It seemed like the arrival of Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock in the MCU was a big thing for Marvel fans, but the actor didn’t feel that way when he snuck into a screening of Spider-Man: No Way Home to see the kind of reaction he had been hearing about for himself. However, it seems that he chose the wrong screening as instead of his short scene being greeted by gasps and cheers, all the actor experienced was a stony silence. While there have been some pretty wild reaction videos to Cox’s first official MCU appearance, it seems that you just can’t guarantee everyone feels the same way about such a return.
Out of all the Marvel Television series that made their way onto Netflix before there was ever an option of Disney+, Daredevil was an instant fan favorite, so when Marvel announced that they had canceled the series there were many disappointed viewers. However, we now know that at that time there were already plans afoot to bring Matt Murdock into the MCU fold, and that Charlie Cox was always the actor they wanted to do it. In addition to this, Vincent D’Onofrio’s villain Wilson “Kingpin” Fisk also made his MCU debut around the same time in the finale of Hawkeye. Now Disney are adding all of Marvel’s lost children, including Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and of course Daredevil, to Disney+, leaving everyone questioning whether that means we are going to see any of these characters and actors appearing in an MCU adventure soon.
Speaking to Radio Times, Cox recalled the massively underwhelming reaction he witnessed when watching Spider-Man: No Way Home, a moment that his wife originally recorded as he wanted to keep the moment everyone cheered for Murdock’s return, which it turned out was a waste of time. He said:
“It's funny, I got so many text messages and so many calls about that moment in the cinema. My nephew sent me a recording of everyone cheering. So I snuck into a movie theater near where I live and literally stood in the corridor... and, sadly, my experience was it was dead f**king quiet! I was so disappointed – my wife was with me and she was recording me, because it'd be fun to have that moment of everyone cheering, and then... tumbleweed!"
Charlie Cox’s MCU Future is Guaranteed, but Other Netflix Shows Are Still on Uncertain Ground
While Cox himself has been mostly silent on his MCU future, claiming that he doesn’t know what plans are in place, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige suggested just prior to Cox’s No Way Home appearance that Cox was the MCU’s Daredevil and he would be seen in future projects. Feige said, "If you were to see Daredevil in upcoming things, Charlie Cox, yes, would be the actor playing Daredevil. Where we see that, how we see that, when we see that, remains to be seen."
Feige also mentioned the other Netflix series in a very vague way, as everyone has come to expect, suggesting that every Marvel character coming back into the fold will possibly be seen in the future. He said, “I always say that whenever a character comes back into the Marvel sandbox, it becomes another tool in the storytelling ability of the MCU. As I said before, the good news is, all will be revealed when people actually finally watch."
While Charlie Cox may have not seen the greatest reaction to his Spider-Man cameo, he can rest safe in the knowledge that the majority of fans were really happy to see him back in the role of Matt Murdock and are now looking forward to his next appearance.