If Netflix’s Daredevil is to be revived after finding a new home on Disney+, it would be very different from what audiences expect from the fourth season. Daredevil, along with every other Marvel series like Jessica Jones, The Punisher, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., will be leaving Netflix on March 1st, 2022. While there has been no official announcement regarding their fate, these Marvel properties are likely headed over to Disney+/ Hulu to join the MCU and other Marvel legacy shows like Agent Carter.
Immediately after the news of this migration went public, the conversation around Daredevil receiving a fourth season gained traction again. Daredevil was the most popular show out of Netflix’s Marvel line-up, and audiences have been demanding a revival ever since the show got canceled in November of 2018. Charlie Cox’s return as Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home, coupled with Vincent D’Onofrio reprising his role as Wilson Fisk in Hawkeye, reignited fans’ hopes of getting a fourth season. Now that Daredevil will be under Marvel’s control once more, the odds of a fourth season happening are better than they have ever been before.
However, if Daredevil season 4 ever gets made on Disney+, it will be very different from the Netflix-produced seasons. A fourth season of Daredevil would be more connected to the MCU than ever before, featuring appearances from fellow MCU cast members and containing more direct references to the events of the films. Additionally, the raw violence that Daredevil excelled at portraying would have to be toned down to fit Disney’s family-friendly image. Moreover, the potential fourth season of Daredevil would deviate from the 13-episode format customary to Netflix’s Marvel releases, and probably follow the Marvel Studios 6-episode format that they used for most of their Disney+ releases. All of these factors combined would make Daredevil season 4 very different from the previous three.
No Way Home & Hawkeye Means More Daredevil MCU Connections
After years of waiting, audiences finally got to see some of Netflix’s Marvel characters return to the mainline MCU in Phase 4. The finale of Marvel’s Hawkeye featured the return of the Kingpin, played once again by Vincent D’Onofrio, as a New York City crime boss. Shortly after, Charlie Cox got his MCU reintroduction as the man without fear, Matt Murdock, in No Way Home as Parker’s (Tom Holland) lawyer. This marked the first time Marvel Studios chose to use a character introduced in a non-Disney+ show in their films and series.
This would create a significant change for the Daredevil series if a fourth season does happen. Daredevil and Kingpin were the two most prominent characters of the series, and now both of these characters have ties to other characters in the MCU. Even though the ending of No Way Home means that Daredevil is no longer aware of Peter Parker’s existence, he is still familiar with Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau). Wilson Fisk, on the other hand, has established connections with Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), and others. This means that if a fourth season of Daredevil ever gets made, it would feature more MCU connections than ever before, firmly cementing in the shared universe and confirming its canonicity, which is still up in the air.
Daredevil Season 4’s Story Can’t Be Self-Contained
Additionally, the hypothetical fourth season of Daredevil would not be self-contained like the previous three. Even though Daredevil crossed paths with the other Defenders and mainly The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) during his Netflix run, the show never shifted focus from Murdock himself and kept the story centered around its titular character. A Disney+ version of Daredevil would not be self-contained; rather, it would be more heavily interconnected with the MCU like every other Marvel Studios outing. The story told within the season would tie into other MCU films and shows, the same way WandaVision led into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Loki catalyzed the events of Phase 4 by unlocking the multiverse.
This also presents Daredevil with the opportunity to use a different villain. While Wilson Fisk was a terrifying and multi-dimensional antagonist, the Netflix seasons did not give other characters from Daredevil’s rogues’ gallery a chance to shine besides Fisk and The Hand. Being more connected to the MCU not only allows Daredevil to face off against villains that are usually associated with other Marvel characters, but it also allows Marvel Studios to use Daredevil’s villains in other projects and turn them into overarching threats. This would make Daredevil more intertwined with the rest of the MCU, which is an objective they are bound to attempt to complete since the first three seasons were so disconnected.
Furthermore, Marvel Studios would probably opt to include cameos from different MCU characters in the fourth season, similar to how War Machine (Don Cheadle) cameoed in The Falcon and the Winter Solider. There are plenty of Marvel characters that could appear in an MCU Daredevil series, especially given the large number of heroes Murdock teamed up with in the comics. This list includes the likes of Spider-Man, She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany), Moon Knight (Oscar Isaac), Maya Lopez, Blade (Mahershala Ali), and more, all of which are either already in the MCU or set to join it soon.
