Just in time for Deadpool & Wolverine’s release, a 21-year-old Marvel movie arrives on Disney+ in preparation for the Phase 5 crossover event.

Deadpool Covers his Mouth in front of the Daredevil 2003 New York Skyline Poster

A Marvel movie that Deadpool & Wolverine will revisit is arriving on Disney+ just in time to prepare for Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s MCU movie. Not only will Shawn Levy’s upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine bring together two of the most famous X-Men characters ever, but it will also bring back multiple heroes and villains who have been absent from live-action Marvel movies for a long time. Deadpool & Wolverine‘s second trailer reveals the return of villains like Lady Deathstrike, Toad, and Azazel, though several others who haven’t appeared in promotional material will also appear in the movie.

In April, Disney officially announced the arrival of various titles on Disney+ in May. One of them is the 2003 Daredevil movie starring Ben Affleck, which will be available on the platform on Wednesday, May 1. Daredevil‘s arrival on Disney+ coincides with the release of X-Men ’97 episode 8, “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 1”.

How Daredevil (2003) Sets Up Deadpool & Wolverine

Jennifer Garner’s Elektra Is Set To Appear In This Summer’s MCU Movie

Elektra dies in Daredevil

Daredevil and Deadpool & Wolverine don’t have any clear connections on the surface, but Deadpool & Wolverine‘s multiversal plot allows the Phase 5 movie to use any Marvel character and setting introduced before the MCU, with very few exceptions. Jennifer Garner first played Elektra Natchios in 2003’s Daredevil, where she met Matt Murdock and died at the hands of Bullseye. While 2005’s Elektra brought her back from the dead, Deadpool & Wolverine might feature a pruned Elektra variant who didn’t die during the events of Daredevil, or one who succeeded in killing Daredevil in revenge for her father’s death.

Plans for Daredevil 2 and a Ben Affleck cameo in Elektra fell through after Daredevil ‘s poor critical and commercial reception.

Jennifer Garner’s Elektra was confirmed to appear in Deadpool & Wolverine early on, and recent reports suggest that Elektra will play a big role in Deadpool & Wolverine‘s story. Given that Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine variant comes from a universe where he “let down his entire world”, it’s possible that Deadpool & Wolverine‘s Elektra variant also seeks redemption for not being able to protect her own reality. In the comics, Elektra takes up the Daredevil mantle while Matt Murdock is imprisoned. Perhaps Deadpool & Wolverine will reveal that Jennifer Garner’s Elektra did the same after Daredevil died.

The concept of the multiverse gives Deadpool & Wolverine endless possible explanations for the return of its many multiversal variants. In turn, Deadpool & Wolverine gives previous non-MCU Marvel movies the chance to shine many years, and even whole decades, after they failed to succeed with critics and audiences. Daredevil often ranks low in the list of popular pre-MCU Marvel movies, hence why the return of at least one character can add a new layer of meaning on future rewatches.