Marvel's Daredevil type TV Show network Netflix genre Superhero

Charlie Cox wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Matt Murdock.

For more than four years, the actor starred on Daredevil as the Catholic-guilt-ridden vigilante, and he helped pave the way for the launches of Netflix’s subsequent street-level Marvel series: Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher, and the team-up miniseries The Defenders. But despite Daredevil being one of the streamer’s most popular shows and the fact that its writers had begun breaking a fourth season, Netflix pulled the plug on the superhero drama.

The series’ abrupt end caught Cox by surprise. “A lot of us really expected to keep going, and I certainly did,” he tells EW. “The truth is, I felt like we had a lot of stories to tell, and although I understand [the cancellation], I’m very saddened by that.

“It’s just how business works,” he continues. “But also, these characters mean a lot to people. It’s weird to think there’s a chance I won’t be playing Matt Murdock ever again. That’s a bizarre feeling, because that character has been such a huge part of my life for the last four and a half years.”

Playing lawyer Matt (by day) and the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen (by night) was a “dream job,” Cox says, ever since he was cast the summer of 2014. “I loved it,” he confesses. “It’s been just the most incredible job for me. It’s so fun to do. You get to do all the acting obviously, which is great, but then there’s also this really fun physical aspect to it with all the stunts and the fight choreography.”

As much as he looked forward to season 4, Cox is careful not to speculate on potential arcs for Matt following the season 3 finale, which saw him defeat Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) and happily reunite with Foggy (Elden Henson) and Karen (Deborah Ann Woll). “I hate to be boring, but to be honest, I don’t think I should answer that,” he says. “It’s so new, the news. It’s quite painful for quite a lot of people. I was really excited about the ideas that were talked about for season 4, and I think if I was to speculate about it and it went on the internet, it might not be very helpful to people.… Anything I say often gets picked up and circulated, and I just want to make sure I don’t give any false hope.”

Still, Cox admits he would want to play the character again. “Oh my God, yeah,” he replies when asked whether he’d be up for returning to the role if given the chance. “I don’t know how this would happen, but maybe one day we could pick up the baton and do it again.”

Well, Daredevil is no stranger to rebirth.

(With additional reporting by Maureen Lee Lenker.)

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