Last week, a report surfaced broke that Marvel Studios may have a Dark Avengers film in development, with a completed script by an unnamed screenwriter. While the future of the MCU following next year's Avengers 4 is still largely unclear, the possibility of a villainous inversion of Marvel's premier superteam certainly offers an intriguing thought about where the cinematic universe could go next. That having been said, the MCU's various original series on Netflix may have already been quietly laying the foundation for their own supervillain ensemble to possibly team up and take on the Defenders.

As opposed to the films of the MCU, which have a habit of killing off many of their principal antagonists, the Marvel Netflix series has retained the majority of their villains, leaving open the possibility of them returning in the future. And, just like the comic book incarnation of the Dark Avengers, these Dark Defenders would be familiar faces with similar power sets to their heroic counterparts, setting up a climactic battle between both teams with all the street-level heroes facing each other's villains after seasons of escalating grudges.

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Bullseye has been one of Daredevil's greatest enemies as much as the Kingpin since his creation in 1976's Daredevil #131 written by Marv Wolfman and illustrated by John Romita, Sr. Responsible for the deaths of Elektra and Karen Page, the uncanny marksman with the superhuman ability to throw any object with lethal accuracy and force quickly became one of Matt Murdock's most personal foes, and even masqueraded as Hawkeye as part of the Dark Avengers for a time.

Daredevil hides around a corner

With Wilson Bethel confirmed to be playing Bullseye in the third season of Daredevil, the new villain of Hell's Kitchen could be part of an ensemble organized and financed by Wilson Fisk to root out the Man Without Fear and his allies for good. Additionally, as he did in the comics, the villain will impersonate Daredevil to discredit the Devil of Hell's Kitchen in the eyes of the authorities and general public. Hold they decide to make their play even bigger, the nefarious duo would certainly not be at a loss of potential recruits to enlist in their sinister crusade.

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Both of Luke Cage's principal antagonists, Season 1's Diamondback and Season 2's Bushmaster, have survived, and are thus set up for possible returns to Harlem. Given that Mustafa Shakir's Bushmaster can stand toe-to-toe with Cage without the use of a powered exosuit like Diamondback (not to mention receiving a better fan response), he's the more likely to return from his Jamaican exile, though Cage's half-brother could resurface, even without the technological enhancement, given the personal nature of his connection to the Hero of Harlem.

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Similarly, Iron Fist saw its recurring antagonist Davos survive the events of the series' second season and swear revenge on Danny Rand after his defeat at the hands of Colleen Wing. Having possessed the power of the Iron Fist himself over the course of Season 2, Davos certainly poses the great risk for both Danny and Colleen, as his imprisonment is virtually guaranteed to be temporary once he presumably regains his lethal chi-fueled abilities.

While Davos is currently locked away, Alice Eve's Typhoid Mary is still on the loose and teasing the presence of an additional, more violent alternate personality. The villain is perfectly primed to be recruited into a team of villains, having already proved herself more than a match for Danny.

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While not technically a member of the Defenders, Jon Bernthal's Punisher exists within the same shared universe, having made his debut during the second season of Daredevil before receiving his own spinoff series. The show's principal antagonist is Frank Castle's old war buddy Billy Russo, who became the disfigured Jigsaw in the climax of the first season finale. Having served alongside Castle for years, Jigsaw knows the Punisher better than anyone else and held his own in brawls and gunfights with the no-nonsense crimefighter. Provided the character survives his rematch with Castle in the upcoming second season, he would make a killer addition to our potential street-level ensemble of villains.

ThePunisher jigsaw

And that leaves Netflix's Jessica Jones. The problematic thing about the Krysten Ritter-starring series is that it has consistently killed off its main antagonists in both of its first two seasons; David Tennant's Killgrave died at the hands of Jessica herself, while her villainous mother was shot to death by former best friend Trish Walker. But perhaps Jessica wouldn't bring off a recurring villain or a newcomer to the fold, but rather Trish herself.  Over the course of Jessica Jones' second season, the two best friends had a massive falling out as Trish gained her own superpowers before the friendship completely ruptured after Trish killed Jessica's mother in a desperate bid to save her friend. With the ties that bind cutting the deepest, the two old friends are likely to be on an emotional collision course in their near-future, so why not see it happen on the biggest possible stage in Defenders' second season?

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Marvel Television has been relatively non-committal about the possibility of the Defenders reteaming for another go around, a situation largely believed to exist due to the extensive behind-the-scenes logistics of such an undertaking. But with whole myriad of returning antagonists with a common goal and thirst for revenge against the street-level Marvel heroes, the various Netflix series could have the perfect new unifying premise for a crossover series to eventually happen after all.