I do love the vast majority of what the Marvel Cinematic universe has put out. Even the least of which have been quality productions, albeit with issues– but it’s been rare.
On the streaming end, Netflix/Marvel’s also delivered, putting out something like 13 seasons of content in something like four years. Three seasons of Jessica Jones, two seasons each of Luke Cage, Iron Fist and the Punisher, one of The Defenders and perhaps most importantly, three incredible seasons of Daredevil.
A lot has been made of the various, upcoming Disney+ series, and WandaVision acquitted itself pretty well in its first season. There’s plenty more to come as well, with “Falcon and the Winter Soldier”, “Loki”, and a bunch of other properties.
But where exactly does this leave Daredevil?
There’s absolutely no denying the love fandom has for DD on Netflix. Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/DD), Deborah Ann Wohl (Karen Page), Elden Hensen (Foggy Nelson) and Vincent D’Onofrio (Wilson Fisk), are some of the best casting choices this side of Chris Evans as Cap. No argument.
Possibly the MOST impressive embodiment of a character is D’Onofrio as Fisk. In the comics, Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, is THE mob boss of organized crime and a virtual man-mountain of dangerous muscle, housed within what some might mistake as simply the frame of a fat man. This live action portrayal has been a revelation. As cliche as it sounds, D’Onofrio was born for this role.
This is to take nothing away from Cox, Wohl and Hensen, who play a magnificent three musketeers at the office of Nelson & Murdock, attorneys at law.
And we can’t forget Scott Glenn as Matt’s mentor, Stick, or Wilson Bethel as the chilling Ben “Dex” Poindexter, aka Bullseye. Whoever did the casting for this series should get any and all applicable awards ASAP.
If DD was entered into the MCU ranking, the series would rate very, very highly amongst the films. If you look up “binge watching” in the dictionary, there should be a picture of Charlie Cox there. It’s that good.
But when Marvel bought up the Fox film properties like the Fantastic Four and the X-men, and planned out Disney+, there was no mention of Daredevil. They own the property, and Cox and company have proven to be WILDLY popular.
So what’s the problem?
One hurdle was the expiration date on the Netflix property. To the best of my knowledge, Marvel wasn’t technically allowed to produce anything new involving the Netflix properties for two years after the final seasons were broadcast. Meaning Marvel couldn’t really think about utilizing a character like Daredevil, or adding him to a production until 2020, two years after DD season three came out of the streaming service. More on this in a moment.
There is another hurdle, but it might be moot now. Where as Kevin Fiege was THE man in charge of the MCU, Ike Perlmutter was the guy overseeing Marvel’s tv output from a corporate standpoint for a while. Perlmutter has long been known as a corporate tightwad and a pain in the ASS. He had tons of power, and was highly placed in the hierarchy of both Marvel and Disney. Perlmutter made life difficult for Fiege, until Ike was taken out of the equation. There was a time when any utilization of the tv properties would benefit Perlmutter. That’s possibly one reason why no characters from ABC or Netflix ever appeared in an MCU film. It might in some way benefit Ike. Bottom line, there was no love lost between the two.
But again, time has passed, Perlmutter can no longer muck up the works, and Fiege can now do what he wants. PART of that is giving fans what they love and crave.
Case in point, the mid credit sequence of Spider-man, Far From Home. J. K. Simmons portrayal of J. Jonah Jameson in the Sam Raimi movies was an impossible act to follow. That’s part of the reason the follow up Spidey franchise starring Andrew Garfield didn’t dare recast him. But KNOWING how much the fans love him, Fiege brought him back, albeit for a cameo, playing a doctored video by Mysterio, framing Spider-man for murder and outing Peter Parker’s identity. It was a mind blowing reveal.
When the third Spider-man entry in this franchise hits theater’s this December, what exactly will we see? Is Peter and May on the run? Is he in jail? *Does he need… a lawyer?*
I guarantee you, the vast majority of Marvel and Spidey fans knew that Peter would indeed need a lawyer. And we know a guy.
Hell, there’s been several reports that Cox has been filming scenes for the movie, but there’s been no official statement. And when asked, Fiege just smiles. But he knows what we want.
The big question though, even if Daredevil, and/or Matt Murdock ends up in the next Spider-man film…. where does he go from there? Does he make the jump to film? Myself, I would vote no. The producers of the Netflix show had a 4th season all planned out. Bring it to Disney +. Make it happen. There’s a rhythm and flow to how this property works as a series. Maybe they can make it work as a movie, but I say stick with what you know.
One way or another, they can’t just let Daredevil fade away.
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