Daredevil MCU Return Could Ruin The Character, Says Charlie Cox

Daredevil star Charlie Cox doesn’t think reprising his role in the MCU proper would do justice to the character. Cox played Matt Murdock, AKA Daredevil, in the Netflix series Daredevil, which ran for three seasons starting in 2015. The series was technically part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but was more directly connected to Netflix’s other Marvel shows, namely Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher, and the crossover miniseries The Defenders. Now that Disney+ has developed its own slate of Marvel shows, these Netflix series are generally considered not to be MCU canon.

Recently, rumors have been swirling that Charlie Cox’s Daredevil would return for a cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home. This kind of appearance wouldn’t be out of the question, because the film is famously using Doctor Strange’s power over the multiverse to fold multiple Marvel continuities over one another, including Alfred Molina reprising his role as Doc Ock from 2004’s Spider-Man 2 and rumored appearances by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as previous iterations of Peter Parker. While the theory that Daredevil will appear in Spider-Man has been debunked, this has nevertheless led to an increase in speculation about Daredevil joining the MCU proper in one way or another.

Speaking with Sirius XM, Charlie Cox addressed the rumors yet again. He ruminated on the fact that returning as Daredevil in the MCU would be an inherently different beast than the Netflix show. He feels that they would probably reboot it with a different actor because if they hire him back, “there are going to be some elements that are of course the same.” He warns fans to ” be careful what you wish for,” because it might not “come together in the same way” and “you don’t want to taint what you’ve already got.” Read the full quote below:

What happens in the comics is a writer and an artist will team up for a run of a comic, so they’ll do 10 issues, 20 issues. If there was an opportunity for me to come back as Daredevil, whatever that would look like, I imagine it would be a reimagining of the character and the show. If they choose me to do it, there are going to be some elements that are of course the same. Or they might choose someone else and reboot it all over again.

You’ve got to be careful what you wish for. You come back and it’s not as good or it doesn’t quite work or it’s too much time has passed. It doesn’t quite come together in the same way. You don’t want to taint what you’ve already got. If we never come back, you’ve got these three great seasons and our third season was our best reviewed. So, the trajectory was up. I am tremendously proud and grateful for what we have.

The idea of returning as Daredevil has clearly been on his mind. When Charlie Cox spoke about potentially reprising the role back in September of this year, he confirmed he didn’t know if the character would be returning. However, he didn’t want to “say something that could potentially jeopardize those chances.“

Ultimately it looks like Charlie Cox would play the Daredevil role if it was offered to him, but just doesn’t want fans to get their hopes up over something that might not deliver what they expect. He’s playing it safe out of respect for the character. This is exactly the way most fans would ultimately want the performers to feel for the iconic superheroes they bring to life, even if it’s disappointing that they may not get to see Cox don the red mask again.