Charlie Cox As The MCU Daredevil Causes 5 Major Problems

Despite the announcement that Charlie Cox will play the MCU's Daredevil, the return of his iteration of the Man Without Fear could cause problems for the MCU at large. The cancellation of Netflix's Daredevil was devastating to many, as Cox's version of Daredevil is widely considered the best adaptation of the character, and fans quickly began petitioning for the actor to be brought into the MCU proper. With Kevin Feige confirming Cox will join the MCU, it seems that those fans may find their wish has come true - there are rumors abound that Daredevil will appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home as Matt Murdock, and this seems to have been all but confirmed by Feige's recent comments.

Netflix's Daredevil ran for three seasons, with a narrative linked to other shows Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, as well as a crossover spinoff series, The Defenders. Each of Netflix's shows achieved a modicum of success (except Iron Fist, which received negative reviews), but Daredevil was by far the most popular, capitalizing on its title character's reputation and righting the wrongs committed by 2003's Ben Affleck-led Daredevil. Cox was able to capture the essence of both Matt Murdock and his vigilante alter-ego Daredevil, and as a result, fans weren't ready to say goodbye to Cox after the show's cancellation.

However, despite rampant speculation regarding Netflix's Marvel characters joining the MCU, Feige's comments are deliberately open-ended, and he acknowledged that the hows, whys, and whens of Cox's return are currently unknown. Many have disregarded this as another transparent attempt to preserve No Way Home's secrets, but those comments aren't necessarily baseless. While Cox's Daredevil undoubtedly deserves to join the MCU, the truth is that the version introduced in Netflix's Daredevil presents significant problems when measured against the MCU.

Netflix's Daredevil Causes MCU Plot Holes

Netflix's shows were originally considered part of the MCU and included references to The Avengers, Iron Man, and The Incredible Hulk, but this was effectively swept under the rug upon their cancellation. Given that their stories were written to co-exist with the MCU's timeline and overall narrative, the return of Charlie Cox's Daredevil doesn't present too many challenges on the face of it. Using Marvel's shows as MCU canon actually create a handful of plot holes, though, and while they might not be large, they certainly carry immersion-breaking potential.

A little clever writing might have been enough to explain the Eternals conspicuous absence from global catastrophes, but the same won't necessarily work for Daredevil's MCU absence. As Daredevil establishes numerous New York-based heroes and villains, the MCU's failure to even reference any of the show's events would require taking significant liberties - particularly as Daredevil's exploits were headline news on multiple occasions. Eternals may have gotten its characters off on a technicality, but that only works due to their otherworldly nature, and Daredevil's high-profile escapades surely would have long since put him on Nick Fury's, Tony Stark's, or even Peter Parker's radar - in the comics, Daredevil is one of the Avengers, after all.

Cox As Daredevil Means Bringing Back Other Netflix Heroes (Even Iron Fist)

Daredevil-and-Marvel-Defenders-on-Netflix

Daredevil's story wasn't written simply to run parallel to the MCU, though. Its narrative was closely intertwined with Netflix's other Marvel shows - Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist - with the four heroes also teaming up for The Defenders. This puts Marvel in a difficult position regarding bringing Cox back, as they'd likely need to bring back Netflix's other heroes too - even Iron Fist, who was considerably less well-received than his Defenders co-stars.

Bringing back Cox's Daredevil without the other Defenders would be an odd choice, as their story has already been told alongside the character now all but confirmed to be joining the MCU. Bringing back Cox's Daredevil pigeonholes Marvel into bringing back Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, and Finn Jones in their respective roles, and that could prove problematic on a different level. Although seeing the Defenders join the MCU would be excellent for fans of the Netflix shows, it's not something Marvel seems altogether keen to do. Where Cox's Daredevil was widely praised, Finn Jones was far less well-received as Danny Rand/Iron Fist, and that negative press is undoubtedly something that the MCU would rather steer clear of.

