It seems that Claire exiting the scene in ‘Luke Cage’ Season 2 was more than just a momentary absence for the character, as it is now being reported, and confirmed by Rosario Dawson herself, that for the moment, Claire the “Night Nurse” is out of the Marvel/ MCU. It is not that surprising after she made no appearance in ‘Iron Fist’ season 2, her first non-‘Punisher’ series not to cameo in, but it is still a little sad since she was the connecting thread for all the Netflix/ MCU shows leading up to ‘The Defenders,’ and many people (including yours truly) were big fans of both the actress and the character.
While speaking at the Tribeca TV Fest on Saturday, Dawson started by talking about how she landed the role of Claire:
“I got offered this role to play a nurse, and I knew from my nerdy friends that she was a cool character. But I was like, ‘I’ve never heard of her, she doesn’t have powers. She’s got like MacGyver powers — your arm’s bleeding out, okay, here’s some alcohol and floss.”
She then reminisced about the first season of ‘Daredevil,’ where Claire appeared for about 5 episodes, saying:
“…a lot of people on it didn’t know what we were shooting — it was called ‘Bluff,’ and [Matt Murdock] didn’t get into the costume until the end. Everyone was super-hush-hush about it.”
Dawson then went on to talk about the final appearance of Claire in ‘Luke Cage’ Season 2, what that scene meant for her, the way showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker invited her into the writer’s room for the scene, and what she thought it meant for the character:
“I felt really grateful because Cheo Hodari Coker was the showrunner, and it was kind of looking like, at least for that season, who knows if I’ll come back again? This was looking like it was going to be a big final scene for Claire, and it was really as a culmination of three years and being on five different shows…When the scene was first written, to be honest, it was a little bit more written on his side and his storyline and that kind of stuff. And I approached Cheo and had the audacity of adding some lines and rewriting some stuff and asked him if that could work.”
Bear in mind, actors approaching showrunners and writers with ideas for rewrites is not always seen as a good thing, but Dawson felt it was necessary, as, in her words:
“…out of the instinct of knowing that after five different shows this was probably going to be at least for now a kind of goodbye for Claire. I wanted it to really honor this journey I’ve had with her, and what she’s been and what she’s stood for, and what she means to a lot of people.[She]means a lot, because you don’t have to have special superpowers to make a difference and an impact in your community and to challenge yourself to grow and to be greater. She just really inspired me a lot.”
When asked about the future, Dawson replied:
“Yeah, its pretty wild actually. I don’t know if I’ll be back after this, to be honest, but it’s been an amazing few years. I’ve been on a lot of different shows. I mean, I don’t know if maybe they do a third season of Luke Cage potentially, or maybe if they figure out some kind of way for me to be on The Punisher – just so I can feel like I’ve done every show. But it’s been like, my daughter is high school, so I kinda wanna’ not be 3000 miles away for work.”
Dawson does have one regret though:
“‘The Punisher’ was always the one I really loved — I couldn’t believe I wasn’t on that one. ”
What are your thoughts now that Claire is out of the picture? Does this open the door for the Luke and Jessica romance like in the comics? Would you want to see Claire return triumphantly at some point in the future for a bigger story arc involving all the Defenders? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Indiewire
