Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, TV | Tagged: charlie cox, daredevil, daredevil: born again, disney, netflix, vincent d'onofrio

Daredevil: Born Again: Cox Doubted Return; D'Onofrio Kept the Faith

Daredevil: Born Again star Charlie Cox didn't think a return to the role would ever happen, but co-star Vincent D'Onofrio kept the faith.

When Netflix canceled their slate of Marvel TV shows with Disney announced their plans to start their own competing streaming service, which ended up being Disney+, there was uncertainty among those in the grittier The Defenders universe starting with Netflix's first original Marvel series, Daredevil star Charlie Cox. The series, which saw a third season, was canceled in 2018 saw Matt Murdock (Cox) clear his alter ego's name. He also viciously beats Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio) into submission and delivers an ultimatum to his rival to stay out of his and his friends' lives or else he'll track down and make sure Wilson's wife, Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) is put away in prison to which Kingpin reluctantly agrees. As screen rights reverted to Marvel's parent company, Disney, the more adult-oriented shows appeared on Disney+, but the question remained: what of the characters and the actors who played them in those shows? It's something that brewed in Cox's mind since Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige contacted him in 2020 but left him hanging for two years before he got his second call with the pitch of his MCU return and Daredevil: Born Again.

Daredevil: Born Again Star Charlie Cox Ready to Give Up After Nothing from Kevin Feige

"We stopped shooting the original show at the end of 2016, beginning of 2018 and found out it was canceled somewhere in that period," Cox told Variety"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." The actor was ready to "completely let go" of returning as, generally, the silence leads to speculation of things like recasting or a project's entering development hell. Cox did keep in touch with D'Onofrio, who was more optimistic.

"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 said. "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." The actor added he was "shocked" when the second call finally came that penciled him back as Daredevil in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Defenders shows, which also includes Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Punisher (though the character didn't appear in the crossover limited series), didn't have any deep ties to the greater MCU outside of acknowledging the existence of The Avengers.

Cox would appear in 2021's Marvel Studios and Sony's joint production Spider-Man: No Way Home and two Disney+ shows with She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Echo. D'Onofrio would reprise Kingpin for Hawkeye and Echo. Daredevil: Born Again will see the two return, but initially their co-stars of the Netflix show weren't penciled in until major creative changes with showrunners from Chris Ord and Matt Corman to The Punisher EP Dario Scardapane, ushering the returns of Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Wilson Bethel, and Zurer reprising their respective roles as Karen Page, Foggy Nelson, Benjamin 'Dex' Poindexter/Bullseye, and Vanessa Marianna Fisk. Also returning is The Punisher star Jon Bernthal as the title character and alter ego, Frank Castle, who coincidentally made his debut in season two of the Netflix series before his spinoff. New additions to the Disney+ series are Michael Gandolfini, Margarita Levieva, and Jeremy Earl.

While fans will have to wait another grueling seven months until Daredevil: Born Again's premiere on March 2025, fans at D23 already got a preview of the series.

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