Spider-Man: No Way Home was smart to keep Matt Murdock’s appearance brief and avoid delving into his life as Daredevil. No Way Home brought Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland’s Spider-Men together for a crowd-pleasing multiverse adventure, but the movie did not end its fan service there. No Way Home also brought Charlie Cox back into the MCU as Matt Murdock a.k.a. Daredevil after the end of The Man Without Fear’s Netflix days.
Daredevil's appearance in No Way Home only shows him as Matt Murdock providing legal counsel to Peter Parker, with the extended “More Fun Stuff Version” also showing him acting as the lawyer for Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau). With no real focus made on Matt’s powers or life as Daredevil, Matt’s No Way Home role still left his proper Daredevil return lying ahead of him. No Way Home’s story and role for Matt show that this was the right move.
Daredevil’s Role In No Way Home Served Its Purpose
The closest No Way Home comes to referencing Matt’s Daredevil life is when he catches a brick thrown through Peter’s apartment window. Matt chalks the feat up to the shocked Peter by simply saying, “I'm a really good lawyer,” not revealing that Daredevil's power of radar sense enabled him to catch the brick. Despite the brevity of Matt’s No Way Home cameo, it does everything needed to re-integrate him into the MCU.
In just one scene, Matt’s skill as a lawyer is made clear with him getting the erroneous charges against Peter dropped. Additionally, his superhuman reflexes show there is much more to him than his professed skill as an attorney. Even though Cox’s Matt Murdock was already a well-known character from his Netflix appearances, his No Way Home cameo is, in essence, his MCU origin story in a big-screen context.
No Way Home Is The Ultimate Spider-Man Tribute
While Matt’s appearance in No Way Home was riveting for his fans to see, No Way Home also made sure to not lose sight of the fact that it is a Spider-Man movie. Not just any Spider-Man movie either, but the biggest Spider-Man movie to date with Maguire and Garfield’s returns, along with No Way Home's collection of Spider-Man villains from their respective universes (and a brief end-credits cameo by Tom Hardy’s Venom). Daredevil is a guest star in No Way Home, but both he and the movie itself know it is not his show to steal.
Actually seeing Matt suited up as Daredevil, or even briefly revealing his backstory and powers, would have pulled at least some attention away from the movie’s Spider-Man trio and onto The Man Without Fear’s return to the MCU. While Matt's MCU re-integration was indeed a goal of Spider-Man: No Way Home, keeping it compartmentalized allowed the film the best of both worlds. In the end, this was a smart move for Daredevil's MCU future.
