There’s a lot of death in The Defenders, but one of the most significant losses is that of Stick, the Man Without Fear’s curmudgeon martial arts mentor. Scott Glenn’s character has been a major part of Daredevil so far, so it was shocking when his former protege Elektra murdered him halfway through the series.
With everything else going on at this point, though, we surprisingly don’t see Matt Murdock mourning Stick’s death. Though the pair were not always on the same side, Stick was like a father to Matt after his dad, boxer Battlin’ Jack Murdock, died, so you would expect this to come as a massive blow.
Actor Charlie Cox has now teased, though, that Matt’s grief over Stick will likely be something that’s explored in Daredevil season 3.
“Yeah, it all happens quite quickly. I’m imagining it’s something that when the dust settles, he’ll have to revisit that grief. At the same time, the relationship with Stick was a difficult one for Matt. They were always at odds. Maybe it will be paradoxically quite freeing to him, to not be constantly wondering if Stick is going to show up again at the most inopportune moment. One thing that will happen is he’ll have to realize how much he loved that man, and how grateful he is for everything he did. That will be quite a painful moment, I imagine.”
No doubt the loss of Stick will be just one of the many things weighing down on Matt in the next season of Daredevil. After all, by the end of The Defenders, he’s thought dead by his friends and is recuperating in a convent. And if the show really is adapting dark and gritty comic book storyline “Born Again,” as Cox recently teased, those will be the least of his problems.
The Defenders is available on Netflix now, while Daredevil season 3 is set to arrive in 2018.
