No Way Home Slyly Showed Matt Murdock Is More Powerful Than Spider-Man

Based on a key scene from Spider-Man: No Way Home online, it appears Matt Murdock has one advantage over Peter Parker. The appearance of Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock in No Way Home occurs spontaneously. In the movie, Matt Murdock serves as Peter Parker's (Tom Holland) lawyer after Spider-Man finds himself in legal trouble following his identity ousting. Before No Way Home's release, rumors swirled online that Murdock would make an appearance, though Cox repeatedly denied it would ever happen. Of course, the superhero lawyer makes the jump to Marvel's films in the end.

With Daredevil/Matt Murdock's inclusion in No Way Home, Marvel brought its Netflix shows into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, sort of. Thanks to Daredevil, Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones, Mike Colter's Luke Cage, or Jon Bernthal's Punisher could also make appearances. Vincent D'Onofrio also helped bring the characters to the MCU, with Kingpin appearing in Marvel's Disney+ show Hawkeye, although the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again will likely function as a soft reboot. Disney+ added Netflix's Defenders shows in March 2022, making future appearances even more likely. The streaming service even made special adjustments for The Defenders. Disney+ upgraded its parental controls to add TV-MA content, allowing the shows to maintain more adult themes.

What's more, it seems that Matt Murdock's No Way Home appearance gave him one upgrade over Spider-Man. In the film, Matt Murdock helps Peter Parker with his legal problems after his name gets released. According to Murdock, the charges against him in connection with Mysterio's (Jake Gyllenhaal) death or anything else won't stick. However, Peter Parker will still have to deal with the "court of public opinion." After saying that, Murdock catches a brick crashing through the window, and he even grabs it before Spider-Man. According to his reaction time, Murdock's heightened perception may be better than Peter Parker's Spidey Sense.

The MCU Sent A Clear Message With Murdock's NWH Brick Catch

Prior to entering the MCU, audiences and critics could look down on the Defenders shows because they weren't in Marvel's official canon. However, by putting Matt Murdock's No Way Home powers on display with the brick catch, Marvel showed Daredevil to be on the same level as Spider-Man. It's a resounding endorsement of both the character and the Defenders shows entering the MCU. And it's a unique opportunity for Marvel to one-up Spider-Man in his own movie.

Of course, it's also important to take Murdock's positioning into account. Since he was closer to the brick, he'd have a chance to catch it before Spider-Man. So the film doesn't definitively show Daredevil's radar sense outdoing Peter Parker. However, Parker's Spidey Sense allowed him to detect the effects of Thanos' (Josh Brolin) deadly snap before disappearing, showing the strength of his sensing abilities. And Spider-Man: No Way Home puts Murdock's abilities on par with that perception. Additionally, Murdock would have less time to react by sitting closer to the brick, making his catch all the more impressive.

How Powerful Is Daredevil In The MCU?

Tom Holland as Spider-Man and Charlie Cox as Daredevil in the MCU

Because it's unclear whether Disney+'s addition of the Defenders shows marks a full canonization or the beginnings of a soft reboot, it's also hard to tell exactly how powerful Daredevil will be in the MCU. If he's meant to be a direct transplant from the Netflix show, then Daredevil/Murdock is quite a seasoned fighter. He also has extensive experience carrying out vigilante work – probably more so than any other hero currently in the MCU. This doesn't mean his raw power level is off the charts compared to characters who have faced off against intergalactic threats, but it does mean his hand-to-hand combat skills are probably hard to beat, as are his superhuman senses, as the brick-throwing scene illustrates. It'll likely be unclear how powerful Daredevil is in the MCU until his full solo show, Daredevil: Born Again, though. Spider-Man: No Way Home's cameo appearance merely set the stage, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law showed him in full combat mode again, managing to escape She-Hulk's agility and power as well as beat up bad guys with his trademark martial arts prowess. How this balances out remains to be seen, but Daredevil will be formidable in the MCU regardless.