Relationship Spotlight: Colleen Wing & Claire Temple (The Defenders)

*Note: While I will spend some time specifically talking about The Defenders here, I’m also using it as a shorthand for the Marvel Netflix universe of shows in general.*

I’ve been gradually rewatching the Marvel Netflix shows, which of course have now all migrated to Disney+. Chronologically, I’m now up to season 1 of The Punisher, which means I’ve revisited at least one season of each of the series in this sub-universe. After watching season 1 of Iron Fist and The Defenders lately, I’m reminded of how much I appreciate the friendship between Claire and Colleen.

Claire, of course, is the glue that holds The Defenders verse together. But while she first meets Matt, Jessica, and Luke by happenstance, encountering these powered people at times when they’re badly injured and in need of a discreet nurse, she doesn’t enter Iron Fist via a random meeting with Danny. Instead, we first see her as a student of Colleen’s, taking private self-defense lessons at the dojo.

First of all, this is just a smart thing for Claire to be doing. She’s very much not-super and knows it, but at this point, she’s decided that “helping special people” is her purpose in life, and that inevitably means winding up in dangerous situations. She has no illusions that she’s going to rival Matt in hand-to-hand combat or throw somebody across a bar like Jessica, but she wants to do what she can to keep herself safe when the shit goes down.

So, as Danny repeatedly attempts to insert himself into Colleen’s life, Claire is there to witness it and slowly finds herself getting involved as well, sometimes in her capacity as a nurse and sometimes as a level head amid all the ancient sects and mystical wildness. She’s there for Danny, lending a hand when someone needs patching up and trying to talk sense into him when he’s going off half-cocked, but she’s there for Colleen, too.

As we move from Iron Fist into The Defenders, we see the bond between them as two non-powered women who’ve gotten tangled up in the lives of these powered vigilantes. To me, it takes on an extra dimension beyond, say, Foggy and Karen or Malcolm and Trish. Colleen is someone who’s frequently on the frontlines, fighting alongside Danny with only her skills to keep her alive, no powers to protect her or give her an edge. That places her more in the thick of things than most of the non-powered friends/lovers in this universe, and as all the heroes bring their loved ones to the Harlem precinct to keep them safe from the Hand, Colleen does not think she should be counted as one of them.

This leads to what’s honestly one of my favorite scenes in The Defenders, Claire and Colleen discussing the wild superhero shenanigans they’ve gotten mixed up in, and what it’s like to care about and help these heroes while knowing they can’t fully be in that league. As Colleen gets down on herself, upset at being relegated to the sidelines, Claire reminds her how incredible she is and how much Danny relies on her blade. In turn, Colleen champions Claire for her serious guerilla nursing skills, saving the lives of these heroes (along with Colleen herself) more than once. Claire may think of herself as a cut below, but Colleen points out that none of the others can do what she can.

I love that, this commiseration between non-powered people who are trying to keep up and do their part, worrying about their people and wishing they could do more to help. Sometimes, to recognize the extraordinary within the ordinary, it takes someone else who doesn’t have powers, a costume, or a moniker, and Claire and Colleen are that for each other. Their support for one another is beautiful here, and it’s great to see them do their vital part to help take down Midland Circle while the actual Defenders are doing battle with the Hand. Never to be counted out, these two.

Favorite Characters: Claire Temple (The Defenders)

I realized that I’m not quite sure which of Marvel’s Netflix shows Claire “belongs” to.  She first appeared on Daredevil and has had an important, if periodic, presence there, her spot on Jessica Jones is brief but memorable, and she makes her biggest showing so far in Luke Cage.  So, I’m sticking with The Defenders – Claire goes with everybody!  (Some Claire-related spoilers.)

I remember sitting up and taking notice as soon as I saw Rosario Dawson’s name in the credits for Daredevil, and right out of the gate, she doesn’t disappoint.  Claire is a woman who essentially gets Matt’s world of superhero insanity dumped in her lap.  She happens upon an injured Matt outside her building, and Claire, a nurse, realizes this is the same masked man who so many of her recent ER patients have encountered, either saving victims from further harm or giving bad guys a brutally-sound thrashing.  She decides to take him up to her apartment and treat him herself, thus beginning an odd relationship whereby she becomes the one Matt goes to when he’s broken and bleeding.

It’s a neat dynamic.  I like that, from their first meeting, Claire learns about Matt’s powers.  That’s not information he usually gives away unless he absolutely has to, but with Claire, there’s barely a second thought.  Whatever the reason, though, he picked a good person to reveal himself to.  Claire can be trusted absolutely – she’s as discreet as she is highly competent at her job, and she proves herself a valuable ally for tending to the many serious injuries that come Matt’s way when he’s being Daredevil.  She’s not easily shocked and is able to handle much of what comes her way with a level head and a steady hand.  That said, over the course of season 1, she comes to realize her dealings with Matt can’t always be about fractured ribs and stitches, she can’t always drop everything for this masked man’s crises and do whatever he needs her to, and she can’t always patch Matt up when she feels like her help is enabling him to go down a progressively darker path.  It’s not that she isn’t compassionate or that she doesn’t want to help (she is and she does, as she proves when she pretty much instantly goes to bat for a couple more superpowered strangers – Jessica and Luke – who need her help,) but she can’t just be the one on retainer for whenever Matt needs her.  She can’t just be a function within his world.

This leads Claire to some soul searching about what she wants, and when she decides to get back into the helping-superheroes game, it’s on her terms.  Running by chance into Luke again, she’s the one who approaches him, telling him a little about her experiences with Matt and deciding that this is the contribution she wants to make for good.  I just love her partnership with Luke so much.  Yes, she’s still a player in someone else’s story, but she’s making a lot more of her own moves, supporting someone else as a conscious choice rather than not wanting to say no to the bleeding vigilante on her doorstep.  With Luke, she offers the usual medical help, brainstorming workarounds for his unique physiological condition and keeping her cool in some pretty intense situations.  However, she also helps out in other ways.  She’s intuitive and resourceful, she has strong ideas, she’s ready to support Luke in whatever way he needs as he digs into his past, and near the end of the season, she gets her own non-powered chances to be a hero, protecting other civilians during a hostage crisis and generally keeping people alive until Luke can get to a place where he can take out the bad guys.  If I were a superhero, I’d have plenty of reasons to totally want Claire in my corner.