Charlie Cox has teased the possibility of Daredevil going toe-to-toe with Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk in the MCU.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Cox – who portrayed the Man Without Fear in three seasons of the character's Netflix show – admitted that he's "hoping" that his and D'Onofrio's worlds "will collide again".
Why again? Well, after they clashed in Netflix's Marvel universe – dubbed the Defenders-Verse by fans – the pair returned in bit-part roles in the MCU. Cox's Matt Murdock/Daredevil briefly appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home, with D'Onofrio's Fisk being the eventual 'big bad' in Hawkeye's Disney Plus show.
Daredevil and Fisk – or, to give him his supervillain alias, Kingpin – repeatedly butted heads in the former's gritty Netflix series. Now, with the two actors reprising their roles in recent Marvel Phase 4 projects, Cox has hinted at the pair reuniting for another almighty battle as part of Marvel Studios' cinematic juggernaut.
"I don’t have any idea what anyone’s plans are at this stage," Cox said. "But I presume there’s more for us to do. I know a little bit – not a huge amount – but a little bit.
"I am imagining, I am hoping, that our worlds will collide again because the stuff we’ve done in the past was tremendous fun to do, and he’s such an incredible actor. We have to start every conversation with, ‘What do you know?’ because you have to be careful. It’s really exciting."
It sounds, then, that Daredevil and Kingpin have bigger roles to play in the MCU. Even so, it's unlikely that they'll appear again for a while. Marvel has three movies and four Disney Plus shows, including Doctor Strange 2 and Moon Knight, launching in 2022. So it'll be 2023 before we see the duo duke it out, most likely on the small screen, again.
Analysis: Defenders of the Netflix realm no more
Cox's latest quotes make for intriguing reading on their own. But, if you take another surprising piece of recent news into account alongside it, the prospect of Daredevil and Kingpin featuring more often in the MCU becomes increasingly more likely.
So what's the huge news that could ensure their futures in the MCU? Netflix's Defenders-Verse – the streamer's mini-Marvel universe that ran from 2015 to 2019 – is actually leaving the platform in March.
Wait, what!? Yep, you read that right: Netflix's Marvel TV shows will no longer be streamable on the service after March 1. Fans who watch a Defenders-Verse episode on Netflix is now greeted with a brief "this show is available until March 1st" message.
According to the We Are #SaveDaredevil Twitter fan account, the distribution rights for every Netflix Marvel TV series reverts back to Disney on that date. So fans won't be able to stream them on Netflix once February is over.
🚨 This is not a drill! 🚨 #Daredevil and the rest of #TheDefenders shows are leaving Netflix on March 1st. What does this (probably) mean? More in the 🧵 below...#SaveDaredevil pic.twitter.com/K3DllSB3edFebruary 11, 2022
So where will these shows, including Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and The Punisher, end up? If Disney and Marvel are getting the distribution rights back to these TV series, the smart money is on one of the Disney-owned streaming platforms – i.e. Disney Plus or Hulu.
In our opinion, the former makes sense. Disney Plus is the home to almost all of Marvel Studios' TV content. The only currently still-running Marvel shows available on Hulu right now are MODOK and Hit Monkey, but neither of those are live-action properties.
It stands to reason, then, that Disney Plus will become the home for the soon-to-be-former Netflix superhero shows. Providing Daredevil does start streaming on Disney Plus, it makes the chances of a Daredevil TV show revival all the more likely. And, with it, a new showdown between Daredevil and Fisk.
That is unless they appear in other MCU TV series beforehand. Online rumors have suggested that Matt Murdock will make cameo appearances in upcoming Marvel shows She-Hulk and Echo, as well as potentially starring in his own solo series. D'Onofrio's Fisk is also likely to return (per MyTimeToShineHello) and play a part in Echo (per The Cosmic Circus), despite what went down in Hawkeye's final episode.
In our view, if both characters are going to become permanent MCU fixtures, their reunion is very much on the cards. It's only a matter of time before they lock horns again – and that's even more plausible with news about Netflix's Marvel shows finally departing the world's biggest streaming platform.
- Ms Marvel on Disney Plus: what we know so far
