Marvel just announced that Rosario Dawson, who appeared in a limited but significant role as the title character’s love interest in the first season of the Netflix hit Daredevil , will return for the second season, which is set to debut sometime in 2016, according to Comicvine’s Mat Elfring . According to Entertainment Weekly’s Jonathon Dornbush , Dawson’s deal allows her character, Claire Temple, to appear in any of the upcoming Marvel series coming to Netflix, which include AKA Jessica Jones , Luke Cage , Iron Fist , and The Defenders , which will bring all of these heroes together.
Daredevil Season 1 showrunner Steven DeKnight indicated on Twitter that the show only had access to Dawson for five episodes, which caused the staff to pick and choose carefully the spots in which Dawson’s character would appear.
Jeph Loeb , Daredevil executive producer and Marvel’s head of TV, spoke to the popularity of Dawson’s role and the desire for her to have a greater presence.
“After working with Rosario in the first season, we knew instantly that we had to have her back for our second. Claire Temple proved a fan favorite in Season one and we can’t wait for fans to see all the plans we have for her next.”
Daredevil star Charlie Cox has called in recent weeks for the character to join the Marvel cinematic universe, suggesting everything from a Daredevil inclusion in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War , a pairing with recent Marvel homecomer Spider-Man, and even a film reboot of the franchise following the often-chided 2003 turn which starred new Batman Ben Affleck. Should Cox get his wish, one would presume that Dawson’s Claire Temple would follow.
Daredevil launched on Netflix in April and took the streaming network by storm. Some estimates claim that less than a month after its debut, Daredevil amassed almost 4.5 million viewers, with Jaime Lovett of ComicBook speculating that Daredevil could be Netflix’s most-watched series ever.
The 36-year-old Dawson, a New York City native, is no stranger to the comic genre, having portrayed the role of Gail in both Sin City films, as well as voice acting turns in DC’s 2009 animated film Wonder Woman and the 2015 animated feature Justice League: Throne of Atlantis . The self-professed geek girl and avid comic book fan is also the creator of the 2006 graphic novel O.C.T.: Occult Crimes Taskforce , which centers around a fictitious group of New York Police investigators who patrol a district of New York primarily populated by practitioners of magic.