With Daredevil: Born Again, less than a month away, there is hype all across the Marvel fan base for the return of the Man Without Fear and his solo debut into the MCU. With the series fully embracing its TV-MA rating and the first trailer featuring an awesome montage of bones breaking, it really does feel like the Daredevil we all knew and loved from the Netflix series is back.
Although, this is technically Daredevil/Matt Murdock's third appearance in the MCU (unless you count the first show which was clearly intended to be in the MCU at first or his recent appearance in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man which is not part of the main universe.) Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock first appeared in the MCU in the fantastic Spider-Man: No Way Home, but Daredevil himself was not featured. Daredevil was, however, famously and somewhat controversially featured in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law.
In the comics, She-Hulk and Daredevil never actually dated or hooked up. Of course, that isn’t to say that all other mediums must perfectly imitate the comics, but the source material a work is pulling from is always noteworthy.
In the Disney+ series, Matt Murdock and Jennifer Walters have a very flirty relationship. Matt even meets Jennifer's parents. They don’t actually develop a deep relationship and instead simply have what is essentially a one night stand, but the show definitely hinted at their being a potential long standing relationship between the two characters in the future.
Luckily, it seems like Daredevil: Born Again is ignoring that relationship.
A relationship between Daredevil and She-Hulk simply doesn’t make any sense. There are obvious reasons like her potential to quite literally kill him if things get a bit too exciting, but the main reason these characters should not be involved is that they are complete tonal opposites from one another. Can tonal opposites work? Yes. Batman and Superman are close friends in the comics and share an ongoing series together despite their complete opposite tones. A cinematic example would be Deadpool & Wolverine, a movie most fans and critics were pleased with that became the highest grossing R rated movie of all time. But there’s a reason some tonal opposites work when put together and others don’t. Batman and Superman and Deadpool and Wolverine personify the “good cop, bad cop” style relationship, but Daredevil and She-Hulk simply clash.
In the scenes Matt Murdock and Jen Walters shared together, there was no chemistry whatsoever. Of course, there are some that disagree, but there are also many that think the two did not share the screen well. That wasn’t entirely their fault as Tatiana Maslany and Charlie Cox are both solid actors. Part of the blame certainly falls on the script. This is not something we want to see poured over into Daredevil: Born Again.
Seeing Charlie Cox act silly as Daredevil and make jokes in the costume felt, to me, like watching Luke Skywalker throw away the lightsaber in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It was simply wrong, a disservice to a beloved character. Can anyone envision Daredevil from the Netflix series acting like he did in She-Hulk in an episode of Born Again? I certainly hope not.
The tones of the characters simply clash too much. For a great comparison watch this trailer for Born Again.
Now watch this trailer for She-Hulk.
See the difference?
Of course, She-Hulk’s character could be turned much more serious for Born Again. Maslany recently commented on the idea of being in the show, saying, “Would I be born again? I mean, absolutely, he was so great. He was so fun, like a really fun person to play with. And I think what he did so well was take a character that exists in a different tone and totally adapt him for this new tone, while still maintaining the integrity of the character, which is actually very funny, then. To see him collide with this sort of goofier world.”
She continued to comment on the idea of She-Hulk operating within the serious world of Born Again. “I have a serious, well, I have a lot of serious bones in my body.”
Is it possible? Absolutely. As I said, Maslany is a solid actress. Should it happen? No.
There were some individual moments in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law that were likeable and fun, but, overall, I found the show’s reliance on goofiness and corny jokes to take away from the experience as a whole as most of the jokes, at least for me, did not land. All things considered, I did not like the show and want all things She-Hulk to stay as far away from Daredevil: Born Again as possible. Daredevil works so much better as a dark, violent, almost entirely, if not completely serious drama. Comedy doesn’t need to be everywhere within the MCU.
On top of all that, Daredevil: Born Again is only nine episodes long. There simply isn't enough time to explore a relationship in that time.
What do you think about a possible She-Hulk appearance in Daredevil: Born Again? Let me know what you think!