While it wasn’t that long ago that superhero fans were treated to Daredevil: Born Again on the 2025 TV schedule, there was a time when we thought the days of Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock were gone and would never be seen again. As fans know, the series was originally the first of several Netflix shows for Marvel Comics heroes, but we were saddened when it was canceled after Season 3 in 2018. To joyfully return to the role meant that Cox had to make sure he was in fighting shape again, and he recently spoke about how playing the character has “literally transformed” his body, along with what changed from his first run.
What Did Charlie Cox Say About Transforming His Body For Daredevil And How Filming Was Different This Time?
Marvel really did us a solid when it was decided to, finally, bring Daredevil back to the small screen after the character being absent from his own series for many years. Everyone’s Disney+ subscription allowed them to watch Daredevil: Born Again recently, and while we’re waiting on Season 2 (which will reunite the masked vigilante with Jessica Jones, played by Krysten Ritter), Charlie Cox recently spoke with Agatha All Along/Heartstopper actor Joe Locke for Variety, and revealed how he had to change his body after initially landing his leading superhero role, saying:
I remember when I got Daredevil, I was 160 pounds, which is not tiny, but it’s way less than I [weigh] now. They needed me to put on significant muscle quite quickly, and it was really hard. It was a lot of protein shakes. I’d never had a protein shake in my life, and I’d never been to the gym. I did sports and yoga and stuff, but I’d never lifted weights. Now, in the last 10 years, it’s been a staple of my life. It’s literally transformed my body, for good probably.
We’ve heard a lot about the kinds of intense workouts and body transformations that those who portray superheroes go through for upcoming MCU TV shows, and the long line of Marvel movies. Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, star Brie Larson’s workouts made her strong enough to push a Jeep by herself, and Robert Downey Jr. (who’ll appear as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday) admitted that his level of training is “unsustainable.” Meanwhile, Lewis Pullman got all ripped for Thunderbolts*, but freely said it made him “feel like shit.”
It sounds like Cox, however, is pretty happy with the change in his body that’s resulted from him learning how to lift weights and do other exercise-focused things, which is lovely to hear. But, that doesn’t mean that suiting up for another full go-round as the rather acrobatic Man Without Fear was as relatively easy as it was when Daredevil first started in 2015. As he added:
My body is not what it was, so the recovery time takes a little bit longer. But I’m so aware of there being a shelf life on how long you get to play a part that has not only beautifully written scene work [but also] fully developed characters and relationships between them all. It literally feels like a different side to the show where I suit up and I do all this cool action.
Luckily, Cox gets to enjoy the best of both worlds as an actor with his work on Born Again, and so do all the fans.
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