Daredevil made his official return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe recently in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and the actor who portrays him says the lighter, happier take on the character as seen in the Disney+ series was merely "Matt Murdock on holiday."
"I talked a little bit to Marvel Studios about where does he come from? Where's his headspace at? What's going on?" Charlie Cox told Marvel.com when asked about Matt Murdock's more confident and charming nature on the series. "I don't think we really knew what was going to happen next. When we were shooting it, I certainly didn't know about a new Daredevil show, I think [Marvel Studios] was figuring out what's the next right thing for this character."
Both Murdock and Daredevil -- and Daredevil's yellow and red costume -- appeared on the show's penultimate episode "Ribbit and Rip It" as defense attorney for the clothier who designed the very same costume. The character's appearance comes in advance of the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again series, announced in July at Comic-Con International: San Diego.
"So the way that I like to think of it was that no matter what's going on in his world in Hell's Kitchen," Cox continued, "When he comes out to do this little job, which is defending, representing Luke Jacobson in this trial, he kind of sees it almost as like a little bit of a holiday. So his frame of mind is that he's just out of sight, out of mind from all the stuff that -- whatever is going on in New York right now, he's away from that for a few days while he takes care of his case."
The original Daredevil series debuted on Netflix in 2015, and wrapped up its third and final season in 2018. That and the other Marvel series on the streaming platform have since migrated to Disney+. Both the character and mood of the series was much darker than that shown on She-Hulk.
"While he's there he feels a weight lifted," Cox said, "And he's able just to put that to one side mentally and just enjoy himself. Then there's this kind of fun little romance going on, and then he gets roped into all this stuff with Leap-Frog as we see the episode kind of develop. I kind of saw it as a different side to Matt but maybe not because he's different from who he has been in the past or will be in the future, but mainly because it's kind of Matt Murdock on holiday a little bit."
The upswing in the mood surrounding Daredevil parallels the path previously taken in the comics. After a lengthy run helmed by writers Brian Michael Bendis and Ed Brubaker throughout the '00s, Mark Waid and Paolo Rivera put a much lighter spin on the character when the series relaunched in 2011. Cox's comments, though, hint the happier Daredevil seen in She-Hulk isn't necessarily what viewers can expect when Born Again hits the small screen.
Daredevil: Born Again is currently scheduled to arrive on Disney+ in Spring 2024. The entire season of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is now streaming on Disney+
Source: Marvel