Entertainment Weekly recently caught up with Daredevil star Charlie Cox, and the actor shared a story about getting recognized in public by fans of the character.
“Yeah, I do remember them saying, “We’re going to make Daredevil and then Jessica Jones and then eventually do The Defenders,” and I remember thinking, “We’ll see.” [Laughs] I felt a great deal of pressure but more so because I very quickly became aware of the level of fandom that exists around these characters. That’s where the pressure lied.
I was blissfully ignorant for two months and then I was being recognized for a character that hadn’t actually appeared on television yet. It was weird. Like, people came up to me and knew me as Daredevil before any footage had come out. I remember a guy on the subway being like, “You’re Charlie Cox. You’re Daredevil.” And I was like, “Yeah…?” I was barely Daredevil. I hadn’t even signed the contract, you know? And he was like, “Can I ask you one question? There’s a red suit and then another suit that’s black and yellow. What color is the suit [on the show]?”
And I made a joke. I said, “It’s green, right?” The look of horror on this guy’s face! [Laughs] But I do remember we went to Comic-Con, and the fans have been incredibly generous and care greatly about the characters, so the pressure I felt was really for the fans. I wanted this to be a true representation of this character.”
Next, Cox discussed where Matt Murdock is mentally when The Defenders starts.
“Well, it’s been a few months since the end of season 2. I think it’s been quite a challenging few months for him. He took the death of Elektra very badly —I think he feels responsible for that. One of Matt’s big things is trying to protect the people he loves, which is why he keeps his identity hidden, and he’s failed. He’s left holding the dead body of a loved one, and so I think he’s tried to turn a corner.
It’s almost like quitting an addiction in the hope that it will get easier. He’s perhaps a little bit lost, and the best he can do for now is to not engage in his vigilante activities. When we meet him at the beginning of The Defenders, I’m not sure he’s completely found peace with that idea. I think he’s doing the best with what he can at the time. He finds himself between a rock and a hard place, which is the crux of his issue really from the beginning of season 1. “Should I or shouldn’t I? What is more beneficial to society?”
Additionally, he talked about why The Defenders do what they do.
“From what we’ve shot so far, they want to genuinely make a difference and help people out. I’m not convinced that Jessica Jones feels quite as earnestly about that [laughs], but in some ways paradoxically, these great powers are also our great shame. These characters are living with a shame and a loneliness and have felt kind of ostracized. I think they felt like freaks and have been misunderstood. And as sad as that sounds, there’s also something quite beautiful about that. There’s something quite human about that.”
What are your thoughts on Cox’s comments regarding The Defenders? Are you looking forward to the show? Let us know in the comments!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBZtM8q2Z1g
The Defenders hits Netflix this summer.
