Eleven years is a long time to inhabit any character. For context, that’s longer than Daniel Craig’s entire run as James Bond, longer than Christopher Reeve’s Superman tenure, and nearly as long as Robert Downey Jr.’s initial Iron Man contract. Charlie Cox has now played Matt Murdock—blind lawyer by day, Devil of Hell’s Kitchen by night—for over a decade, and what began as a Netflix gamble has evolved into one of the most sustained performances in superhero television history.
Cox first donned the red suit in 2015 when Marvel’s Daredevil premiered on Netflix, introducing a grittier, more grounded corner of the MCU than audiences had seen in the films. The series was a revelation—a superhero show that felt like a crime thriller, featuring bone-crunching fight choreography and moral complexity that the movies couldn’t match. Cox’s performance earned him a Helen Keller Achievement Award from the American Foundation for the Blind, recognizing his authentic portrayal of blindness while maintaining the physicality of a vigilante.
The original series ran for three seasons and 39 episodes through 2018 before falling victim to Netflix’s broader cancellation of all Marvel Television properties. For a time, it appeared Cox’s tenure as Daredevil had ended. He moved on to other projects—starring in the RTÉ drama Kin and the Netflix spy miniseries Treason, making his Broadway debut in Betrayal—while fans campaigned for Marvel Studios to rescue the character.
The wait lasted three years. In December 2021, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed that Cox would return as Matt Murdock in the MCU proper, first appearing in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) to deliver legal advice to a beleaguered Peter Parker. This cameo was followed by appearances in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) and Echo (2024), each time expanding Murdock’s presence in the shared universe while maintaining Cox’s nuanced performance.
The full revival arrived in 2025 with Daredevil: Born Again, a Disney+ series that initially planned to reboot the character with loose ties to the Netflix continuity before Marvel overhauled the production mid-filming to bring it closer to the original series. Cox found himself navigating the complexities of a show being restructured around him, eventually serving as an executive producer alongside Vincent D’Onofrio for Season 2—a level of creative involvement he never had during the Netflix years.
What distinguishes Cox’s eleven-year journey is the evolution of his physical performance. When he began in 2015, he was a relative unknown whose training focused on basic combat and learning to navigate spaces as a blind person would. By 2026, he has trained in mixed martial arts to portray Murdock as someone who employs various fight styles depending on his opponent, rather than simply brawling. The fight sequences in Born Again Season 2 showcase a more refined, tactical Daredevil—someone who has been fighting for eleven years and has learned from every battle.
The character has also evolved politically. In the Netflix series, Daredevil fought organized crime and corruption. In Born Again Season 2, he leads a resistance movement against Mayor Wilson Fisk’s authoritarian police state, with Marvel explicitly positioning him as “a revolutionary and a rebel” going “up against the power of the city”. This shift reflects Cox’s own maturation as an actor and activist; he’s no longer just playing a vigilante, he’s playing a symbol of resistance against institutional power.
Cox has spoken about the surreal experience of returning to the character after thinking he’d lost him forever. During the hiatus between 2018 and 2021, he had reconciled himself to the possibility that Daredevil was over, even as fans refused to let go. The resurgence caught him by surprise, and he has approached the Disney+ era with a sense of gratitude and responsibility—knowing that fans waited years for this return and determined not to disappoint them.
The eleventh year brings new challenges. Born Again Season 2 sees Daredevil hunted by the city he once protected, forced underground while Fisk consolidates power. The show has been renewed for a third season already in production, meaning Cox will likely reach twelve or thirteen years in the role before all is said and done. This longevity has allowed him to explore depths of the character that shorter tenures simply can’t achieve—we’re watching Matt Murdock age, accumulate trauma, and evolve his philosophy in real time.
What’s remarkable about Cox’s performance is how he has maintained consistency while allowing for growth. The Matt Murdock of 2015 was idealistic, angry, and desperate to prove himself. The Matt Murdock of 2026 is weary, experienced, and burdened by the knowledge that his city may be beyond saving. Yet both are recognizably the same person, thanks to Cox’s ability to thread character traits through vastly different circumstances.
Eleven years as one character would be a career for many actors. For Charlie Cox, it has been a defining journey that shows no signs of ending. From the gritty streets of Netflix’s Hell’s Kitchen to the politically charged landscape of Disney+’s Born Again, he has proven that Daredevil isn’t just a superhero—he’s a sustained artistic achievement.
Witness the evolution—stream all seasons of Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+ and celebrate eleven years of Charlie Cox as the Man Without Fear.
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