She-Hulk’s Comic-Con trailer finally confirmed that Daredevil will appear on the Disney+ series. The reveal came months after his rumored Marvel Cinematic Universe debut became a reality in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Fans have been excited about Charlie Cox's hero officially being in the MCU fold, though this latest reveal really sent the internet into a frenzy. And after the cool moment, the series' head writer recalled how she and her team landed the character for the series.
Getting the Daredevil actor into the upcoming MCU series was no small feat, according to series creator and head writer Jessica Gao. The EP spilled to Collider that there were several Marvel characters she and her writing team wanted to incorporate into the series but got nowhere because there were already plans in place or just off limits. While the path to getting the Man Without Fear wasn't easy, it sounds like it was incredibly sweet when he became available:
I don't think we ever, in a million years, thought that we would be allowed to use them, because we didn't know what the status was of the character. And then, I can't remember how, we got wind that he was coming back and that it was Charlie Cox, and we were like, 'Wait, does that I mean we can use him? Are we allowed?' And when they told us yeah, I mean, we couldn't believe it, we thought we were being pranked. We just kept writing him in, and we kept rolling with the story just thinking like, 'Okay, any moment now they're going to tell us we can't use them. They made a mistake. They actually don't have the rights.' But it just kept [becoming] more and more real. And it was so hard to keep that secret!
After all of that, I can see why Jessica Gao would think that she was being pranked. Matters like these can be tricky at Marvel Studios, but I'm glad that she and the writers were able to secure the character. This will be a win-win, as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen will bring more eyeballs to Jennifer Walters' debut and will also give fans a better sense of this iteration of DD. Incorporating the Marvel hero into the series makes sense, as Matt Murdock and Walters are both attorneys. And one can only imagine what kind of legal and superhero-related shenanigans they'll get into once they cross paths.
Of course, Jessica Gao and the writers had to remain tightlipped when it came to Matt Murdock's involvement. But I think it's safe to say that no one probably felt as much pressure to keep things a secret than the actor playing the role. Charlie Cox admitted that it was a nightmare to keep the devil's return a secret, as he did his best to avoid questions about his No Way Home involvement. While Cox was surely subject to NDAs, you have to applaud him for not cracking under the intense speculation.
It's clear, at this point, that the Daredevil franchise will have a big future in the cinematic universe, following its acclaimed three-season run on Netflix. This fact was solidified a week ago, when Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige announced the revival series Daredevil: Born Again as a part of the official MCU Phase 5 lineup, which includes Blade and Captain America 4. And if that weren't exciting enough, the show has been given an 18-episode order from Disney+, the largest given to any Marvel Studios series thus far.
Luckily, fans won’t have to wait long to see Charlie Cox’s Daredevil once more, as She-Hulk will premiere on August 17th. So you’ll want to have a Disney+ subscription so that you can check it out. Also, keep your eyes peeled for updates on Daredevil: Born Again, which is set to premiere in spring 2024, and it's only one of many upcoming Marvel movies and TV shows.
