The Future of ‘Daredevil’: Don’t Revive the Series, Just ‘Put Him in the Films’
Of all the Marvel-connected television series that have come and gone since 2008, few hold a more special place in people’s hearts than Daredevil.
The first series in Netflix’s short-lived but successful MCU-spinoff universe showed people a grittier, more grounded take on the wildly successful film franchise. When Disney+ was announced, however, the Netflix universe imploded. Now, fans are clamoring to keep Daredevil in the MCU by any means necessary.
‘Daredevil’ changes the formula
While Daredevil is wildly popular to Marvel fans, the character has never been popular to the average film-going audience. When Ben Affleck famously donned the tights years before the series, it was met with lukewarm reviews and subpar box office gains.
However, after years of rumors about the character’s future, Marvel decided he was best-suited not for the big screen but television.
While the MCU is family-friendly fare, the Netflix universe was aimed at adults. While there were many references to the greater universe’s significant events, the Netflix universe was mostly self-contained — focusing on smaller crimes and events while leaving the universe-saving exploits to the Avengers.
Fans saw blind attorney Matt Murdock go from an unknown crime fighter to the savior of Hell’s Kitchen.
The show lasted three years, although Charlie Cox’s Murdock made appearances in other spinoffs like The Defenders and spawned all the other Netflix Marvel series, it was the most lauded and successful.
With the Netflix universe no more and people wondering what will happen to its cast of characters, many fans want to see Daredevil go from the Netflix universe’s grit and take his abilities over to the main canon.
Reddit chimes in
When Netflix canceled Daredevil, it had less to do with ratings or the show’s directions and more to do with Disney trying to get all of its properties into one place. However, despite its loose connections to the greater MCU, the Netflix universe had fewer ties to the main canon than any other big-screen canon’s spinoffs.
Daredevil, at least the way that fans of the Netflix series liked it, isn’t likely to go anywhere anytime soon. However, that doesn’t mean that Charlie Cox can’t revive the character in another way. The franchise has already purged from disconnected Spider-Man universes, and Cox already exists. The main question now is how they do it.
Fans on Reddit had their own ideas. Speaking on the future of the Netflix characters, User u/APimpNamedSlickBack8 wants to see them find a natural path for Murdock in the cinematic group.
“Instead of continuing his show, I say they put him in the films. Have him as a side character or something in the Spider-Man films. We need him in the mainstream MCU.”
This sparked a little bit of creativity from the fans. u/JaviG sees a natural connection after Spider-Man: Far From Home’s finale.
“I mean, my boy Peter Parker is in big legal trouble after Far from Home, he’s going to need a good lawyer…”
Others see the multiverse as a possible way to connect him to the Netflix series while making him feel at home in the more traditional one. Whatever the case may be, fans online aren’t the only ones calling for Daredevil’s return, and after the rights went back to Marvel and Disney, they want answers quickly.
Save ‘Daredevil’
Daredevil aired its final season in 2018, but fans still want more. This isn’t just the average fan online, however. A growing roster of stars both from the series and the greater MCU have chimed in. Rosario Dawson, who played Claire Temple in several Netflix series, was one of the latest voices to support a revival of some sort.
Agents of SHIELD star and MCU veteran Clark Gregg also voiced support on Twitter, quote tweeting the show’s Kingpin, Vincent D’Onofrio in the process. Regardless of what happens, fans and actors alike want to see what Daredevil is up to. Now, it’s up to Marvel, Disney, and the rest of the higher-ups to figure out a way to make it work.
