***Spoilers Ahead***
In the last scene of Marvel’s The Defenders, viewers discovered that Daredevil isn’t dead, but he isn’t healthy either. In a state of immense injury, Matt is laying in a bed with Nuns tending to his wounds. It’s a scene right out of a the popular Daredevil story called “Born Again.”
Charlie Cox recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss The Defenders and how he felt about the ending. He also chatted about when we can expect Daredevil Season 3 to begin production and a little bit about the relationship Daredevil has with this new reborn Elektra.
Charlie was relieved when he discovered Daredevil would be alive and return for Season 3. He then went into some possible plot points we might see in Season 3!
I was relieved! It was made easier to read that, knowing we have a season three of Daredevil to shoot. (Laughs.) If that hadn’t been the case, I would have been worried that it was all over for Matt Murdock. Being as it was, I thought it was very fun. It was a very interesting way to end it. It’s kind of a cliffhanger, and kind of not. I don’t know what it means for season three, going forward for Matt. It obviously presents him with some pretty interesting options when he reengages with life. Will he reconnect with people? Will he find Foggy and let him know he’s okay? Will he not? I’m very excited to find out what his game plan is going to be, once he gets his shit together.
He was excited about the prospect to explore Frank Miller’s “Born Again” run on Daredevil especially after the final scene with the nuns on the hospital bed in The Defenders.
Everyone who loves Daredevil loves Born Again. You can’t not. And if that’s the case, then the implications of that would be very exciting to me. Having said that, I know we don’t tend to follow any story blueprints too closely, because if you do, then you become a foregone conclusion. There may be elements from Born Again, but I’m sure there will be elements that are unfamiliar and surprising and different in order for the show to be compelling to fans who know the comics very well. If we start making Born Again page-for-page, then the people who have read it and loved it — the hardcore fans — they won’t have too much drama.
He also discussed Matt’s relationship with Elektra in The Defenders and its effect on Matt’s motivation:
I don’t know. My feeling is that he was deluded in that area. It was clear to everyone else — even Stick (Scott Glenn) — that whoever she may have been in the past, and whatever kind of person she may have been, she’s not just had a change of character, she’s been brought back from the dead and turned into something different. She’s almost no longer human. The first time she walks into the room, Matt can’t even identify her heartbeat as a human’s heartbeat. He refers to her as “something else.”
When Matt figures out that whoever this was is in the vessel of Elektra, he’s so drawn to the prospect of it being her, not just because he loved her, but also because it would have relieved a tremendous amount of guilt and shame over what happened to her. He allows himself to believe. He deludes himself into believing she can somehow be refound, or he can get through to her, and the Elektra he knew and loved would be there again. For me, that becomes more and more ridiculous as the episodes carry on, but it’s insight into the head space he’s in. It’s weird, because she does begin to remember things. She does begin to remember him. That, of course, adds to the confusion.
The way I like to think about the Matt and Elektra relationship is it’s the superhero version of the very toxic love relationship you have in your 20s, where you’re on-again off-again for two years, and you never quite get over that person. Part of you is always with that one great true love you had, even though it was always doomed and it was never going to work. This is the superhero version of that.
At last, Charlie spoke about when we might hear about the start of filming for Season 3:
My understanding is we hope to start shooting by the end of this year at some point. Hopefully, that means it’s out in 2018, but it’s not confirmed yet.
Marvel’s The Defenders is now available to stream on Netflix. Get ready for The Punisher as well. Coming November of 2017.