For most actors, a series cancellation means the end of their tenure playing a specific character. But for the few lucky ones, like Daredevil‘s Charlie Cox, there’s the promise of resurrection. When Marvel cut ties with Netflix, cancelling Daredevil (2015-2018) after 3 seasons, fans were dismayed that one of the best superhero series on television was ending. But a steady “Save Daredevil” online campaign from the fandom kept hope alive, and eventually Cox’s Matt Murdock was brought into the Disney/MCU fold. Cox made a cameo in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, and it was announced this summer that the character would headline his own Disney+ series, Daredevil: Born Again, which is set for early 2024. Fans also got to see a lighthearted version of Matt Murdock in She-Hulk, where he romances Jennifer Walters (it’s unclear whether Maslany will appear in Born Again, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed).
And Cox’s return to the role was just as much a surprise to him as it was to the audience. “From my perspective, I got a phone call from Kevin Feige in 2020 saying “Would you consider coming back and playing the character again? If so, we’d like to put you in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and we’d like to put you in She-Hulk.” From my point of view, it was just suddenly, that was what the next year of my life was going to look like which was incredibly exciting and overwhelming, emotionally overwhelming, as you can imagine, having not heard from— not spoken to anyone or heard from anyone about the character for over two years.”
In an interview with Marvel.com, Cox credited the online campaign with saving Daredevil, saying “Whatever happens to my career going forward from this point on, I owe most of it to the “Save Daredevil” campaign. That even when I had lost hope years ago, they did not, and they continued to campaign and support. And over the years, I’ve met many of them, and they’re such an enthusiastic, passionate crowd.”
Cox added, “Daredevil is such an amazing character. It’s been the great honor of my career to be offered that part and to be able to play him. I’ve had such fun with it. It’s changed my life irrevocably. And when the show came to an end, despite the disappointment of the journey ending, I felt like we’d done a good job, and we had an amazing time and we could only be grateful for what we’d had. To be invited back and starting again, almost, it feels like a little bit like a dream. It feels too good to be true. I’m so excited about the future.”
So congratulations to internet fandom for doing something…positive? What a time to be alive.
(via Marvel.com, featured image: Marvel)
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