The future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is more open than ever as Phase 4 gains momentum toward its debut. With the Infinity Saga coming to an end mostly courtesy of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, many stories for the franchise's original heroes have come to an end as the series turns its focus to forming a new team of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Arguably the most popular of these new heroes is the MCU's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, who enters Phase 4 coming off of a cliffhanger of massive proportions. After J. Jonah Jameson and Mysterio revealed his identity to the world during the mid-credits scene of Spider-Man: Far From Home, fans started speculation on certain other MCU hero that could potentially help him through that tough situation. A rumor arose last month that Charlie Cox, who portrayed Daredevil in Netflix's live-action Marvel shows, could make a return to the character in the third Spider-Man film. These rumors have now been addressed by Cox himself...
NEWS
In an exclusive report from Comicbook.com, Daredevil star Charlie Cox specifically addressed the circulating rumors of his potential appearance in the upcoming untitled Spider-Man 3. After starring as Matt Murdock on Netflix for three seasons, he gave these quotes when asked about his future:
I hadn't heard those rumors, but it's certainly not with my Daredevil. I'm not involved in it... If that's true, it's not with me. It's with another actor.
However, Cox still stated that he'd love to return to the character in the MCU if asked:
"Look, I had a great time. I'm so grateful I got to play that character as long as I did. Of course, I'd love to keep going. I'd love to be involved with it... But I love the idea of Jessica and Matt showing up in the background or Matt as a lawyer advising Peter Parker. That'd be really, really cool.
WHAT THIS MEANS
This is certainly a blow to anybody hoping that Daredevil would help Spider-Man through his identity crisis in the upcoming sequel. Spider-Man: Far From Home took the hero where no other solo movie had taken him before by revealing his secret identity to the world, and the rumors started almost immediately connecting the web-slinger with one of Marvel comics' most notable lawyers. Even though the rights to use the Defenders characters will return to Marvel starting at the end of 2020, it is still unclear whether Sony and Marvel are recasting Daredevil or simply not using him at all. Either decision comes as a heartbreaker.
Even with this reveal, this doesn't rule out hope completely for Charlie Cox's Daredevil making a return to the MCU. He went on later in this interview to divulge how much he would love to play the character again, as well as his desire to team up with Tom Holland in the future, so nothing can be definitively ruled out. It also appears that nobody has contacted him about reprising his role, so it could simply be a matter of time before anything definitive is revealed. Cox's portrayal of Daredevil was one of the highlights of the Netflix-based Marvel series, and fans have been very vocal in wanting to see him make a return to the series as it shifts to its new era.
Spider-Man 3's production start date is all but officially on hold until further notice due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and its theatrical release has been delayed to November 5, 2021.
