The MCU’s Daredevil Season 4 Needs To Learn From Thor: Ragnarok

Daredevil‘s canonical status has been in question ever since Netflix canceled the show, and with heavy rumors of a reboot happening soon, the series needs to learn from Thor: Ragnarok. Fans are debating whether the Daredevil project should be a full reboot, a soft reboot, or a direct continuation. While each argument has its merits, it seems that the best option is for Daredevil to handle a reboot the same way that Ragnarok does.

Daredevil follows the titular superhero as he balances his vigilante life and his alter ego as a blind lawyer named Matt Murdock. Originally released on Netflix in 2015, Daredevil was met with critical acclaim. However, after three seasons and various appearances in other shows on the service, Netflix canceled Daredevil. Viewers have been given small glimmers of hope, though, with characters from the series like Daredevil and Wilson Fisk appearing in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye respectively.

Rumors of the character appearing in the MCU have been around for a while now, with Matt Murdock finally making his big-screen debut in No Way Home. Now that it is confirmed he exists in the MCU, there are a lot of questions surrounding what Marvel will do with him. Some believe he may stay a side character, making occasional appearances in future shows like Moon Knight and She-Hulk. However, rumors of a Daredevil revival project have been running rampant recently. The ways in which Marvel could handle it are infinite, but it seems like the best option for Daredevil season 4 is to do a soft reboot in the vein of Thor: Ragnarok. Not only would this approach allow for an innovative interpretation of an established and popular MCU character, but it could also retain and build on the most successful aspects of the original Daredevil series.

Although they do have their advocates, many general audiences don’t like Thor and Thor: The Dark World as much as some of the MCU’s other films. So, when it came time to do the third film, Marvel kept these criticisms in mind. Thor: Ragnarok acts as a soft reboot of the series, reimagining many elements while keeping the same core structure. Ragnarok balances the new take on the series by making the film almost self-contained, far less connected from its predecessors than many other Marvel sequels. By doing this, admirers of the first two Thor films still feel like it is continuing the world of Asgard, making them happy. On the other hand, the film also does not require that viewers see the previous films, allowing some to skip what many consider some of the worst MCU movies.

Now, Daredevil does not need to make every change that Ragnarok does. Most audiences love the tone of Daredevil, so the soft reboot can keep elements like that from the Netflix show. One of the things Ragnarok achieves, though, is tying in the rest of the MCU to a greater extent by adding the Hulk. Daredevil season 4 can also do something similar, bringing in one or several other street-level heroes like Spider-Man or Blade. Having these characters can firmly establish that, while the previous seasons’ canonical status is in flux, season 4 is firmly part of the MCU.

One other thing Daredevil can learn from Thor: Ragnarok is how to wrap up previous storylines. One of Thor: The Dark World‘s post-credits scenes shows that Loki has taken over Asgard disguised as Odin. While this may have originally been the main conflict in the third film, it exists as only a small scene in Ragnarok. The film acknowledges this set-up, but in a way that doesn’t make the previous films required viewing. This is how Daredevil season 4 should handle season 3’s Bullseye tease. Bullseye can still come back, and the season can give a quick recap of his backstory through exposition or a flashback. While many want season 4 to directly tie into the Netflix seasons, retroactively making 39 episodes of Daredevil required viewing wouldn’t be a good idea. Daredevil season 3’s ending nicely wraps up the three-season arc, so making a future Daredevil soft reboot in the style of Thor: Ragnarok is probably the best choice.