When fans went to see “Spider-Man: No Way Home” on opening weekend, many were anticipating the arrival of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire. But fewer were expecting a major MCU cameo that happens earlier in the film, when Charlie Cox reprises his role as Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, in a scene that finds Tom Holland’s Peter Parker seeking legal advice.
Audience reaction to the scene has been intense to say the least, as Cox played the blind superhero for three seasons on the Netflix series “Daredevil.” And while that show was produced by Marvel, it was only tangentially connected to the grander Marvel Cinematic Universe, and when all the Marvel Netflix shows were canceled (including “Luke Cage,” “Jessica Jones” and “Iron Fist”), it seemed the characters had missed their opportunity to share the screen with the bigger Marvel heroes.
Not so, as it turns out, and Cox told THR that director Jon Watts even built an applause break into his appearance in the “Spider-Man” sequel. “Jon said, ‘I have built in this moment where we reveal you, and no one speaks for a few beats because the audience will have a big reaction.” Watts turned out to be exactly right.
But there was also a “Daredevil” Easter egg that was left on the cutting room floor. Cox’s scene also involves Jon Favreau’s Happy Hogan, and many will recall that Favreau played Daredevil’s BFF Foggy Nelson in the 2003 Ben Affleck-fronted “Daredevil” movie. “I don’t think they used it, but we added a little Easter egg where he goes, ‘Yeah, I’m a little foggy on how that happened’ or something,” Cox says. “That was a cool moment for me to meet him and chat about all that stuff.”
As for what the future holds, Cox confesses he knows “a little bit,” but his lips are sealed. His “Daredevil” co-star Vincent D’Onofrio reprised his role as Kingpin in the Marvel Studios-produced Disney+ series “Hawkeye,” so it appears as the MCU moves on in the wake of “Avengers: Endgame,” the future is bright for (at least some of) the heroes of these beloved Netflix shows.
