The lawyer who sees without his eyes
Matt Murdock lost his sight as a boy in an accident with a chemical spill. The same accident sharpened his other senses far beyond human limits, and a blind mentor called Stick trained him to fight. As an adult, Matt runs a small law firm in Hell's Kitchen with his best friend Foggy Nelson by day and hunts criminals in a black mask by night.
Marvel's Daredevil is grittier and more violent than most MCU titles, and it treats Matt's Catholic guilt as seriously as his fistfights. His central question never changes: how far can a man who believes in the law go outside it?
Every Daredevil appearance in order
- Marvel's Daredevil (series, recommended)
- Marvel's The Defenders (series, recommended)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (film, essential, cameo)
- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (series, optional)
- Echo (series, optional)
- Daredevil: Born Again (series, recommended)
- Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (series, optional, an animated voice role outside the main timeline)
No Way Home is rated essential for its own story, not because of Matt; he appears in one short scene as Peter Parker's lawyer. That scene is the first time Marvel Studios brought him into its films.
Turning points, light on spoilers
The Netflix series pits Matt against Wilson Fisk, a crime lord who wants to remake the neighborhood in his own image. Later seasons bring in the Punisher, the ninja cult known as the Hand and a past love named Elektra. In Marvel's The Defenders he reluctantly teams up with Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, and it is the closest Matt comes to playing well with others.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law shows a lighter side of him, with a new suit, a legal case against Jennifer Walters and a surprising amount of charm. Echo opens with a fight between Matt and Maya Lopez. Then Daredevil: Born Again returns to the darker tone and puts him back on a collision course with a Fisk who has entered politics.
Allies and enemies
Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) is his great nemesis, and their rivalry is the backbone of his whole story. Foggy Nelson is his loyal, funny partner in the law firm. Karen Page starts as a client and becomes a close friend and investigator. Claire Temple is the nurse who patches him up after his worst nights and later links him to the other Defenders.
Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock
Charlie Cox plays Matt in every title, from Netflix to Disney Plus, which is rare for a character who has crossed between so many productions. He makes the blindness convincing, keeps the faith and anger in balance and handles the brutal fight scenes with real physical commitment. When he turns on the charm in She-Hulk, it works because the darker version came first.
Before Daredevil, Cox played the lead in the fantasy film Stardust and the Irish gangster Owen Slater in Boardwalk Empire. He also had a role in The Theory of Everything.
How to watch Daredevil in order
Start with Marvel's Daredevil, then The Defenders. Fans who want the Punisher too should watch season two of Daredevil, which introduces him, and his own Punisher series after The Defenders. Next come No Way Home, She-Hulk and Echo, all short appearances you can treat as optional. Finish with Born Again, which picks up Matt and Fisk's story and is the most important of his newer titles.