Daredevil is coming to Disney Plus ahead of Deadpool and Wolverine

It's a pretty good time to be a Daredevil fan. Not only has the Marvel Cinematic Universe officially welcomed The Man Without Fear into its ranks, the character will return to the small screen in the upcoming Disney Plus series Daredevil: Born Again, in which Charlie Cox will reprise his role from the universally-acclaimed Netflix series. There are also rumors that a different version of Daredevil could appear in Deadpool and Wolverine.

Yes, it's all happening for the Daredevil fans right now. And if you're ready to revisit more of Matt Murdock's adventures you'll be thrilled to know that Disney Plus is adding the original 2003 movie to its line-up next month.

Daredevil will stream on Disney Plus in May

As reported by The Direct, Disney Plus has announced which titles are coming to the streaming service in May 2024 and among them is none other than 2003's Daredevil, which will make its debut on May 1.

Starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, it was the first ever live-action portrayal of the title character (that made it to the screen) and even though it wasn't met with an overwhelmingly positive response, it has become something of a cult classic, with many having a newfound appreciation for it.

The arrival of Daredevil on Disney Plus is interesting for a number of reasons. It was one of the many Fox movies made during the 2000s and 2010s that starred Marvel characters, so it's not particularly surprising that it has eventually found its way to the Disney streamer (since Disney bought Fox a number of years back); what is interesting is the timing of it all.

Deadpool and Wolverine arrives in movie theaters this summer and even though it is a Marvel Studios-produced movie, it stars two characters who thrived during the Fox Marvel era. It's expected that the film will explore the idea of Marvel's multiverse, particularly on the Fox end of it, with plenty of cameos on the table for characters from that saga. Jennifer Garner is believed to be returning as Elektra - the role she played in Daredevil - while Ben Affleck is also rumored to be reprising his role as The Man Without Fear himself.

Naturally, fans have already begun to speculate that the arrival of Daredevil shortly before the release of Deadpool and Wolverine confirms that at least one of those characters will appear in the movie. Interestingly, it also comes just a number of days after the rumor that Jon Favreau could return as the MCU's Happy Hogan; Favreau also had a role in Daredevil (playing Foggy Nelson), so it wouldn't be too out-of-the-realm-of-possibility if he too reprised his role in a cameo appearance.

The age of Daredevil

As a major fan of the Daredevil character, I can't tell you how exciting it is to see Marvel Studios acknowledging all versions of the hero in its Multiverse Saga. The Netflix series was beloved, but it was very much its own thing, so it was never quite clear if Marvel would acknowledge its existence. But when all three seasons were moved to Disney Plus (along with the other Marvel Netflix shows), it was clear that something was in the works.

The real turning point was the introduction of Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. the Kingpin, in Hawkeye, which was succeeded by a cameo from Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock as Peter Parker's lawyer in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Murdock would return in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, while Kingpin played a more significant role in Echo. On the night that the latter was released, Disney Plus officially canonized the Netflix shows by placing them in the MCU timeline on the streamer.

Daredevil: Born Again is set to continue the journey for Charlie Cox's hero when it premieres as part of Phase Five, and that will be both the culmination for this reintroduction period for the character and the beginning of an exciting new chapter for him.

Nevertheless, the Multiverse Saga has been hugely important to the MCU's acknowledgement of all Daredevils, so the idea of seeing both Ben Affleck's and Charlie Cox's in the same phase is pretty exciting. We are in a Daredevil renaissance period and the film's arrival on Disney Plus next month is just another sign of that.