How 'Daredevil' Season 2 fits in the Marvel universe
Warning: This post contains major spoilers for season 2 of Daredevil.
Marvel's gritty show about Hell's Kitchen's favorite blind ninja has found its footing, and the second season was rife with Easter Eggs and references to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. And with the first season of Jessica Jones already out,Daredevil has even more of a chance to expand its world beyond the 25 or so blocks of Hell's Kitchen.
While Elektra and Punisher occasionally threatened to steal the show from Matt Murdock, Daredevil season 2 rarely felt overstuffed, and found time to set up some building blocks for the upcoming Luke Cage and Defenders series. The show even had a little fun, throwing in a random comic book panel allusion (see this video for the best ones). But to remind you of how #ItsAllConnected, here are all the big references that Daredevil had to the MCU.
Shielding the dogs
The first Easter Egg is a reference to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The Dogs of Hell, the biker gang that terrorizes Foggy and gets targeted by Frank Castle, first showed up in the 15th episode of Season 1 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. when the Asgardian Lorelai controls them with her man-seducing powers.
'A lady by the name of Jessica Jones'
Foggy's ex-girlfriend and rival lawyer, Marci Stahl, is having vigilante trouble of her own at her new firm. She name-drops Jessica Jones and later invites Foggy to join her firm Hogarth, Chao and Benowitz after his disastrous case with the Punisher. And guess who "Hogarth" stands for? That's right, it's none other than Jeri Hogarth.
She offers Foggy a job due to his expertise on vigilantes. Which means we could potentially see Foggy jumping over to Jessica Jones season 2 at some point.
Speaking of characters who appear in both shows, District Attorney Samantha Reyes, who faced off against Nelson and Murdock in court over the Punisher, made her first appearance in the 13th episode of Jessica Jones. In keeping with her corrupt cover-up ways, she had tried to pin Kilgrave's murders on Jessica. Which, obviously, didn't work.
Rock on, Roxxon
If you've been watching Agent Carter recently, the name Roxxon will ring a bell. They're the duplicitous company at the heart of Peggy Carter's investigation into the framing of Howard Stark in season 1 of Agent Carter (back in 1946). Since then, Roxxon grew into an international oil conglomerate that saturates nearly every Marvel property, from the Iron Man movies to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
In Daredevil, Elektra seeks revenge against Roxxon for trying to dupe her in a business transaction, and with Matt's help, ends up discovering their ties to both the yakuza and The Hand.
Still feeling the effects of 'the incident'
For some reason, an alien invasion has the means of wiping out a newspaper's entire archival system. But that's fine, because it means more visits to The Bulletin for Karen Page's investigation into Frank Castle's past, and more blink-and-you'll-miss-it references to the Marvel Cinematic Universe at large. We saw the "Harlem Terror" and "Battle of NY" headlines last season, but there's another quick headline referencing Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that says "Cybertek Settles." Cybertek is the company that created Deathlok.
Claire calls it quits
Foggy finds Claire stuck with the nightmare shift at Metro General because she "pissed someone off" by presumably helping out Luke Cage and Jessica back in Jessica Jones. But her bad luck just continues to pile on, as Matt and now-Detective Brett Mahoney entrust her with the blood-drained victims of The Hand, and the hospital quickly gets invaded by killer ninjas.
After her co-worker was killed in the mayhem, the Metro General Hospital administration tries to cover the incident up, causing Claire to quit in frustration. This leaves the door open for her to move into Harlem and involvement with Luke Cage.
Punisher's Micro-scopic clue
Right before Punisher torches his house, he retrieves a hidden disc with the word "Micro" written on it. A reference, no doubt, to David "Microchip" Lieberman, Frank's weapons and tech supplier. And he has Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ties too -- Daisy mentions a hacker contact of hers by the name of "Micro."
Death becomes her
Elektra's final scene is reminiscent of her famous death in the comics -- and in the awful Ben Affleck Daredevil if you care to remember it -- by her own sai. While Bullseye was the one who did the deed in the comic, in the show, it was Nobu.
But, if you can guess by The Hand's placement of Elektra in the mysterious sarcophagus, this is not the end for her. We may see a revived Elektra leading the Japan-based Hand against Iron Fist in 2017 (but hey, at least Elodie Yung is half Cambodian, unlike some recently cast superpowered martial arts masters) or even going up against the Defenders in the miniseries team-up. Hopefully her crisis of conscience will affect her choices if and when she returns.
How 'Jessica Jones' fits in the Marvel universe
How 'Daredevil' fits in with the rest of the Marvel movies and TV shows