Kingpin actor Vincent D'Onofrio always expected Daredevil to return, because it was firing on all cylinders when it was unceremoniously dumped at Netflix.
"Charlie [Cox] didn't [expect to return], but I did," D'Onofrio told GQ. "Every time Charlie used to say we're not coming back, I used to say, 'I think we're coming back' and he used to think I was just being delusional."
D'Onofrio continued, "I just felt there was no reason other than them starting Disney Plus that we were pulled from Netflix. We were at the top of our game on Netflix when we were pulled. People were loving the show."
He has a point. Daredevil season 3 is long held up not only as a high watermark for the show, but one of Marvel Television's all-time great projects. A legendary one-shot sequence, the emergence of Wilson Bethel's Bullseye, and the mother of all showdowns between Kingpin and Daredevil propelled the series into the stratosphere – before it was cruelly cut short by its shock demise in 2018.
"Somebody like [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige is not going to not know that," D'Onofrio said. "Him and his people are gonna know what we did, we kicked butt. I just couldn't imagine them not seeing dollar signs."
Those dollar signs eventually came true. Daredevil: Born Again, first imagined as an 18-episode successor to the original Netflix series before an unprecedented creative overhaul, debuted in 2025 with the vast majority of the legacy cast returning as part of MCU canon.
Fast forward to 2026 and Daredevil: Born Again season 2 is airing to acclaim, a third season is currently filming, and a Punisher special – titled One Last Kill – is planned for May.
The Kingpin, as ever, is always three steps ahead when it comes to these things.
For more, check out the upcoming Marvel movies in the works. Then discover the story so far with our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