Current MCU Shows Suggest Daredevil’s Violence Would Be Toned Down
One aspect that will likely undergo a drastic change is Daredevil’s hyper-violence. The Netflix Marvel shows were, in general, more mature than the Disney+ MCU releases. This was emphasized by the shows’ unabashed approach to violence. Shows like Daredevil and The Punisher did not shy away from the gory combat style of their characters, and they were better off for it. Some of the most iconic scenes of the Netflix shows happened when the heroes embraced their violent nature, like the hallway fight scene from Daredevil season 1, and Punisher’s prison massacre in season 2. This would not fit in with Disney’s family-friendly image and would certainly break the PG-13 mold the publisher is known to enforce on all their properties, which means that if Daredevil is set to receive a fourth season on Disney+, the level of violence would have to get significantly toned down.
Fortunately, there is another side to that coin; Marvel’s next Disney+ release, Moon Knight, is also a super violent character, and the Moon Knight trailer for the show indicated that his brutality will carry over from the comics and onto the screen. More recently, head of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige addresses the concern that Moon Knight’s violence will be toned down himself, reassuring fans of the character that they “will not hold back“. This bodes well for Daredevil because it indicates that there is a chance for the show to carry on under the Disney banner without watering down the violence, which was one of the biggest draws of the series.
Daredevil Season 4 Would Be Shorter Than Netflix’s Seasons
Daredevil, along with every other Netflix show except for The Defenders, had 13 hour-long episodes for every season. While this worked for Daredevil, it unnecessarily dragged out the stories of others like Iron Fist. On the other hand, the majority of Marvel Studios’ live-action series have only been six episodes long, and the upcoming Moon Knight will continue that trend as well. A fourth season of Daredevil, if it ever happens, would probably follow the six-episode structure, rather than stick with the original 13. This is due to the different release structures Netflix and Disney+ have. While Netflix used to release entire seasons of their Marvel shows on the same day, Disney+ elect to drop their episodes on a week-by-week basis, prolonging the show’s grasp on the public’s attention and garnering more attention with each episode. Therefore, Daredevil season 4 would likely be shrunk down to six episodes if Disney ever revives the show.
Would Reviving Daredevil For Season 4 Be The Best Decision?
Giving Daredevil a fourth season is not the only way to give Matt Murdock more MCU screen time. Marvel Studios could continue to use him in the same way they used him in No Way Home, by having him appear as a side character in different projects. There are many Phase 4 and 5 projects in which Charlie Cox’s Daredevil can return. She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Echo, Blade, and Spider-Man 4 are but a few of the projects that could feature the man without fear. However, Daredevil’s popularity almost guarantees him a solo MCU project down the line, even if he does show up in various others.
Instead of a revival, Marvel Studios could elect to reboot the series while keeping the same actors. That would not sit well with fans of the Netflix series, especially since the events of Daredevil do not contradict any of the true MCU canon. Another option would be to have Daredevil lead his own MCU film. While many believe that Daredevil is more suited for the small screen, Marvel Studios have already proved that they can pack a great deal of character development into a two-hour feature. This would give the character more exposure, and introduce him to mainstream audiences. Unfortunately, Marvel Studios’ calendar is already packed with blockbuster releases, with at least three MCU films scheduled to hit theaters each year for the foreseeable future, so there might not be any room left for the devil of Hell’s Kitchen to get his own movie.
Even with all of these options on the table, Marvel Studios’ best course of action would still be a Daredevil revival. The three seasons released by Netflix received near-ubiquitous praise from critics and fans alike, and wasting the character development and backstory built throughout these three seasons would be a mistake. While characters like Luke Cage and Jessica Jones might be better off as side characters, Daredevil is too popular and beloved by fans to be cast off to the side.
The future of Daredevil and the other Netflix shows remains uncertain. There is yet to be an official announcement from Disney on whether or not the shows will be added to Disney+ or Hulu soon. Hawkeye and No Way Home proved that Marvel Studios are willing to use Netflix’s characters in the MCU, which bodes well for Daredevil’s continuation. There is a clear demand for a fourth season of the Netflix show, which was proven by the 430,000+ signatures that the “SaveDaredevil” petition received. It remains to be seen whether Marvel Studios will green-light a fourth season of Daredevil on Disney+ or choose to take the character in a different route, but even if a fourth season is made, Daredevil under Disney+ might be unrecognizable from what fans are used to.
Key Release Dates
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)Release date: May 06, 2022
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)Release date: Jul 08, 2022
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever/Black Panther 2 (2022)Release date: Nov 11, 2022
- The Marvels/Captain Marvel 2 (2023)Release date: Feb 17, 2023
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)Release date: May 05, 2023
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)Release date: Jul 28, 2023
