Rosario Dawson Is Playing Claire Temple, And Other News From The Netflix Daredevil Panel [NYCC]

The Netflix Daredevil panel took place at New York Comic-Con on Saturday evening, and the biggest revelation is that Rosario Dawson is not playing any of the characters anyone guessed she might be playing. In fact she's playing a relatively obscure supporting character from the Luke Cage comics of the 1970s, Claire Temple.

Those lucky enough to attend the panel were treated to a preview clip that showed Temple, a nurse, tending to a wounded Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox). Other clips showed Daredevil rescuing Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) from a mugger, Vincent D'Onofrio as the Kingpin, and first glimpse inside the law offices of Nelson & Murdock. Following the panel, Marvel released images showing the first official glimpses of Daredevil, both in an early costume and in his civilian identity.

The panel also introduced some new members of the cast, including Vondie Curtis-Hall as reporter Ben Urich, Ayelet Zurer as the Kingpin's wife Vanessa Fisk, and Bob Gunton as Leland Owsley, aka criminal mastermind The Owl. This last is especially exciting because it means The Owl is going to be on Daredevil!

Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple was created by Archie Goodwin as a love interest for Luke Cage. She was the ex-wife of Bill Foster, aka Goliath, and she was also a nurse in the comics, though she later became a doctor. Her occupation led Marvel's digital media director Ryan Penagos to quip on Twitter that she's "a NURSE who works at NIGHT", but she probably isn't Night Nurse. The two characters are not connected in the comics. Temple hasn't appeared in comics since 1983.

Panelists were keen to state that the Daredevil show will be very grounded in reality, though it is set in the same world as the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and its other live action TV shows. Asked about a possible crossover with Agents of SHIELD, Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb reminded the audience, "It's all connected, man."

Frank Miller, John Romita Jr., and the Brian Michael Bendis/Alex Maleev run on Daredevil were all cited as influences on the show. The early version of the Daredevil costume in the show is directly based on John Romita Jr.'s design from the classic Man Without Fear series.

Ahead of the panel, Marvel released the following concept art by Joe Quesada, featuring the same costume.

Daredevil will be released via Netflix streaming some time next year. An official date has not been announced. It will be followed by Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist series, and a Defenders mini series that brings the four characters together.