This Theory About Sister Maggie In 'Daredevil' Season 3 Makes Too Much Sense

This year in the Netflix Marvel-verse has been all about the fallout from One Midland Circle, as each member of The Defenders moves on with their lives. But Jessica, Luke, and Danny came out of the disaster relatively physically unharmed. Matt Murdock, on the other hand, was underneath the building when it came crashing down, and is presumed dead. When The Defenders ended, viewers saw he was alive and well, and being tended to by nuns, including the new character Sister Maggie. But fans can't help but wonder: Is Sister Maggie Matt Murdock's mother?

This might sound like a crazy question, as Matt grew up in an orphanage after his father died. But his mother has never been shown to be in the picture, other than a brief phone call made by Jack Murdock just before he died.

In the comics though, Matt does have a mother, and she is indeed a nun named Sister Maggie. Fans theorize the show will follow this track.

Sister Maggie was added to the Daredevil story in the 1980s when the legendary Frank Miller took over the series. Her first appearance was in Daredevil #229, published in 1986, as a mysterious nun who helps Matt nurse himself back to health. She also serves as a person he can rely on as Wilson Fisk, who has put two and two together that Murdock and Daredevil are one and the same, works to destroy both halves of his life.

In the original comics Miller created, Maggie Murdock developed post-natal depression psychosis, believing that Jack was somehow trying to kill her. The only way to protect herself was to kill her child. She didn't succeed, but when she came to her senses, the result was so traumatic she packed up and left her family, believing them to be safer without her.

Homeless and alone, Maggie wound up turning to the Catholic church to take her in. After staying there long enough, she decided to give her life over to God and become a nun.

Matt first meets Maggie as an adult, when he's brought to the church after suffering massive injuries and believed dead, under the story title of Daredevil: Born Again. In the comics, Matt never finds out she is his mother, though he senses a deep connection between them. When he asks Sister Maggie who she is to him, he knows she's lying when she says no one.

It's not clear the show plans to follow this plotline when it comes to Maggie, for the record. When actress Joanne Whalley (Gossip Girl, Wolf Hall) was cast in the role, the description of the character was merely stated as "a strong-willed nun who speaks her mind and cares deeply about Matt’s safety."

Throughout most of the five Netflix Marvel series, the shows have taken dramatic licenses with the characters. Jessica Jones' mother, for instance, was completely remade from scratch for Season 2. Jeri Hogarth was not only genderswapped, but pulled from her primary series, Iron Fist. So there's no guarantee Sister Maggie will wind up as Matt's mother in Season 3. But fans of the comics hope she does.

Daredevil Season 3 arrives on Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, on Netflix with 13 episodes.