilante Task Force's illegally detained prisoners and slashes the Anti-Vigilante Task Force's (AVTF) tires on the way out.
This passing of the torch is notable because both Hector and Angela originated on Daredevil: Born Again, making this the first time in MCU history that a superhero title exclusive to streaming has been passed from one original Disney+ character to another. Every other major mantle transfer in the MCU has involved at least one character with roots in movies.
This storyline is faithful to the comics because there, too, Angela del Toro was Hector's niece. She was an FBI agent who inherited the mystical Amulets of Power after his death and was eventually trained by Matt Murdock.
The MCU version is considerably younger and less seasoned, which positions her as a potential Young Avengers candidate down the line.
She's also not the only character inheriting an iconic superhero moniker. In 15-plus years of MCU storytelling, the franchise has made a habit of handing off superhero identities.
Specifically, eight different superheroes have retired or put their monikers on the shelf for good, before a different character (often one who is closely tied to the original character) decided to pick it up again. Other characters in the MCU have operated with the same moniker or title as another character, but not all of them have been officially passed down.
Superhero Monikers With Different Actors in the MCU
Captain America (Steve Rogers to Sam Wilson)
Steve Rogers handed his shield to Sam Wilson at the end of Avengers: Endgame, but Sam's actual acceptance of the Captain America title took an entire Disney+ series to resolve. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier spent six episodes wrestling with whether a Black man carrying that shield was something America would accept, and the show didn't pretend the answer was obvious.
Sam (Anthony Mackie) finally suited up in the finale as the new Captain America, then carried the title into Captain America: Brave New World. The transfer is arguably the most emotionally earned in MCU history, partly because the series made a point of arguing for it rather than just assuming it.
Captain America (Steve Rogers to US Agent)
Before Sam put on the suit, the US government had other ideas. John Walker (Wyatt Russell) was officially appointed Captain America by the government in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, making him the first person other than Steve Rogers to hold the title in the MCU's official record.
His tenure lasted about four episodes before he beat a Flag Smasher to death with the shield on camera, putting a hard stop to the arrangement. He was stripped of the title but eventually re-emerged as US Agent and has since appeared in Thunderbolts*. Walker's Captain America stint wasn't meant to stick, but it was significant.
Black Panther (T'Challa to Shuri)
The handover of the Black Panther mantle is the most emotionally complex transfer on this list. Chadwick Boseman passed away, and so did his character T'Challa. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever built its entire story around the grief that followed. Eventually, Shuri (Letitia Wright) takes up the mantle and the Vibranium suit, stepping into the Black Panther identity.
Shuri knows the weight the mantle carries, given her brother's legacy. She'll return in Avengers: Doomsday, which will be her biggest challenge yet as the new Black Panther.
Falcon (Sam Wilson to Joaquin Torres)
Once Sam became Captain America, his wings had to go somewhere. Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) carried on the Falcon identity in Captain America: Brave New World, flying with an upgraded Falcon suit. Ramirez first appeared as Torres in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+, making this one of the cleaner streaming-originated transfers in the MCU.
Ant-Man (Hank Pym to Scott Lang)
The original Ant-Man in the comics is Hank Pym, the scientist who invented the Pym Particle and built the suit. The MCU's Ant-Man opened with Hank (Michael Douglas) having already retired the identity, then recruiting Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) to take it on.
The transfer happened off-screen by necessity, since Hank's active days predated the franchise itself, but the film makes clear this is an intentional handoff. Scott is Hank's chosen successor, trained up and sent in because Hank can't go himself. Three Ant-Man films later, Scott is the definitive version of the character in the MCU.
Wasp (Janet van Dyne to Hope van Dyne)
Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) was the original Wasp, lost to the Quantum Realm during a mission decades before the MCU's present timeline. Ant-Man and the Wasp saw her daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly), suit up in a new Wasp suit that Hank built for her.
Hope, living up to her full potential in the MCU, will be tricky, as Lilly expressed a desire to move away from acting. If this happens, it'll be interesting to see if Marvel Studios recasts the character or focuses on other heroes instead.
Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff to Yelena Belova)
Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) died in Avengers: Endgame, but her story wasn't finished. The solo Black Widow film introduced Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova, Natasha's surrogate sister and fellow Red Room graduate, then set her up as the character most likely to carry the Black Widow mantle forward.
Yelena appeared in Hawkeye as an antagonist gunning for Clint, and later in Thunderbolts* as a central figure. She's never officially called Black Widow in the MCU, but Pugh is clearly the functional successor.
BONUS: Hawkeye (Clint Barton to Kate Bishop)
Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop spent six episodes of Hawkeye convincing Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) that she deserved to carry the Hawkeye mantle, and the series ended with the implication, if not the outright declaration, that she'd become the new Hawkeye. However, Clint was still alive and operating as Hawkeye when Kate also took up the mantle, so it hasn't entirely been passed over just yet.
Kate has held the mantle in the comics, just like in the case of Angela del Toro, so this is a passing of the torch that most MCU fans expected. In the finale, Kate Bishop proved how worthy she was of the title by defeating Kingpin and even taking her mother to jail.
BONUS: Thor (Thor Odinson to Jane Foster)
Natalie Portman's Jane Foster returned in Thor: Love and Thunder as the Mighty Thor, worthy of Mjolnir and carrying the title alongside the original Asgardian. The film adapted Jason Aaron's comic run, in which Jane becomes Thor while battling cancer, and it's one of the MCU's more bittersweet adaptations.
She's powerful enough to lift the hammer, but every time she does, it accelerates her illness. Her arc ends with her death, though the post-credit scene leaves open the possibility of her return. Once again, this case saw Jane picking up the mantle of Thor while Thor Odinson still held the mantle as well. So, it wasn't necessarily a passing of the torch moment.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
