Now that Luke Cage and Iron Fist have formally met, is a fan-favorite team-up in the works? New comments from showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker and star Mike Colter have us questioning the future of either solo series, as well as The Defenders at large.

This coming June will see Luke Cage returning for his second solo season, joined in part by Finn Jones’ Iron Fist. The characters’ Defenders pairing naturally got tongues wagging for a full season of Heroes for Hire – their comic team-up agency – though it remains unclear how much Jones will appear in the new season. Empire’s PilotTV posed the question to Coker, who suggested Marvel was content with occasional team-ups, but less likely a full series:

It’s something that’s in the air. Internally at Marvel Television, everybody knows there’s a part of that combination that is inevitable, particularly when you watch them together in the way that we did it. If feels right. It feels good. It feels like, ‘I want to see more of this combination.’ Heroes for Hire is really not off the table.

Colter himself told Empire the question was “above my pay grade,” but indicated a preference for solo adventures. “It’s always nice to see your favorites play together, but the stakes to the game are not as high as when they play for their own individual teams,” the actor remarked. As of yet, it is unclear if Colter will return the favor with an appearance in Iron Fist Season 2, which lacks either a 2018 or 2019 premiere date.

All the same, it’s worth pondering the future of Marvel’s Netflix franchise beyond new seasons of Luke Cage, Daredevil, Punisher and Iron Fist. Marvel has still not clarified whether the series will build to another Defenders crossover – something Jessica Jones star Krysten Ritter recently called into question. It’s possible that smaller team-ups of Luke Cage and Iron Fist may become the norm, whether or not Marvel actually commits to a Heroes for Hire title. Few on the production side would likely advocate combining the series, as significant jobs and tax credits would also be lost by a reduced episode order.

Marvel has seen great success combining less popular individual heroes like Thor and Hulk into their own adventures, but will Luke and Danny remain only occasional partners? Stay tuned for the latest.

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