As thrilled as fans were to discover Charlie Cox would be returning as Daredevil in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Disney Plus series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, there were plenty of concerns that the Netflix-era version of the Man Without Fear would be watered down and ruined by the intensely polarizing half-hour legal comedy.
The backlash against Tatiana Maslany’s debut as Jennifer Walters was long-lasting and vociferous, with the trolls out in force every time a new episode dropped. Thankfully, Cox’s Matt Murdock emerged from the wreckage largely unscathed in spite of the “walk of shame” scene, which was either hilarious or sacrilegious depending entirely on who you asked.
One thing everyone can agree on is that it was wonderful to see the lawyer-turned-vigilante back on our screens, with Cox addressing the backlash to the lighter approach in an interview with Digital Spy, where he simply refused to acknowledge accusations that She-Hulk had attempted to ruin the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.
“There are things that you do when you’re playing a superhero. There are scenes that you read, and you go, ‘The fans are going to love this. This is knock-out’. And then there’s stuff like the walk of shame, where you’re like, ‘I don’t know. This could go two ways.
This could be something that the fans really enjoy, and it could be something that feels like it goes against the nature of what they love about the character and the tone of the piece. The good thing about doing it on something like She-Hulk is, it’s not Daredevil’s show. It was my job as the actor to come onto another person’s show and embrace the tone, whilst staying as true to the character as I possibly could.”
He also made a point of referencing the comic books to support his argument, turning a preferred weapon of the trolls against them.
“It tonally felt very different from everything I’ve done as that character, but that was also really exciting and new and different and in keeping with the character. If you read the comics, there are a series of Daredevil comics where the tone is much lighter, and he is much more kind of silly and goofy than perhaps we’ve done much of previously with this character. You can’t please all the people all the time. If She-Hulk’s not your thing, then don’t watch it. Watch something else.”
Well, we know exactly where the star stands on the matter, then, but it would also be fair to suggest that those who disliked She-Hulk intensely will be more than on board for Daredevil: Born Again, which starts shooting in a matter of weeks.