In 2015, the Daredevil TV series premiered on Netflix, following 12 years after Ben Affleck brought Matt Murdock to life in the Daredevil movie. Now in 2026, Charlie Cox’s Matt and Vincent D’Onofrio are still going strong as the Man Without Fear and Kingpin, respectively (amidst other familiar faces), thanks to the revival Daredevil: Born Again, which is exclusively streaming on the 2026 TV schedule with a Disney+ subscription. However, the original Daredevil series was first conceived as two movies, and creator Drew Goddard explained why that plan changed.
Goddard, who most recently wrote the film adaptation of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary, addressed his past Daredevil work while stopping by Happy Sad Confused, as part of the press rounds for the 2026 movie release. He recalled spending time with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige shortly after the company gained the Daredevil rights back from then-20th Century Fox, saying:
… I was around when they were doing one of the Avengers, just hanging out, talking about other things, and I was always like, 'Why aren’t you making Daredevil the movie? I don’t understand.' I think there was concern that it was too adult… The Marvel model at that time was definitely not a play to adults.
Marvel movies have always been geared to appeal to the wide demographic possible, hence why almost all of them have been rated PG-13. It was only in 2024 that the franchise finally delivered an R-rated flick in the form of Deadpool & Wolverine, so going into such territory in the early 2010s with Daredevil would have been a no-go. Maybe if Fox had managed to get a Daredevil reboot off the ground, that now-defunct studio could have pulled it off, as it would go on release the first two Deadpool movies and Logan in the mid-late 2010s, all R-rated.
Article continues belowAs for Drew Goddard’s original pitch for two MCU-set Daredevil movies, they basically ended up being what was depicted in the Netflix series’ first two seasons. As he explained:
I remember saying, 'Well, here’s my vision. My vision is that the first one would be The Kingpin. Don’t overthink it. Find a way to make that special. It’s ‘more about the tone.’ Because we hadn’t seen that kind of tone. The second movie, the idea was that, ‘I think the villain of the second movie should be The Punisher.’ I remember that everyone in the room was like, 'Oh, that’s exciting. That’s what it should be.’ ‘Cause I love anytime two quote-unquote 'heroes' do battle with each other. To be fair, we got to do it. We just did it on Netflix, which I think was the right fit for that.
Daredevil kicked off a run of more adult-oriented TV programming at Marvel, including Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher and The Defenders miniseries. So while some may disappointed we never got another Daredevil movie, one could argue that going with the Daredevil TV show’s existence was more meaningful to the superhero media landscape. Besides, along with Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock anchoring Daredevil: Born Again and also popping up in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Echo, that version of the character also got a little bit of big screen time thanks to his cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home. There are even rumblings he may appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day this July.
Keep following along with Matt Murdock protecting the MCU’s New York City from the machinations of Wilson Fisk as new episodes of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 premiere Tuesdays on Disney+. Season 2 is also bringing back Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones, and Season 3 began filming earlier this month. The 2003 Daredevil movie can also be found on the Mouse House’s streaming platform.
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