‘The Defenders’ Could Answer This Burning Question About Elektra

There’s a lot about Marvel’s street-level Netflix universe, which is finally coming together with the premiere of The Defenders on August 8, that owes its existence to the original comics — The Hand comes from early ‘80s Daredevil comics, for example, and Jessica Jones’ friendship with Trish Walker is loosely inspired by the one she has with Carol Danvers (also known as Captain Marvel) in the book Alias. But there’s one element of this world that was invented just for TV: the mysterious Black Sky, which is a kind of a deadly power that the Hand wants to claim for their own. So how does Black Sky work?

Fans first learned about Black Sky in the very first season of Daredevil, when Matt Murdock’s mentor Stick described it as a weapon, “the bringer of shadows,” that was being transported in a cargo shipment to New York City from Japan by members of the Hand. When the two found the cargo, however, Matt was shocked to discover that it was actually a young boy that Stick was intent on killing — which he eventually did while Matt wasn’t around, because Stick is a cold-blooded dude like that. Because Black Sky doesn't appear in Marvel Comics at all, the entire episode felt like a total mystery that maybe Netflix would solve one day.

But instead, the next season of Daredevil raised even more questions about the mysterious weapon, when it was revealed that Elektra, Matt’s former lover, was also the Black Sky. As a child she’d been kept out of the Hand’s clutches thanks to Stick’s organization, the Chaste, and was told that it was her mission to kill the Black Sky. However, even before she knew of her destiny, she struggled against her desire to kill, and even murdered one of her fellow students while training with the Chaste.

As of the end of Daredevil Season 2, both Matt and Stick think Elektra is dead. However, it’s pretty obvious that the Hand has the power to bring people back to life— they already used it on Nobu, who died in Season 1 and was still hanging around in Season 2. The Hand has also has possession of Elektra’s body now, and are already planning to use it in one of their creepy rituals. Plus, actor Elodie Yung has appeared in a few of The Defenders trailers and other promotional materials, so it’s a pretty safe bet that she’s back. This isn’t exactly a spoiler, folks. One of the most prominent aspects of Elektra as a character is that she came back from the dead once. Everybody’s pretty much counting on it happening.

But how will Elektra be different when she returns? She’d already proven herself to be an extremely capable warrior even before she was working for the Hand as their Black Sky — will she come back a full on murder machine, like Sara Lance did in Arrow when she was resurrected in the Lazarus Pits? Will Elektra have supernatural powers to match her physical martial arts skills? Will she feel conflicted about working with the Hand, or has she totally embraced her apparent destiny?

Unfortunately, the answers to all of these questions probably won’t be revealed until The Defenders premieres on August 18. If they’re revealed at all, that is. It’s been two seasons of Daredevil, Marvel — I want to know what the Black Sky is already!