As we await the third season of Daredevil: Born Again, currently in production and set to arrive on the Disney+ streaming platform next year, Marvel fans are eagerly anticipating Matt Murdock’s future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, both on the small and big screens…
Obviously, the season 2 finale of Daredevil: Born Again has shaken things up for the protagonist by introducing an incredible new status quo, after Matt Murdock confessed his secret identity in court and was arrested for vigilante justice. The third season will therefore be inspired, at least in part, by Ed Brubaker’s legendary comic book saga “The Devil in a Man’s Hand,” but as we know, it will also (re-)introduce the Defenders to the MCU with the returns of Mike Colter and Finn Jones as Luke Cage and Iron Fist.
In short, there’s a lot going on in the TV realm, especially with the possibilities offered by the Disney+ streaming platform, for which Marvel might even decide to produce a new Defenders series or a Marvel Special film; but on the other hand, fans are hoping to see Daredevil back on the big screen sooner or later…
To date, Matt Murdock has appeared on the big screen only twice: the first was, of course, in the film Daredevil starring Ben Affleck, which technically is part of the Marvel Multiverse and was made canon by the Multiverse Saga thanks to Deadpool & Wolverine; the second, however, is set in the MCU proper and dates back to Spider-Man: No Way Home, in which Charlie Cox made a cameo appearance as Matt Murdock (though he did not portray Daredevil).
Now, of course, many fans are hoping to see Daredevil in Spider-Man: Brand New Day as well, and the fact that Destin Daniel Cretton’s film will include at least one scene featuring Peter Parker fighting The Hand in a prison is rather suspicious: this is because the Hand’s ninjas are typical enemies of Daredevil, and following the finale of the second season of the Daredevil series, Matt is indeed locked up in prison. Furthermore, some rumors have suggested that the post-credits scene in Spider-Man: Brand New Day is expected to show an impending attack on New York City, a sequence that will tie into the Russo Brothers’ crossover blockbuster Avengers: Doomsday and feature several Big Apple superheroes, including Daredevil.
Charlie Cox recently explained that he won’t appear in the Avengers films—at least not for now—but there might be a solution: In the comics, in fact, when Matt is in prison, Iron Fist becomes the new Daredevil for a short time in order to influence public opinion and convince everyone that Matt and Daredevil are two different people (his reasoning is that, if Matt were truly Daredevil, the Devil couldn’t patrol the streets of New York while the lawyer is behind bars). By leveraging this storyline, Marvel could have Daredevil appear in Avengers: Doomsday, perhaps in a group scene to give him a “show of presence”… but we’re not sure if that would work or satisfy the fans.
In this sense, the best approach would be to create a full-fledged crossover between Spider-Man and Daredevil in Spider-Man 5 or Spider-Man 6—that is, the next two installments of the new standalone trilogy set to begin with Spider-Man: Brand New Day: this seems to be the direction Marvel wants to take, at least according to insiders, and considering that so far all of Tom Holland’s standalone films have included one or more Marvel superheroes (Iron Man, Nick Fury, the Spider-Men, Punisher, Hulk…), the doors to the big screen for Daredevil could open very soon.
Incidentally, it’s worth noting this detail: both Marvel and insiders have repeatedly emphasized that the animated TV series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man mirrors the MCU, and in that show we’ve already witnessed the encounter between Spider-Man and Charlie Cox’s Daredevil; this could mean that sooner or later a live-action version of that encounter will also take place…
