Spider-Man: No Way Home Cut Daredevil 2003 Reference
Spider-Man: No Way Home cut a reference to the 2003 Daredevil movie, which starred Jon Favreau as Foggy Nelson, Daredevil's best friend.
Spider-Man: No Way Home cut a Daredevil 2003 reference from the Matt Murdock scene with Jon Favreau's Happy Hogan. Charlie Cox played Daredevil for the Marvel/Netflix show for three seasons and made his MCU feature debut in Spider-Man: No Way Home, acting as Spider-Man's lawyer. Cox appeared in a scene that had Tom Holland's Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Marisa Tomei's Aunt May, and Favreau's Happy as they met to discuss their legal woes as a result of Spider-Man's identity being revealed to the world.
In 2003, Fox released a Daredevil solo feature that starred Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, with Jon Favreau as his best friend and partner, Foggy Nelson. In the Charlie Cox Daredevil show, Foggy Nelson is played by Elden Henson. Foggy has been Murdock's best friend from the very beginning, appearing in Daredevil #1 in 1964, acting as his legal partner for their law firm, Nelson and Murdock, as well as his best friend and confidant.
While speaking to THR, Cox discussed the Spider-Man: No Way Home scene and how he and Favreau bonded over their Daredevil connection and attempted to sneak in a tiny nod to the film. The nod was ultimately cut, but the actors made an attempt to pump up their Daredevil connection, using a line with the word "foggy" in it as a reference to Favreau having played the character. While the line was cut, both characters still appear in the scene together, which for many is connection enough. Cox explains their Easter egg attempt below:
“I don’t think they used it, but we added a little Easter egg where he goes, ‘Yeah, I’m a little foggy on how that happened’ or something. That was a cool moment for me to meet him and chat about all that stuff.”
Not only does Favreau play Happy Hogan in the MCU, but he also acted as one of its first architects, having directed the first two Iron Man films with Robert Downey Jr., effectively helping to launch the MCU. He also played the role of Happy in all three Iron Man films, reprising it for Tom Holland's Spider-Man films, as well as a number of other appearances across the MCU. However, 2003's Daredevil wasn't the financial success Fox was hoping for, so Favreau only had one shot at playing Foggy Nelson. Favreau has been dedicated to writing and producing for Star Wars of late, including The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
The most interesting aspect of the multiverse opening up in Spider-Man: No Way Home is that it makes it entirely possible for Favreau's Foggy Nelson to co-exist alongside Favreau's Happy Hogan, let alone Charlie Cox's Daredevil existing alongside Ben Affleck's Daredevil. While it's not exactly the crossover fans are clamoring for, it's still an interesting nod, given the doors that No Way Home has opened. It's highly unlikely that 2003's Daredevil will work its way into the MCU, but fans of the Netflix show are certainly happy to see Cox back in the role in the MCU and are eagerly awaiting the continuation of the brilliant work done on that show.
Source: THR