Recently, we spoke with actor Charlie Cox about his new film “King of Thieves,” which reunites him with his “The Theory of Everything” director James Marsh. He discussed working with the outstanding cast led by Michael Caine, “Mindhunter” screenwriter Joe Penhall‘s subversive script, the privilege of working in prestige television, and, of course, all things “Daredevil.”
For those that have been living under a rock over the last three months, one of Netflix’s most successful and critically acclaimed shows, “Daredevil,” was inexplicably canceled. Whether or not Disney’s new streaming service Disney+ factored into that decision remains to be seen.
Running for three seasons, “Daredevil” starred Cox as the titular character. Its third and, for now, the final season just won the Golden Tomato for the best-review superhero show of 2018 on Rotten Tomatoes, with a critic score of 96%. Fans, critics, and cast members alike were shocked by the show’s cancellation, and fans have since created a petition coined #SaveDaredevil to bring the show back on Netflix, which has garnered over 200,000 signatures and counting.
In part two of the interview with Cox, he talks about his reaction to the news of “Daredevil” being axed, signing the petition incognito, and the future of the character in the MCU. Here’s where our conversation picks up from yesterday’s part-one interview here.
Many people, myself included, were disappointed by “Daredevil’s cancellation.
Have you signed the petition?
Yes. I did this morning.
Oh, did you? I just found out about it the other day. My mom told me.
How about you? Have you had the chance to sign it yet?
I wasn’t sure about adding my email because I’m not very technically savvy, and I didn’t want to suddenly put my email online; I don’t know if it was visible or not. But what I did do is I made a fake email for my two-year-old daughter, and she signed it [laughter].
That’s awesome. What were your initial thoughts when you found out about the cancellation?
I was a bit surprised. I was shocked, really. After the success that the season had had, I imagined that we would do another season. I’m not really privy to the politics behind-the-scenes. I don’t know what goes on. I don’t know what the conversations are. I don’t know what the algorithms are or how they dictate whether to make a show or not make a show. I read things about the Disney-Netflix complications because of Disney+. I don’t know how much truth there is in all that. I don’t really take it personally. Business is business. I’m obviously very sad. And I hope that maybe something can happen in the future that might allow us to continue to make the show. But you can’t hang your hat on that because you just don’t know.
The truth was I was just sad. I thought it would be renewed, and it wasn’t. On a positive note, it’s great that we got to finish on the high with the season so well-reviewed and well-received. You gotta look at the positive, I guess.
Season 3 just won the Golden Tomato Award for highest rated superhero show of 2018.
Oh, cool! When did they do that?
They announced it on January 12. It seems like you’d be game to reprise the role of Matt Murdock if Disney+ wanted to continue with “Daredevil” or there was an opening in the MCU proper.
Oh, yeah. I loved it, man. I would love to get to continue playing that character.
I recently read that Vincent D’Onofrio, who obviously played Kingpin, was interested in a Spider-Man crossover universe.
That’d be awesome!
I really like the comic book arcs between Kingpin and Spiderman. It also opens up the door for a Daredevil/Spider-Man crossover, which you’ve expressed interest in as well.
Dude, I’d like anything. In the comic books, there are some fantastic Spider-Man/Daredevil storylines. The bottom line is I just absolutely love the show. I love playing the character. It’s still a bit weird to me that I’m not playing the character anymore. It’s kind of impossible for me to really imagine that [a Spider-Man/Daredevil team-up] because it’s been such a long period of my life.
It’s such a dream job for me, it’s been such a wonderful experience, that any scenario where I get to continue playing the character, whether it be on a different series, or whether it be in the movies, would be fantastic. I can only hope. It’s almost like I can’t think about it because I don’t wanna get my hopes up.
In the meantime, do you have any exciting projects on the horizon?
The only thing I have coming up is I’m going to go to London and do a play with Tom Hiddleston in the West End. So it’ll be quite fun to do something very different with another member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Beginning March this year and from March to June, we’re gonna be on the stage in the west end together.
That’s fantastic. What’s the name of the play?
It’s called “Betrayal.”