Daredevil Season 3 Already Setup A Perfect MCU Reboot Before No Way Home

A Daredevil reboot is reportedly on the way, but Netflix's Daredevil season 3 already set up Matt Murdock's perfect MCU future before Spider-Man: No Way Home. Daredevil was the first of Marvel's Netflix shows, debuting in April 2015 and becoming an immediate hit for the streaming giant. After a three-season run and an appearance on the team-up show The Defenders, Daredevil was canceled in late 2018, with Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Punisher also ending simultaneously.

Despite the cancellation of his series, Charlie Cox would later return as Matt Murdock in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home. Though his appearance was brief, speculation regarding Daredevil's MCU future has been rife ever since. While full details aren't available yet, there has been some news about where Matt's story will take him next, and it seems it won't be too much longer before Matt suits up again.

Per Production Weekly, a Daredevil "reboot" is happening in the MCU, with the project itself expected to pick up steam in fall 2022, but the term "reboot" itself might not tell the full story. Normally, reboots take a character or a franchise back to square one to start again. Yet based on the ending of Daredevil season 3 and Matt Murdock's No Way Home cameo, the "reboot" that he's set to get seems to be a much softer one, as well as one that his last two stories actually set up.

How Does Daredevil Fit Into MCU Canon?

Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock in the Daredevil suit

When Marvel's The Defenders and its sub-series ran on Netflix, their ties to the MCU were largely made through dialogue references. Whether through Iron Man and Thor being referenced on Daredevil or Jessica Jones mentioning a large green giant, Marvel's Netflix series linked themselves to the MCU by way of off-hand comments on different characters or "The Event" in The Avengers. Despite this, apart from the minor roles of NY1 news anchor Pat Kiernan, the MCU films never reciprocated this referencing, leaving Marvel's Netflix series with a connection to the MCU that always felt very one-sided.

However, this all changed with Matt's cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home along with Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) appearing on the Disney+ series Hawkeye - with both cameos appearing to make Marvel's Netflix series canon within the MCU. Furthermore, recent activity on Marvel's official website has raised further questions in this regard, with No Way Home being added and then removed from Daredevil's biography. While no official statement has yet been made by Kevin Feige or Marvel Studios, Matt and the Kingpin's respective cameos add strong credence to the idea of Marvel's Netflix shows being set within the MCU.

Daredevil Season 3 Already Started Rebooting Daredevil

Though the MCU continuation of Daredevil has been listed as a reboot, Matt Murdock already began a reboot phase in Daredevil's series-elevating season 3. Coming off the back of The Defenders, Matt Murdock was presumed dead, and in a sense, he was. Matt's experiences had left him embittered and broken mentally and physically, with his Catholic faith also shaken. Matt gradually began to heal himself and return to his vigilante life, but it wasn't the same as it had been prior to his final confrontation with The Hand.

With the Kingpin and Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) turning New York City against Daredevil, Matt's life is left in tatters as he contemplates killing Fisk in Daredevil season 3. He also returned to his black ninja suit during this time, showing the darkness he'd fallen into had temporarily consumed him. Yet come the end of Daredevil season 3, Matt had renewed his faith in God, himself, and his mission as Daredevil in beating Fisk a second time and sending him back to prison (though D'Onofrio's Hawkeye return arguably undid this arc). By the end of Daredevil season 3, Matt also returned to his legal practice with Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) a much more upbeat man and was ready to continue as Daredevil on less bitter terms. Subsequently, Matt's next, long-awaited appearance would show that his rebirth in Daredevil season 3 had held firm.

No Way Home Fits With Daredevil Season 3's Reboot

Matt Murdock's appearance in No Way Home didn't show him as Daredevil at all, but his character's mindset and demeanor are wholly consistent with where Daredevil season 3 left him. Serving as the lawyer of Peter Parker (Tom Holland) after the latter's framing for the murder of Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), Matt is as cheerful and emotionally rejuvenated as at the end of Netflix's Daredevil. He'd even regained his dry sense of humor, explaining his impressive catching of a brick hurled through the apartment window at Peter and covertly detected by Matt/Daredevil's radar sense power by saying, "I'm a really good lawyer."

The cameo Matt made in No Way Home didn't reference any of the events of Daredevil, but it also didn't need to because they weren't the connective tissue his appearance relied on. Matt was back in his groove as a lawyer while his super-senses had been sharpened once again, as highlighted by his brick catch. In this way, Matt was depicted as back on his feet in every sense and ready for his next mission as Daredevil, with No Way Home setting him up for a triumphant return.

The MCU's Daredevil Reboot Can Give Matt Murdock A Fresh Start

While both Daredevil and the Kingpin are likely returning in Echo, Matt's MCU future will surely not stop there. Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio have voiced different ideas for how Daredevil can best move forward, with Cox proposing a time-jump from Daredevil season 3. With this in mind, a hard continuity reset seems very far from being on the table, with the popularity of Daredevil during its Netflix run acting as further testimony to this not happening. Furthermore, given the continuity that appears to have been established between Daredevil and the MCU, there seems to be an ongoing conversation within the MCU regarding the semantics of exactly what Matt's "reboot" will be, with Daredevil season 3 and No Way Home currently offering the best picture of what that reboot will probably look like.

As a result, Matt's full debut as Daredevil in the MCU is likely to be a soft reboot not reliant on viewers having seen all three seasons of Daredevil or The Defenders. His return could still follow from where Daredevil left off, particularly with Cox also desiring a Bullseye rematch. With the unresolved return of Dex as the proper Bullseye, doing so would be smart as a way to bring Daredevil and Bullseye face-to-face again. At the same time, Daredevil's MCU return can function as a new beginning for him, with his metaphorical death and resurrection already setting up, in essence, a spiritual reboot for Daredevil. With where Daredevil season 3 and No Way Home left Matt, he can have a new beginning of sorts by simply being dropped back into his double life of lawyer by day, Devil of Hell's Kitchen by night.

With the acclaim Daredevil's three seasons enjoyed thanks to their dark tone, mature themes, and Daredevil's incredible one-shot action scenes, it makes sense that there would be intense speculation regarding Matt Murdock's MCU future. While referring to Daredevil's continuation as a reboot might be accurate in a technical sense, the term itself might also prove to be an oversimplification. Daredevil season 3 and Spider-Man: No Way Home combined to rejuvenate Matt's life and story, putting him through a trial by fire and seeing Matt emerge a new man. In incorporating Daredevil into its plans, the MCU might simply be starting Matt off from his renewed state as seen in the Netflix series finale.

NEXT: Daredevil & Punisher Reunion In The MCU? Why It Can't Happen