MCU Fanticipation is getting to a fever pitch ahead of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. And while everyone is fired up to see Shulkie’s live-action debut, a legion of Daredevil fans are excited to see Charlie Cox appear in costume as Ol’ Hornhead for the first time since his solo series “went off the air.” But some fans are wondering if that “new” costume couldn’t be a bait and switch.
It’s been fairly common knowledge that the guy somersaulting over Jennifer Walters in the last scenes of the official She-Hulk trailer is none other than Daredevil — replete with a new yellow and red costume. DD’s new costume is both a shout-out to the character’s original supersuit, which he wore in his first Marvel Comics appearance, and also a new set of duds to replace the all-red version that was stolen by Bullseye in Season 3 of Netflix’s Daredevil. But some fans are convinced that they’ve seen that color scheme somewhere else, and that Marvel might be pulling the rug out from under Daredevil fans with a clever ruse.
Several fans have taken to social media to point out that DD isn’t the only hero to use that particular color scheme. Could it be that rather than Matt Murdock, the acrobat in question is actually Dennis Dunphy AKA Demolition Man AKA D-Man?
Dunphy, most popularly known as D-Man, was a well-meaning midwestern college graduate who worshipped superheroes and received powers of his own thanks to a deal with the criminal known as The Power Broker. D-Man went on to become something of a joke in the Marvel 616. His costume, which Dunphy admitted to copying off of Wolverine and Daredevil, surprisingly enough, led him to be consistently mistaken for Wolverine and Daredevil. He lost a great deal of his confidence after he was nearly killed by a version of Titania (a version of whom will be an antagonist in the new series) and afterwards became something of a punchline for Marvel writers and creators, even once coming to the point where he applied to be Jessica Jones and Luke Cage’s nanny.
Despite the character’s inability to catch a break, he still has his fans, however, many of whom would welcome an appearance.
Fortunately, Daredevil fans can breathe a sigh of relief. According to Slashfilm, writer Jessica Gao has confirmed that Cox will absolutely be appearing in the series as Daredevil. Gao admitted she had a hard time believing that they would be allowed to use Cox, saying that when “we got wind that he was coming back and that it was Charlie Cox, and we were like, ‘Wait, does that I mean we can use him? Are we allowed?’ And when they told us yeah, I mean, we couldn’t believe it, we thought we were being pranked.”
However, though that does mean we will get Charlie Cox, does it mean that he’s the one in that suit? She-Hulk and Daredevil aren’t just occasional superhero allies, they’re also legal colleagues. Walters has often used Murdock as a consultant in cases in comic book storylines, so who’s to say that’s not D-Man up there? He could easily be brought in as a prank, and Cox could just be there to shoulder some of Jen’s burdens as a fellow attorney.
Thankfully, fans only have a few weeks of waiting to find out. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law will begin streaming on Disney Plus on August 18.