Rosario Dawson’s Claire Temple will be the character that connects the MCU in the Netflix series’ that Marvel is developing. As it turns out, they have big plans for her in their upcoming Luke Cage series, and she will have a very significant role in it.
Temple was introduced in Daredevil, and she also appeared in the final episode of the first season of Jessica Jones.
During an interview with IGN, Mike Colter talked about his upcoming series and explained what we can expect to see from Temple in it.
“Luke Cage does take place uptown. It’s a different backdrop. How they get her uptown will be very unique, and you’ll see it makes sense. It’s seamless. We’re in the same city. She knows of me, obviously, from a personal standpoint, but it’ll be interesting to see because she will deal with me in a different way than she dealt with Matt Murdock. Matt Murdock’s character’s completely different from mine.
“Because she plays a nurse that basically seems to be in the right place at the right time, and she’s very good at helping out superheroes who are in need, and I think you will see some of that in Luke Cage. Ultimately I think she’s going to be a very good companion for Luke. I think she’s someone that Luke needs in his life at this time.”
Those of you who read the comics know that Temple is Luke Cage’s love interest, and it sounds like that relationship will be played with in the series. Colter said, “It will be interesting to see how” that relationship with Claire plays out on the show because things are sure to get complicated, especially because of his relationship with Jessica Jones. The actor explained:
“With Jessica, it was one of those things that when you meet it’s lustful. I think with Jessica, there’s so much chemistry there that we still need to find out are we compatible, and that’s the part that’s going to be interesting. As far as Claire is concerned, we have to wait and see how that relationship evolves. Comparatively speaking, we know Jessica has killed my wife, and so we have to get through that.”
Claire plays such a big part in Luke Cage that her mom is even set to be introduced in the MCU. Her mother, Soledad Temple, will be played by Sonia Braga. As for how much we’ll actually see of the character, the actor said:
“She’s going to serve a very significant part of the Luke Cage story. Not overwhelmingly so, but you will definitely be satisfied with the amount of screen time you see. … I can’t speak to episode count, but you’re definitely going to see her. She’s definitely going to be someone that’s going to have a large storyline and help out a lot.”
Marvel’s Head of Television Jeph Loeb went on to praise Dawson for her acting skills, and how that played a role in expanding Temple’s character in these series:
“Rosario is such an extraordinarily gifted actress, sort of everything you throw at her she does an extraordinary job with. It wasn’t just that Claire fit so well in those worlds, it’s that Rosario fit so well in those worlds. We wanted to have an opportunity to be able to let the audience know that this person knows this person, and that means they know that person. I think if you play the game out, you can sort of see where it’s going to be headed and how important that character’s going to be.”
Claire Temple is also set to appear in Daredevil Season 2, which premiere on Netflix on March 18th. Marvel’s Luke Cage is set to premiere later in 2016.