‘Defenders’ Fans Worry Claire Temple Could Die After ‘Punisher’ News

Claire Temple appears in every Marvel/Netflix series, but somehow she’ll miss the “Punisher” spinoff that’s set to film later this year. That has left some fans worried that Rosario Dawson’s character might not make it past “The Defenders” in August.

Dawson recently confirmed that she will not appear the Jon Bernthal-led drama. “At the end of the day, it’s really hard to get all of those casts together,” Dawson explained to Collider. “There are so many times where I really want it to happen. I really wanted to do a cameo on ‘The Punisher,’ but it doesn’t always work that way.”

The always-busy actress, who stars in this month’s big screen thriller “Unforgettable,” definitely could have hit a scheduling conflict, and it’s not like the Punisher is the typical good guy that Claire Temple usually helps. However, after making her a staple in all of the other Netflix/Marvel series, some fans are concerned that the worst is coming. There are rumors that Claire could die.

READ: Everything We Know About ‘The Defenders’ So Far

It’s not entirely base-less, but it’s far from confirmed. Viewers know that our heroes are mostly loners, and they’re certainly not going to trust each other right away. However, showrunner Marco Ramirez has teased that a huge event will bring together the Defenders — a team comprised of Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter), Daredevil (Charlie Cox) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones).

“I can’t describe too much, but I can say that we knew it had to be something big,” he teased to Entertainment Weekly in January. “We knew it would take something massive to pull these four characters from their individual worlds to work together, but also small enough that it felt like it existed in our world. It needed to be a crisis that brought these people together, but it still needed to be a very street-level crisis.”

The running fan theory is that death of their beloved Claire might be the driving factor that brings them together, much like how Phil Coulson’s death served the Avengers. While the news about her absence in “The Punisher” is making audiences concerned, the speculation isn’t new. It actually started shortly after “Luke Cage,” where the night nurse was more prominent than ever.

Set photos have revealed that Claire and Luke (Mike Colter) will pick up right where they left off when he gets out of prison in “The Defenders.” Whether that romance ends happily will be something fans have to tune in to find out.

“Marvel’s The Defenders” Season 1 will be released on Friday, Aug. 18 on Netflix.