Claire Temple (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

• 1. The Dumpster Discovery

  ›

  In the first season of Daredevil, a nurse named Claire Temple finds Matt Murdock beaten and lying in a dumpster. She stops to help him despite the danger surrounding his condition. The mafia later kidnaps her as bait to lure Daredevil into a trap. He manages to rescue her from their clutches. They both decide that continuing this involvement is too dangerous for them. Yet she continues to provide medical aid when he needs it. Murdock occasionally uses her position at Metro-General Hospital to his advantage. A spark exists between them but remains unacted upon.

  1

• 2. Romance And Harlem

  ›

  Claire Temple meets Luke Cage while he lies injured on a hospital gurney. She takes care of him during his recovery period. In the second season of Daredevil, she quits her job after the hospital tries to cover up a coworker's death following an attack by The Hand. She moves to Harlem where her mother runs a diner. There she reconnects with Cage and helps defend the neighborhood. She falls for Cage before he gets arrested. By the end of the second season of Luke Cage, they argue and ask to take a break from each other. Cage eventually moves on completely. Temple tries to enter Harlem's Paradise to see him but is turned away.

  2530

• 3. Origins And Licensing

  ›

  Rosario Dawson joined the cast of Daredevil in June 2014. Her role was revealed to be that of Temple in October of that year. The character is an amalgam of two distinct Marvel Comics characters named Claire Temple and Night Nurse. Showrunner Steven S. DeKnight noted that the original plan involved using the actual Night Nurse from the comics. Legal concerns arose because feature film producers had plans for that specific name down the road. This necessitated changing the character to use the more obscure comic book name Claire Temple instead. The decision allowed the television series to proceed without licensing conflicts.

  1618

• 4. The Exclusive Deal

  ›

  In May 2015, Rosario Dawson signed an exclusive TV deal with Marvel. This agreement allowed her to return for the second season of Daredevil as well as appear in any other Marvel Netflix series. She signs on with Marvel for one year at a time for a set number of episodes. She learns which series the episodes belong to closer to the filming date. Jessica Jones showrunner Melissa Rosenberg revealed she would drop into the season finale before the show debuted. A tie-in comic prequel released in July explored the connective tissue between the series. Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb explained that Dawson fit so well in those worlds that they wanted her to serve as a thread connecting them all.

  1927

• 5. Continuity And Scars

  ›

  When Temple first appears in the second season of Daredevil, she has a cut in her eyebrow. Actor Charlie Cox explained this scar came from events in another series. The timeline was thought through and worked out to ensure visual continuity across separate productions filmed at different times. In July 2016, Dawson was unable to promote Luke Cage because she was back in New York filming something else for Marvel TV. That project turned out to be Iron Fist. Her appearance there was set up at the end of Luke Cage. A month later, she was revealed to also reprise her role in the crossover miniseries The Defenders. She expressed interest in making a cameo appearance in The Punisher but could not due to scheduling conflicts.

  202931

• 6. Writing The Breakup

  ›

  After appearing in the second season of Luke Cage, Rosario Dawson explained her reluctance to continue traveling away from her family. She asked Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker if she could contribute to writing Temple's final scene. She considered the scene the culmination of three years of work for her character. The initial draft felt written too much from the perspective of Cage. They have a fight in that scene which ends their relationship. Dawson praised Coker for allowing her to push the scene to feature more of an equal balance between the characters. He praised the work she did on the dialogue and emotional beats.

  3435