Charlie Cox Thought For Sure His Daredevil Was Done When Netflix Canceled The Show

Production of "Daredevil: Born Again" may be paused while Hollywood writers strike for a fair contract, but the show's release is currently still scheduled for release in 2024 — well within grasp. This will leave only a six-year gap between "Born Again" and the original "Daredevil," which ran for three seasons from 2015 to 2018. Many fans thought this gap would be far longer — and Matt Murdock/The Man Without Fear himself, Charlie Cox, thought he'd never be putting the suit on again.

Though "Daredevil" was a hit with fans and critics alike, it became a casualty of production company Marvel Television severing ties with the distributor, Netflix. Its sibling shows — "Jessica Jones," "Luke Cage," "Iron Fist," "The Defenders," and "The Punisher" — were canceled as well. Back in 2018, in the aftermath of this purge, Cox discussed his feelings about the cancellation with Entertainment Weekly:

"The truth is, I felt like we had a lot of stories to tell, and although I understand [the cancellation], I'm very saddened by that [...] It's weird to think there's a chance I won't be playing Matt Murdock ever again. That's a bizarre feeling, because that character has been such a huge part of my life for the last four and a half years."

The Netflix Marvel series have since been relocated to Disney+, the in-house streamer of Marvel's parent company. "Daredevil," though is the only one thus far getting an outright revival (Jon Bernthal's Punisher will also be putting in an appearance in "Born Again.") At Fan Expo Philadelphia 2023, Cox and his co-star Vincent D'Onofrio (Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin) discussed "Born Again." Cox reiterated the "bizarre feeling" he felt after the cancellation and his relief at being able to play Daredevil again.

Cox noted that he is now 10 years older than when he first started playing Matt Murdock, and revealed he first got the call about reprising the role in mid-2020. Prior to that, he had been left in limbo:

"It's hard to fathom that ['Born Again'] is happening, and there was such a long break in between, during which we had no idea. I was convinced that we were done, that it was never going to happen again, and that it was a lovely journey while it lasted but it was over."

Marvel has been teeing up Cox's return while "Born Again" was in the pipeline. He cameoed as Matt Murdock in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and then suited up as Daredevil again in "She-Hulk." During the panel, Cox described how that latter series gave him a valuable chance to figure out the Marvel Cinematic Universe edition of his character:

"It was an opportunity to find a version of my Matt Murdock that was a little bit more light-hearted, there was more levity involved, kind of tongue-in-cheek, and maybe someone who is enjoying a period of their life where they're not weighed down by the heaviness of the world that was present in our show. So it was like an experiment to see how well that would work."

Will "Born Again" continue this "experiment" and show a lighter side to Matt Murdock's life, akin to Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's sunny comic run on "Daredevil"? Cox told Variety that Daredevil has to be "a little more mature" than other Marvel characters and D'Onofrio has said "Born Again" won't water down the violence, but we can only wait and see. It sounds like Cox is just grateful to play Daredevil again, no matter the material's tone.

"Daredevil: Born Again" is set to premiere on Disney+ in 2024.