Warning: SPOILERS for Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye.

Matt Murdock appears in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which begs the question of if Charlie Cox's character is already Daredevil in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Years ago, Marvel Television (a separate but sister studio to Marvel Studios) began developing shows within the MCU, beginning with Agents of SHIELD on ABC and continuing with a handful of series on Netflix. The first of those streaming shows was Daredevil, starring Cox as the titular character and Vincent D'Onofrio as his arch-nemesis, Kingpin.

Unfortunately, things became quite unwieldy, and after Marvel Entertainment restructured in the mid-2010s, most shows started to deviate from established canon, including Daredevil. There were hints to the MCU at large, such as the Battle of New York, but all in all, the Marvel Netflix shows were considered adjacent to the MCU, not part of the true canon. It's only been the new MCU shows on Disney+ that are part of the core MCU, but that has begun to change thanks to Spider-Man: No Way Home as well as Hawkeye, both of which come after Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige officially confirmed Cox as the MCU's Daredevil.

Related: Spider-Man 4: Everything We Know & All Story Hints

Charlie Cox's appearance as Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home happens before Peter Parker and Doctor Strange break the multiverse and bring Spider-Man villains in from other worlds. But since Murdock didn't come through from another universe, it stands to reason that he's always been part of the MCU — the real MCU canon — and therefore has been operating as Daredevil in Hell's Kitchen the whole time. This is supported by D'Onofrio making his first appearance as Kingpin in Hawkeye episode 5 in the same week.

It's possible Marvel Studios could retcon parts of the Daredevil series, but overall, the show doesn't contradict or interfere with anything from the MCU on a major scale to warrant a retcon. And ignoring any of the events from Daredevil seasons 1-3 would ruin many aspects of the character as well as his story arc leading up to him becoming Peter Parker's lawyer. Furthermore, with Daredevil confirmed canon in the MCU, there's potential for him to return in an even bigger way either on the big or small screen. Marvel would be remiss to introduce Matt Murdock, and tease his abilities by catching the brick, if the studio didn't plan on using him as Daredevil down the line, particularly the version already seen on Netflix.

What comes next remains to be seen. A new Spider-Man trilogy is confirmed, but there's no telling what those films will entail and whether or not Daredevil will be a part of them; the two characters do know each other in the comics, so a team-up could be possible. Of course, the bigger question is, will Daredevil season 4 happen? The original series ended on a high note with the promise of a new beginning; Marvel Studios can now pay off that tease.

Next: Spider-Man: No Way Home Post-Credits Explained

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