While audiences wait impatiently for the first female superhero to headline her own film in the big screen Marvel Cinematic Universe, the studio's small screen franchises have been positively overflowing with kickass women, from Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Daisy, Melinda, Bobbi, and Jemma to Agent Carter's and Jessica Jones' eponymous heroes. Netflix's Daredevil was probably the quote-unquote "manliest" of Marvel's TV shows in its first season, which saw hunky hero Matt Murdock locking horns with hulking baddie Kingpin; but even that series is getting an infusion of femininity in Season 2 thanks to Élodie Yung's Elektra. But what about the show's pre-existing female characters? Will Claire Temple officially become the Night Nurse in Daredevil Season 2?
In order to answer that question, it's important to understand the comic book origins of the character played by Rosario Dawson. The Claire we met in the first season of Netflix's superhero show is actually an amalgamation of a couple of Marvel comics characters: the woman who shares her name, Claire Temple, who was introduced in the pages of Luke Cage and was a long-standing love interest for that hero; and Linda Carter, aka the Night Nurse, introduced in the pages of Daredevil and frequent healer of injured heroes.
The fact that Dawson is essentially playing versions of two characters at once makes it tricky to answer the question of when — or even if — she will "officially" become the Night Nurse. The writers may not even be heading in that direction at all; Dawson will also be guest starring in a "very significant role" on the upcoming Luke Cage series, according to IGN, so they could be taking her more in the direction of the original Claire Temple rather than Linda Carter, the woman who actually becomes the Night Nurse.
Furthermore, there's the issue of what "becoming" the Night Nurse even means. The character doesn't have superpowers like the patients she treats; the name "Night Nurse" isn't really even an alter ego, it's more of a nickname bestowed upon the woman who patches up Daredevil and his crime-fighting cohorts in the dark of night. By this description, Dawson's Claire has pretty much already become the Night Nurse; the first time she stitched Matt Murdock's wounds in Season 1 she effectively took on that mantle of responsibility.
That's not to say there aren't ways in which Dawson's character could become more like the Night Nurse of the comics. She could trade in her street clothes and blue hospital scrubs for Linda Carter's trademark white uniform. Rather than patching people up in her own apartment or theirs, she could set up shop in a private clinic in Chinatown. She could utter the Night Nurse's catchphrase a time or two: "The room on the right." And she could, you know, be referred to as the Night Nurse by someone — although I would expect Dawson's character to be very clear that the moniker is simply a catchy nickname and not an accurate representation of her medical skills. ("Thanks, but you're not the only doctor in the room. 'Night Nurse' is just catchier than than 'Night General Practitioner,'" Linda once clarified in the comics.)
But Dawson's Claire was a fan-favorite character last year, and it's hard to imagine Netflix messing with an already-winning formula by suddenly dressing her up in a stereotypical nurse's uniform. I'm not sure that the world of Daredevil necessarily "needs" a white-clad Nurse to remain faithful to the spirit of its source material. In the grounded and gritty universe that Netflix has created for its Marvel series, I would expect this version of Claire Temple to pretty much just keep doing what she's doing: be a (realistically) badass doctor who tends to injured heroes with a skillful hand and a no-nonsense attitude.
We'll find out how much Claire Temple will transform — or not — when Daredevil Season 2 premieres on Netflix this Friday.
Images: Barry Wetcher/Netflix
