Before its well-publicised creative overhaul, Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again was going to be 18 episodes on Disney+. Ultimately, Marvel Studios realised a slow-burn approach to the Man Without Fear's story wasn't working, and new showrunner Dario Scardapane oversaw a new version of the series that ranks among the MCU's best small-screen offerings.
In a new interview with Josh Horowitz, Charlie Cox once again reflected on the changes made to Daredevil: Born Again and revealed that the show lost Tom Hiddleston. However, the actor wasn't set to reprise his iconic MCU role as Loki.
"Well, when the first season of Born Again was originally going to be 18 episodes long, Tom was going to direct one of the episodes," the actor, a longtime friend of Hiddleston's, confirmed. "One of the great losses of the back half of that original season, even though the changes that were made to the show were needed and necessary and made it much better, but he was going to direct episode 12 or something."
Cox added, "And we were already like on the phone collaborating and coming up with ideas and stuff. That would have been lovely."
Unfortunately, the actor didn't elaborate on what the episode would have been about. While Hiddleston has produced Loki and The Night Manager, Daredevil: Born Again would have marked his directorial debut.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Cox shared his thoughts on why the 2003 Daredevil movie didn't work. "I think what happened with that movie is two things. CGI was invented, and the next day they were like, 'Let's make a movie with it,'" he laughed. "And so they're a little premature with the CGI, and also they tried to get the entire Daredevil anthology into a two-hour movie."
Daredevil was jam-packed, with an origin story, Kingpin, Bullseye, and Elektra (including her death) all part of the movie. Despite that, Cox acknowledges that it has some "iconic" moments and said it would be "so cool" to share the screen with Ben Affleck in Avengers: Secret Wars.
Addressing his MCU future, the actor refused to comment on Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 set photos showing the Defenders, but did admit he "[starts] off with a beard."
While looking beyond that, Cox explained, "Marvel has been clear with me for now at least that I'm focusing on the show. That's our focus. That really is the truth. The fans of the MCU love it when the characters kind of clash. So, we'll see. But right now, I'm certainly focused on our show."
In a separate interview with CBR, Kingpin actor Vincent D'Onofrio addressed what's next for him after tonight's Season 2 finale.
"People seem to love to see these two characters come together," he said after recently being confirmed for his own Season 3 return. "So, I mean, we'll see. I'm not in charge of how long we're going to be around. But, if we're not doing it on this show, we'll do it somewhere else, you know?"
Make sure you check back here this evening for our breakdown of the Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 finale, and let us know your thoughts on these comments in the usual place.