'Daredevil' Star Charlie Cox Thought He Was Too Old To Play A Hero

Charlie Cox, who has played the Marvel Cinematic Universe's man without fear across two seasons of Daredevil and eight episodes of The Defenders, says he felt he'd never get the opportunity to play a superhero because of his age.

"When I was in my 20s and I was an actor in London, I'd come out to Los Angeles and try to get work. Some of my dear friends, who were all trying to look for jobs, ended up being superheroes," the 34-year-old actor shared with CinemaBlend. "I was mates with Andrew Garfield, Tom Hiddleston, Henry Cavill, and a ton of these guys who all ended up becoming these superheroes. When I hit 30, I thought, 'Well, that ship has sailed, and I won't get that opportunity.' And so, it was a wonderful surprise to learn that there was a character who they were interested in me for."

Cox cites colleagues Andrew Garfield (Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Tom Hiddleston (Loki, Thor, The Avengers) and Henry Cavill (Superman, Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), who are all between 34—36 years old. The English actor, who appeared in Stardust and on HBO's Boardwalk Empire before boarding Daredevil, won the role of the blind lawyer-slash-vigilante in May 2014.

Cox will reprise the role in season three of Daredevil, which will begin shooting in October and will release to Netflix sometime in 2018. As teased in the final episode of The Defenders, the upcoming third season of the hit series will introduce a character who has major ties to Matt Murdock. Little is known about season 3 — it may introduce a longtime foe from the comics and is suspected to adapt the iconic "Born Again" storyline — but Cox, who said even he doesn't know what's in store for the third season, recently shared what he hopes to see the next time Daredevil hits Netflix.

"I'd like to see the relationship with Karen figure itself out. I'd like Matt to be able to find that vulnerability that is required, in order to be honest, up front and vulnerable with someone that he cares greatly about," he said. "Hopefully, he's learned some lessons from The Defenders. Hopefully, he's learned that sometimes we need each other. He believes in God and maybe he's beginning to understand that God gave us each other for a reason, and he doesn't have to be so stubborn in his need and desire to do everything by himself."

Cox also talked about the potential adaptation of Frank Miller's "Born Again" storyline, which famously involved archfoe the Kingpin (played in the MCU by Vincent D'Onofrio) systematically attempting to destroy Daredevil's life after learning the hero's secret identity.

"That's such an amazing story. Everyone who loves Daredevil loves Born Again," Cox said of the 1986 arc. "You can't not. And if that's the case, then the implications of that would be very exciting to me. That would be great."

The Defenders is now streaming on Netflix and Daredevil season 3 drops in 2018.