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7 Times LUKE CAGE’s Claire Temple Proved She’s An Unsung Defender
BY The Screen Spy Team
Published 8 years ago
By Marcus Daniels
Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson) made her first appearance in Daredevil season one as the woman who pulled Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) out of a dumpster and saved his life using makeshift stitches. From there she had a brief stint as his first season love interest before moving on to Jessica Jones, where she helped patch up the feminist icon and angsty private detective (played by Kristen Ritter) before saving undiscovered hero Luke Cage (Mike Colter) from a gunshot wound to the head.
Now in the first installment of Luke Cage’s own series, Claire has left the world of the ER and Hell’s Kitchen behind to take up a place next to Harlem’s hero. In this cultural mecca of black identity, Claire helps Cage find answers, encourages him to accept his powers and even learns to accept her own constant run ins with this unlikely set of heroes.
Despite memorable performances in Daredevil and Jessica Jones, Marvel’s Luke Cage provided Temple fans with what are perhaps the character’s most dramatically compelling and stellar moments. Claire grows character wise like never before, proving that our favorite nurse’s knack for saving heroes on couches is more than an accident. She’s fully embedded in this world of heroes, and she may be one of its most important members yet.
From handling a purse snatcher to finally getting a superhero name, Claire Temple’s presence in the first season of Luke Cage illustrated that this fan favorite character has serious longevity in The Defenders universe. More importantly, she’s got all of the qualities of the heroes she saves, making her one of Netflix universe’s most pivotal, but unsung characters.
Here’s a list of seven things from Luke Cage season one that prove Claire Temple is the true fifth Defender of New York City.
She’ll Protect Her Friends At Any Cost
Claire Temple hasn’t always been so keen on violence, a trait that’s admirable in a world where even our super heroes have to reckon with murder in the name of some “greater good.” But in spite of her staunch loyalty to her own moral kindness, Claire’s also been forced to watch her friends get manipulated, abused and killed at the hands of power-hungry pawns and villains.
After Luke Cage discovers that the love of his life and another doctor who helped save his life were using him for a super soldier experiment, he has an understandable breakdown in episode 10 “Take It Personal.” It results in him destroying the lab equipment that ultimately made and saved him.
In a weird twist, the doctor turns to Claire after Cage storms out, desperately wanting to know if she’d still help him finish his work. They are both medical professionals after all. They “get” each other. Except that in no world will Claire Temple get how you can destroy a man’s life and everything he thought he knew and trusted in the name of an experiment. So while someone might have understood that doctor, Claire wasn’t the one. In fact, she makes sure he knows that he got off easy, warning that he should be thankful that she’s not the one with the powers.
Claire might not be willing to let the worst of us die, but she’s also not afraid to put bad in its place.
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