With such a clear divide between Marvel Studios and Marvel Television, most fans never expected Netflix's street-level characters to appear in the MCU.
That changing looked a little more likely when Disney shuttered Marvel Television, but even then it was hard to imagine Kevin Feige and company being willing to pick up where several seasons of programming on Netflix left The Defenders.
However, in 2021, Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin returned in Hawkeye and, mere weeks later, we saw Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home Home.
The former's newfound strength suggested Marvel Studios was making some changes to the characters, and while the Netflix shows have since been made "canon" to Earth-616, we still don't expect future projects like Daredevil: Born Again to adhere too closely to what's come before.
Talking to People, Cox revealed when he first heard from Feige about suiting up again.
"We stopped shooting the original show at the end of 2016, beginning of 2018 and found out it was canceled somewhere in that period," the actor recalled. "And then it wasn’t until midway through 2020 that we got a phone call from Kevin saying that they were interested in bringing the characters back."
Following that promising call from Marvel Studios, they went quiet on Cox and he admits that it was then he "completely let go" of playing the MCU's Daredevil.
"I’d moved on and occasionally Vincent and I would chat and he would say things like, 'Oh, they’re going to call. I think they’re going to us, but they’re going to call us,'" Cox noted. "And I would get off the phone and be like, 'The guy’s delusional! He’s got to let it go. It’s going to be 10 years and he’s still going. It’s over. It’s definitely over.'"
He'd add that he was "shocked" when the second call came to inform him of plans for appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Echo and, eventually, Daredevil: Born Again.
Yesterday, Cox also shared some intriguing new insights into how Daredevil and Daredevil: Born Again connect, revealing that additional connective tissue was added during the show's recent creative overhaul. You can read more about that here.
The Daredevil revival stars Charlie Cox, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jon Bernthal, Margarita Levieva, Michael Gandolfini, Genneya Walton, Arty Froushan, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Wilson Bethel, Jeremy Earl, and Ayelet Zurer. Dario Scardapane (The Punisher) serves as showrunner.
Daredevil: Born Again is set to premiere on Disney+ next March.