Charlie Cox expects new Daredevil show to be “dark,” but not as gory

Charlie Cox had been working for a while in Hollywood before he became a Marvel superhero — he was the male lead in the 2007 fantasy film Stardust, FYI — but it was Netflix’s Daredevil show that really put him on the map. Fans loved his interpretation of Matt Murdock, a blind NYC lawyer by day and crime fighter by night, which made it all the more painful when Netflix canceled the series — along with several other Netflix Marvel shows — back in 2018.

The shows were canceled to make way for Disney+, a new streaming service that would be the home for all things Marvel. Fans didn’t know if Cox would ever be back as Murdock, only for him to return for cameos in both Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk. “Kevin Feige [head of Marvel Studios] called and said, ‘We’d like to bring you into the MCU’,” Cox told NME. “I was over the moon. I love this character.”

And now he’s ready to get filming on Daredevil: Born Again, a whole new series to air on Disney+. Cox hasn’t read any of the scripts, but he imagines this new show will be a little more in keeping with the Daredevil we met in She-Hulk: a bit less brooding, a bit more wise-cracking and approachable. “This has to be a reincarnation, it has to be different, otherwise why are we doing it?” he said. “My opinion is this character works best when he’s geared towards a slightly more mature audience. My instinct is that on Disney+ it will be dark but it probably won’t be as gory.”

Cox knows that there will be fans who would prefer the new show be more consistent with the Netflix series. “I would say to those people, we’ve done that. Let’s take the things that really worked, but can we broaden? Can we appeal to a slightly younger audience without losing what we’ve learned about what works?”

Charlie Cox: “If [Daredevil: Born Again] doesn’t hit the spot, then that might be it”

Unlike most Disney+ shows — or most streaming shows, period — Daredevil: Born Again will get a staggering 18 episodes. That means filming will go on for awhile. “They said to me, ‘We’re going to be shooting in 2023’,” Cox remembered. “I said, ‘Great, when?’ They said, ‘All 2023’. I start shooting in February and finish in December.”

"I’m fascinated to discover why they’ve chosen to do 18. I’m imagining there’s going to be an element to it that is like the old-school procedural show. Not necessarily case-of-the-week, but something where we go really deep into Matt Murdock the lawyer and get to see what his life is like. If that’s done right and he really gets his hands dirty with that world… I think there’s something quite interesting about that, to spend a lot of time in a superhero’s day-to-day life and you really earn the moments when he suits up."

So it’ll be a bold new kind of Daredevil. Will fans embrace it? As a guy who’s had his share of ups and downs in Hollywood, Cox is ready for anything. “You said earlier that I could be busy for years, and I thought, ‘Yeah, maybe. Hopefully’,” he said. “But if this show next year doesn’t hit the spot, then that might be it.”

"I’m incredibly grateful Daredevil’s coming back. I love playing this character. How much longer at my age can I play the lead in a superhero film or TV show? Not very long, probably."

Charlie Cox thinks there are “better candidates” than him to play James Bond

If the new Daredevil series doesn’t pan out, perhaps Cox can use his notoriety to nab another juicy role? Why not add his name onto the ever-growing list of candidates to play James Bond, for instance?

“The honest truth is that I think there are better candidates out there than me,” Cox said about playing the cinematic super-spy. “The Bond itch has been scratched a little bit for me with Treason but also particularly by Daredevil. Playing a superhero is not so different…I think they should do something different – and I think you know what I mean. It would be a really good time and opportunity to do that.”

At the moment, Cox is about to appear in Treason, a new spy drama coming to Netflix on December 26. He plays Adam, a spy who does some questionable things in the name of family and country. When Cox talks about Adam, you get the idea he could be talking about Matt Murdock. “I ended up feeling that what makes him a hero is that he’s able to ultimately do the right thing at great cost to himself,” he said. “And he’s able to admit to and recognize past failings. I think that is the essence of modern day heroes, because nobody’s perfect.”

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