It finally happened. Following Charlie Cox's reprisal of Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the legal eagle has suited back up as Daredevil in the MCU in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law on Disney+.
While fans have been anticipating his appearance, especially in the wake of the announcement of Daredevil: Born Again for Disney+, there were concerns about whether this Man Without Fear would be the same that the fan base knew and loved from the Netflix series.
Well, despite his new, comic-book-inspired red and yellow suit, Charlie Cox played the hero just as those Netflix audiences remembered and the internet rejoiced.
However, what the She-Hulk episode failed to answer is whether this Daredevil is literally the same individual and if Netflix's Daredevil is, in fact, MCU canon.
At least, that was what audiences thought.
While it's true that the episode didn't directly clear the confusion, one of Jennifer Walters' trademarks might have.
She-Hulk Confirms No Knowledge of Daredevil
In the penultimate episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock squares off against Tatiana Maslany's Jennifer Walters in court.
Soon after Murdock makes his entrance and introduces himself to the court, Jen looks into the camera and breaks the fourth wall asking "Who's this a**hole?"
Later on, when the two are talking at a bar, it's revealed that Jen looked into Murdock's history where she only notes that he's from New York and has his own firm.
It's also apparent that she doesn't know about Daredevil when she unknowingly fights him at a later point in the episode, and even goes as far as to make fun of his devil-themed costume.
The fact that Jen was unaware of both Matt Murdock as a lawyer and Daredevil as a hero suggests that his show may not be MCU canon. Here's why.
If Jen Knows Wong, Why Not Daredevil?
In Episode 3 of She-Hulk, Abomination's Emil Blonsky informs Jen about Wong, and Nicky has to look into his history.
Therefore, despite prior events in the MCU, it's clear that Jen didn't know about Wong ahead of Blonsky's case.
But right after Nicky fills her in on Wong's history, Jen turns to the camera and tells the audience that she knows that they "can't wait to see Wong," implying that she actually knows about him and his status amongst MCU fans.
She only doubles down on her MCU awareness in Episode 4 where, after Madisynn meets Wong for the first time, she breaks the fourth wall again saying,
"You look happy. I guess you saw that Wong is back. God, everybody loves Wong."
Jen even shows that she knows Mark Ruffalo replaced Edward Norton in the MCU, looking pointedly at the camera in Episode 2 when Ruffalo explains that "he's a completely different person now."
So, if Jen uses her signature shtick to comment on the MCU and its characters, why didn't she do the same with Murdock?
And, why did she use that same device to directly inform viewers that she doesn't know who he is?
Is this Marvel Studios' subtle way of letting fans know that Daredevil is new to the MCU in more ways than one?
Why Didn't Jen Acknowledge Daredevil's Superhero Cases?
In addition to She-Hulk's fourth wall device, Jen's ignorance concerning Murdock's prior cases may be evidence against his canonicity.
On Twitter, @CalebABorchers pointed out that as a member of GLK&H's superhuman law division, She-Hulk should've heard "of the precedent-setting lawyer who argued Frank Castle vs New York" and more:
"Nothing is definitive, but it is really weird to me that the head of a superhuman law division would never have heard of the precedent setting lawyer who argued Frank Castle vs NY, or who got Luke Cage out of jail."
In an additional Tweet, he shared:
"It is almost like those events didn’t happen in this universe."
Not only is this a valid point, but it illustrates how complicated Daredevil as MCU canon could be if Frank Castle's Jon Bernthal and Luke Cage's Mike Colter don't crossover into the MCU.
The Daredevil Canon Debate Continues?
Did Marvel Studios actually set the record straight on Daredevil's MCU status?
While it looks like audiences will have to wait until Daredevil: Born Again for a definitive answer, She-Hulk's use of the fourth wall to express her ignorance of the character is telling.
And, given her profession, it's equally telling that she didn't know who Matt Murdock was or his superhero cases, even after she looked him up.
While some might say she didn't mention his defense of Spider-Man or Happy Hogan in No Way Home, Spidey's case was directly tied to his identity as Peter Parker.
Due to the memory spell, it's possible that the case no longer exists.
As for Happy Hogan, it's hard to know just how the No Way Home memory spell affected his case since it stemmed from the reveal of Peter's identity.
But even though She-Hulk seems to suggest that Daredevil isn't canon, a really good lawyer like Matt Murdock or Jennifer Walters would likely argue this Disney+ evidence as hearsay or even circumstantial.
And so, it seems that the jury is still out for now.
But even so, it's hard to deny that She-Hulk: Attorney at Law didn't contribute to the argument that the Devil of Hell's Kitchen is likely a Variant of his Netflix self that "audiences have come to know."
New episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law premiere on Thursdays on Disney+; Daredevil: Born Again arrives on Disney+ in the Spring of 2024.
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