Someone is lurking in the shadows of Jessica Gao’s She-Hulk – and while those who’ve stuck close to their Marvel Cinematic Universe updates had the surprise spoiled ahead of time, the imminent arrival of Charlie Cox’s Daredevil is sure to be one of the superhero series’s big talking points.
We’re already five episodes into She-Hulk’s nine-episode run, and even if the writers are saving Matt Murdock for later in the season, September 15th’s ‘Mean, Green, and Straight Poured into These Jeans’ teased his debut.
More than just a throwaway nod to the Man Without Fear, She-Hulk’s first tease is more important than you think – it fleshes out a tragic piece of Daredevil history.
Although there was no post-credit scene in this week’s She-Hulk, the episode closed with possibly its biggest stinger yet. When Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) visited the HQ of superhero designer Luke Jacobson (Griffin Matthews), she got to try on a variety of new outfits, including one we guess will be her comic-accurate purple and white number.
As Jacobson raged about client confidentiality, he quickly whisked away a hat box containing a familiar-looking helmet. This time though, Daredevil’s crimson cowl was swapped out for a yellow variant.
While most associate Daredevil with his now-iconic red outfit, his yellow costume has a much deeper meaning that harks all the way back to his comic book debut. Introduced in 1964’s Daredevil #1, Murdock’s OG costume is nothing like the red one the comics, Ben Affleck’s underwhelming 2003 movie, and Cox’s Netflix series has popularised.
In the comics, Murdock wore a yellow suit with red gloves and red boots to honour his late father. The series’s backstory featured Jack Murdock (John Patrick Hayden) entering the ring to take on Carl Creel in a red and yellow robe that read ‘Battlin’ Jack Murdock’. Similar to comic book Peter Parker taking on the mantle of Spider-Man following the death of Uncle Ben, Cox’s Murdock decided to clean up the streets when his father was killed in the aftermath of a fixed boxing match.
Despite this deep dive into the past of Daredevil lore, it seems Murdock wants a fresh start – which makes sense with where we left the character.
Netflix’s Daredevil series is a prelude to where we find him in She-Hulk. The season 3 finale featured Murdock taking on Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin and Wilson Bethel’s Bullseye, following the latter trying to tarnish Daredevil’s name by impersonating him.
DD abandoned his classic suit in favour of a homemade costume, so he’s likely looking for some new garments if he’s back fighting crime. Earth-shattering events like the Blip have happened in the time between Daredevil and She-Hulk, but there are sure to be those that will still associate Daredevil’s red costume with Bullseye’s villainous turn.
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Remembering that the upcoming Disney Plus series is called Daredevil: Born Again, it makes even more sense why we’re starting anew with the character. Before you get carried away though, keep in mind that this version of Daredevil is still very much the Murdock we got to know during the three seasons of Netflix’s show.
Despite some confusion about how the likes of Daredevil and the Defenders could fit into mainline MCU canon, D’Onofrio and the official Marvel website confirmed that the Kingpin who turned up in Hawkeye is the same one from Daredevil. The same goes for Murdock’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home, so there are no Multiverse variants here.
Speaking of variants, this isn’t the only new Daredevil suit you’ll see. Cox is voicing Daredevil in the animated Spider-Man: Freshman Year, but in this Multiverse series, he’ll be sporting a grey and red number. We wonder whether this will have an equally interesting backstory.
The MCU has never entirely stuck to the comics, and although the Daredevil series had a comic-accurate origin of Matt losing his sight to a radioactive spill, he might not be that handy with a sewing machine to create his yellow suit.
Even though we doubt Jacobson has fashioned a superhero costume out of a boxing robe, the new costume is a heartwarming nod to Daredevil’s MCU origin. It’s even more poignant when you remember that She-Hulk is the debut of Murdock’s vigilante alter ego in the ‘main’ MCU.
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When the first She-Hulk teasers dropped, fans were quick to dial up the brightness to figure out Cox is wearing a more classic red and yellow costume.
It remains to be seen how Daredevil comes into play here, but with theories that the mysterious “boss” the Wrecking Crew is working for could be Kingpin, the pieces are starting to come together.
Murdock and Wilson Fisk are sure to cross paths in the upcoming Echo series, but if Daredevil is getting ready to take on his archenemy in She-Hulk, it’s also a neat segue into Born Again. Still, we’re rightly questioning whether Murdock and Walters will be friends or foe both inside out the courtroom.
At least they should be suitably dressed in their superhero finery when they first meet.
She-Hulk premiered on Disney Plus on Thursday 18th August 2022 with new episodes weekly – sign up to Disney+ for £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year now.
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