The cancellation of the Netflix Marvel world seemed abrupt at the time. As we learned about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Disney+, it began to make sense. But when you have a brilliant show like Daredevil, with an all-star cast and critical acclaim, it seems strange when even that can’t keep the show alive—and it wasn’t easy for the actors involved, either.
Talking with Marvel News Desk, Vincent D’Onofrio (who brought Wilson Fisk/Kingpin to life) opened up about the cancellation and how the cast handled the news that they wouldn’t be coming back to Daredevil. That’s interesting to learn about now, given that we know some of the series’ beloved character portrayals are heading back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“I don’t think any of us were okay,” D’Onofrio said. “I think that we were like, ‘Oh okay, we had a hit show and now it’s gone.’ But shortly after that, at the same time the #SaveDaredevil groups started to rise, the cast, most of us I believe, but I know Charlie (Cox) and I for sure, and Deborah (Ann Woll), I think we started to learn the reasons why that happened. So we understood what Marvel was doing because Disney+ coming out….When you’re in this business a long time like we have all been, it kind of made sense business-wise.
What didn’t make sense to us was why we wouldn’t continue that show or the idea of how that worked and how well it worked. Conceptually, I think we were disappointed but I think we all understood what was going on and it sort of was inevitable. In this business, you learn to accept things because you know it’s a business in the end and there’s nothing you can really do about it.
“One of the things about losing the opportunity to do a fourth season was, I know Charlie feels the same way and I know he’d be comfortable with me speaking for him because Charlie and I are friends, there was a lot more to explore. With his character and mine. All the characters in my opinion, and we just hoped that we’d be able to and it turns out I’ve been able to do Hawkeye now and Charlie is there in Spider-Man.”
D’Onofrio mentioned, there was an online campaign asking to save Daredevil from its cancellation; nothing came out of it, but the movement was revived when it’s confirmed that both D’Onofrio and Cox are now part of the MCU proper, debuting respectively on Hawkeye and Spider-Man: No Way Home. No word yet, however, if their old castmates will eventually join them in the franchise.