Casting Cox Would Also Mean Bringing Back Daredevil's Supporting Cast

As well as having to consider Netflix's other shows alongside Cox's casting, the MCU would also have to consider Daredevil's supporting cast. Over its three-season run, Daredevil introduced the vast majority of the character's key allies and antagonists. If Cox is to suit up once more for the MCU, the respective actors for these numerous characters will either need to be secured, or they would need to be omitted entirely - something which would ultimately detract from what made Cox's Daredevil so well-loved.

Bringing Jon Bernthal's Punisher into the MCU is something that fans have clamored for almost as much as Cox's return, but Daredevil's entire supporting cast might be difficult to secure. Even when the list is boiled down to the key players in Daredevil's story, there would still be a staggering amount of actors to bring back - keeping one character forces Marvel to keep the rest, too. While the MCU return of Daredevil's cast would undoubtedly be popular, securing such a large number of actors could prove difficult even for the Disney-owned might of Marvel.

Netflix Has Already Explored Daredevil's Origins (& Beyond)

Netflix's shows already have a questionable place in the MCU's canon, and this is something that Marvel will need to clear up if Charlie Cox is to return as Daredevil. While that might be a straightforward narrative decision, it has far-reaching implications and begs a lot of questions. Will the MCU follow on from Daredevil season 3's ending, will it simply retell Matt Murdock's story using the same actor, or will it seek to walk a line somewhere between the two, and opt for a soft reboot of sorts?

The problem Marvel will have in casting Cox is that he's already brought the character to life with so much depth that it practically leaves the powers that be no choice whatsoever. Retelling his origins - or the origins of his primary antagonists or supporting characters - would be to retread covered ground, but to follow on from the Netflix series would be to fully canonize it (and, effectively, Netflix's other Marvel shows, too). After the 2003 Daredevil movie was a huge failure for Marvel, Netflix did a remarkable job of finally doing the character justice by giving him the sense of depth he deserves, but that actually puts the MCU in a precarious position if they proceed with Cox in the role - there's just so much existing story to consider.

Cox's Daredevil Wouldn't Work With Holland's Spider-Man

Tom Holland in Spider-Man No Way Home and Charlie Cox in Daredevil

It's entirely possible that Cox will appear as Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but his version of Daredevil simply wouldn't work with Tom Holland's version of Spider-Man. In the comics, the two heroes regularly team up and are often shown to be friends, but Cox's casting in the MCU would make this problematic. While the MCU's Spider-Man will get a new trilogy of films in which to mature, at present, Tom Holland's Peter Parker is a high schooler with some serious growing up to do. While Holland's light-hearted portrayal of the character is certainly reminiscent of some well-established Spidey storylines, his naivety and perceived innocence would prove particularly dissonant when shown alongside Cox's grittier Daredevil.

The age gap alone would make their friendship incredibly unlikely, but not impossible (Daredevil was once Spider-Man's mentor a la MCU's Iron Man). However, the tone of Holland's Spider-Man movies are simply too far from that of Netflix's Daredevil for the two to ever convincingly mesh, and that would undoubtedly be disappointing for comic book fans regardless of which tack the MCU takes. To have the long-standing comic pairing work, either Cox's Daredevil would need to be less gritty and intense, or Holland's Spider-Man would need to get considerably edgier - and to do either would take away from what makes each iteration of their respective characters so great.

However Marvel decides to bring Charlie Cox as Daredevil into the MCU, there will be massive fan support. The actor was able to brilliantly capture the character's deeply conflicted nature, all while balancing action, drama, and comedy, and fans have been petitioning for him to officially join the MCU since Daredevil season 1. Daredevil season 3 left questions to answer, so it's entirely possible that Marvel could pick up where Netflix left off, but that still causes potential issues with the wider MCU. However, with Charlie Cox as the MCU's Daredevil all but confirmed, these are issues that Marvel is undoubtedly already attempting to iron out.

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