Why Fans Won’t See Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in ‘Spider-Man 3’

Marvel fans want Charlie Cox’s Daredevil back so badly they’ll take any scrap of information that says his Matt Murdock will be back somehow, even if a revived Daredevil is not in the works. That scrap has arrived from an unexpected place – Spider-Man. 

The latest rumor going around says that Cox will appear as Matt Murdock in Tom Holland’s third Spider-Man film, due out next year. As things stand though, this is one of those rumors fans have to take not just with a grain of salt, but with a shaker. 

What does the rumor say?

The rumor was voiced by Kevin Smith, the director whose movies often traffic in comic book tropes and who has directed several episodes of DC’s superhero shows, including The Flash and Supergirl. He was also in the 2003 version of Daredevil with Ben Affleck as the lead. So he has an inside track when it comes to all things superhero comics. 

According to Inverse, Smith said on one of his podcasts, “Did you hear that Spider-Man, the new Spider-Man movie, gonna have a lawyer in it? A famous Marvel Universe lawyer? … Charlie Cox, they ‘re bringing in as Matt Murdock. That’s been the rumor online and they say that’s like the one, that like Marvel’s like, **** it how did that get out?”

However, Smith walked back the comments somewhat in a later tweet, saying, “Perspective: While I, too, hope this rumor is true, please remember that I only talked about it with @marcbernardin on #FatManBeyond after I read about it on the internet, just like everyone else. This means I have no inside info. Much like everybody else, I’m just a hopeful fan.”

What do fans say about the possibility?

Fans on Reddit were all abuzz at the possibility, with the topic-starter saying, “I mean, what are the chances for real? I mean Netflix to some extent still own the rights to that character (that specific universe and such) so in order for Marvel Studios to have Daredevil in the movie, they would need to retcon the entire Netflix show and just put him in the movie with a new actor and basically reboot the character. I wonder…?”

Fans guessed that the role would most likely be a cameo, where we would see one half of the character, but not the other. One said, “Could appear as Matt Murdock the lawyer but definitely not gonna be a Spider-Man & Dare Devil movie.”

But another fan countered, “The chances right now are pretty dim. If the movie begins its production from July as stated then there would be a very slight chance for Charlie Cox as daredevil. Because the Netflix clause would end in November and by that time maybe the film will be done shooting. But if there is even a small chance of Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock then they should take it with absolute certainty.”

On the movie news program The John Campea Show, the host doubted the rumor was true but he wouldn’t dismiss it completely, because one never knows for sure with Marvel. He stated, “It’s something I’m not taking and throwing in the incinerator., I’m taking it and putting it up on a shelf.”

It would not hard but not impossible for Cox’s Daredevil to return 

One of the factors that gums up the works here is that after the Marvel/Netflix shows were canceled, there was an agreement that Marvel could not work on a new version of the series or character until this 2020. While that’s this year, a lot of factors are hanging in the air, including the pandemic, which may or may not ease up in time to allow production on Spider-Man 3 to begin this summer, as is scheduled.

Nevertheless, Cox would be game, if his comments from an interview last year still hold true.

In an interview with the AV Club, he said, “I still feel like I am that character right now. I don’t know. I guess it is what it is. It’s the uncertainty that kills you. [Laughs.] In a way, I think I just put that in the back of my mind, and I’m focused on other work right now, and we’ll see what happens, and if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”

Then this exchange happened: 

AVC: So if Disney called tomorrow and said, “We need Daredevil to team up with Hawkeye,” you’d be on board.

CC: [Laughs.] Yeah, where do I sign?