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Hiroyuki Sanada’s involvement withThe Wolverine, and laterAvengers: Endgame, has fans wondering why Marvel has not yet used the legendary actor to facilitate a bigger role in the MCU. Known for playing a host of samurai and samurai-adjacent characters throughout his career, there is one character that the actor could play with his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The actor could return to the MCU to play the role of The Silver Samurai, who appeared in the Sanada starrerThe Wolverine, way back in 2013. However, fans felt that the depiction of the character in the film was somewhat hollow and not what was expected of a villain as iconic as The Silver Samurai. Given that the actor already has a presence in the MCU, Kevin Feige could correct the oversight by having Sanada’s character, who was slain by Hawkeye, return as a version of the iconic villain.
Hiroyuki Sanada’s Akihiko could return as a version of The Silver Samurai
The Silver Samurai debuted in comics as Kenuichio Harada, the illegitimate son of Lord Shingen, the character thatHiroyuki Sanadaplayed inThe Wolverine. A mutant in his original iteration, the character had the power to charge his Katanas and wore silvery armor as a part of his costume. The next character who takes the mantle would be Shingen Harada, the son of Kenuichio, named after the head of the Yashida clan.
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The Wolverinechanged the origin story of the Silver Samurai, making it instead a life-support system-cum-suit of armor that is worn by Shingen Yashida’s father, Ichiro Yashida in a bid to extend his life by extracting Logan’s immortality.
Akihiko, the character that Sanada essayed inAvengers: Endgame, could return as the Silver Samurai, perhaps similarly sustained by his armor. Alternatively, the actor could play a comic-accurate Silver Samurai, simply ignoring the fact that Akihiko was also played by the same actor, as was the case withGemma Chan(who played Min-Erva inCaptain Marveland Sersi inThe Eternals).
Hiroyuki Sanada’s Silver Samurai could debut inDaredevil: Born Again
The Silver Samurai first made an appearance in the comics inDaredevilissue #111 in July of 1974. In the comics, The Silver Samurai was introduced as a henchman of Black Spectre, an all-female organization of assassins, under the control of the mutant leader Mandrill. Given that the MCU will now feature a series of mutants and other hero factions, Daredevil could find himself facing more supernatural villains.
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Characters like the White Tiger, who is usually considered a character with occult and magical leanings, will be appearing inDaredevil: Born Again, which suggests that characters like The Silver Samurai could make their debut in the MCU as well. Marvel could introduce Hiroyuki Sanada inDaredevil, before letting the character jump to bigger projects involving characters like Wolverine and Sunfire.
Daredevil: Born Againis expected to begin streaming in March 2025.
Avengers: EndgameandThe Wolverinecan be streamed on Disney +.
Anuraag Chatterjee
Content Writer
Articles Published :1633
Anuraag Chatterjee, Web Content WriterWith a passion for writing fiction and non fiction content, Anuraag is a Media Science graduate with 2 year’s experience with Marketing and Content, with 3 published poetry anthologies. Anuraag holds a Bacherlor’s degree in Arts with a focus on Communication and Media Studies.
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DaredevilHiroyuki SanadaMarvel Cinematic Universe
