The MCU Just Gave Daredevil an Avengers Loophole That Teases His Future

April 8, 2026, 11:30am

It’s a strange quirk of the MCU that every major hero feels like they’re on a countdown until they become Avengers. Pretty much every interview with the actors head that way, and because of the Phased structure of the MCU and the tradition of Avengers movies being culmination events the logic is easy to see. But not all Marvel superheroes become Avengers, and not all MCU heroes even make sense as Avengers. Moon Knight might be cool, but he doesn’t really work as one of Earth’s Mightiest Defenders. And that’s okay – not everything has to be about building a team.

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Daredevil is another example where fan enthusiasm perhaps misses the point. Yes, we want to see Charlie Cox’s hero team up with Spider-Man or other heroes, but the idea of Daredevil being an Avenger isn’t even one Marvel Comics has massively pushed. He only officially became a New Avenger in 2011 after more than 50 years, and while he’s fought alongside various Avengers, being a fully-paid-up member is a different thing. And after more than a decade on screen – despite Charlie Cox’s enthusiasm at the idea of being an Avenger – Daredevil: Born Again just introduced a loophole that might settle his Avengers prospects for good. Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, episode 4.

Sadly, Daredevil Doesn’t Need the Avengers

The Avengers weren’t active in the wake of Avengers: Endgame because of several factors: their leadership was gone, the team was fractured, and as The Falcon & The Winter Soldier established, Tony Stark’s death led to a serious financial hole that made the team less than viable. The New Avengers only really exist because of Val’s patronage, and there’s nothing in the run-up to Doomsday that confirms Sam’s new team have anything like the set-up the originals did. Their base is gone, their tech sponsor is gone (though Wakanda offers a useful replacement), and they cannot have the same financial muscle as Stark provided. Daredevil, on the other hand, now has that support without needing to join up in traditional terms.

Sam Wilson’s first post-Endgame appearance revealed he needed the Avengers Initiative as much as he joined to be a hero, even without any actual pay. And now there’s even more justification for heroes not becoming official Avengers given it doesn’t exactly work out for those who do. In Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2, episode 4, Swordsman (Tony Dalton) hands Matt Murdock everything he needs to permanently remain New York’s protector, offering him a blank cheque and all the resources he needs to complete his mission. With the kind of benefactor the Avengers lost when Tony Stark died, Daredevil’s street-level hero operation is set. He says, “I gave Karen an account number. Use whatever you need. Whenever you need it,” and those words confirm exactly why Daredevil doesn’t need the Avengers. He has everything he needs to be New York’s own Avenger.

Crucially, Swordsman also revealed the reason Daredevil is unlikely to ever be anything other than a street level hero in the MCU. He says Daredevil is more than just a hero to New York – he’s a symbol of hope, rebellion, endurance… He’s arguably more important to the city in this universe than Spider-Man is. Or Doctor Strange, the literal protector of the city (though only from cosmic threats, so he doesn’t have anything like the same connection with the community). Confirming that role for Daredevil, and then stepping him up to be an Avenger simply doesn’t make sense now.

Does that mean we’ll never see Daredevil in an Avengers movie? No, but it’s now more unlikely that he’ll ever be recruited as an actual Avenger. He operates on a different plane, and he has his Defenders coming back into play in Born Again Season 3. So while cameos and smaller roles can’t be ruled out, it feels a lot like Daredevil will always remain in his annex.

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