Summary
- Karen Page was massively underserved in 2003’s Daredevil.
- The MCU opens up new possibilities for the character’s future.
- Ellen Pompeo’s success may make her return more viable.
Matt Murdock — better known as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, Daredevil — has had multiple love interests in his time as one of Marvel’s most popular heroes. His first, however, was Karen Page. Karen Page is one of the more notable characters from Daredevil‘s roster, consistently appearing alongside Murdock and his law partner, Foggy Nelson, throughout the title’s existence. She has only grown in prominence in recent years, having appeared in Netflix’s Daredevil series with a strong performance from Deborah Ann Woll. With Daredevil: Born Again restarting production following a complete overhaul, many fans are hoping to see Woll return to the role in the Disney+ series.
It may come as a surprise to some to learn that Deborah Ann Woll wasn’t the first notable actor to fill the role of Karen Page, however. In 2003’s critically-panned Daredevil, Ellen Pompeo played the iconic character opposite of Ben Affleck’s Matt Murdock. However, she only appeared in two scenes that were removed from the theatrical release. With news breaking recently that Jennifer Garner would be returning as Elektra in the upcoming Deadpool 3 — reprising her role from the same Daredevil film — audiences may be wondering if it’s really just Deborah Ann Woll’s version of Karen Page who deserves redemption within the MCU.
Karen Page Was Wasted in 2003’s Daredevil
Karen Page is as important to the Daredevil mythos as she is to the character himself. While her first appearance in 1964’s Daredevil #1 introduced her as little more than the secretary of Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson’s law firm, she shows a true caring nature for Matt and eventually becomes the character’s first love interest. Over the years, she goes through dramatic character shifts and impacts several stories in major ways. In Daredevil: Born Again, she sells Matt Murdock’s secret as Daredevil to the Kingpin while unfortunately addicted to drugs. Her decision sets off one of the most popular Daredevil adventures in the character’s history, which highlights just how important a character Karen Page truly is.
This information makes it all the more disappointing that Daredevil’s first major entry in the film world removed Karen entirely. That decision is softened a little when one takes into account that she was indeed included in the film, appearing in Daredevil‘s Director’s Cut, though even then Karen was still treated as a side character who Matt barely paid any attention to. In the film, Karen gets Wilson Fisk’s party invitation to Murdock, who more-or-less shrugs her off as nothing more than his secretary. Later on, she proves herself to be much more than that as she ultimately helps solve a case Foggy Nelson had been obsessing over throughout the film. Despite her fleeting appearance, Karen was still portrayed as a capable mind — much more than just a one-note secretary — and a stronger script would have featured a little more of that aspect of the character into its story.
Ellen Pompeo Is A Notable Actor And Deserved More From 2003’s Daredevil
Ellen Pompeo has kept plenty busy during her career — both before and after being unceremoniously cut from 2003’s Daredevil. Pompeo played several memorable one-off characters in TV shows such as Law & Order, Strangers With Candy, Get Real and Strong Medicine. She had also filled roles in hit movies such as Catch Me If You Can and Old School prior to filming her scenes for Daredevil. Had her role been more significant in Daredevili — and the script a bit tighter — Popmeo could have really broken out on the silver screen.
Regardless, life after Daredevil has also been kind to Pompeo. She appeared in the acclaimed sci-fi/romance Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but — in a turn similar to her role in Daredevil — she only appeared in deleted scenes. She was then featured in the classic Friends episode “The One Where the Stripper Cries” before joining the series she has come to be best known for. Grey’s Anatomy began in 2005 and is still ongoing as of this writing. Appearing in all 19 seasons thus far, Pompeo will be sitting out Grey’s Anatomy for Season 20. Despite that, she will still be providing voiceover work for the season and remains a staple of the popular series. One has to wonder if the producers of 2003’s Daredevil regretted not including Pompeo more in the film following her breakout success.
Read Related Also: Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Gets New TV Trailer!
There’s Room For Two Karen Page’s in the MCU
With Jennifer Garner’s Elektra returning in Deadpool 3 and Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page being the subject of gossip now that Daredevil: Born Again restarted its production, one can’t help but wonder what Pompeo’s take on Daredevil’s love interest would look like in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While it may seem out of left field given her role being abandoned in the theatrical release of 2003’s Daredevil, it also wouldn’t be completely unlike Marvel to bring in that level of fan service. With the MCU relying so heavily on the Multiverse during their fourth and fifth phases, two Karen Pages existing in the film series’ history wouldn’t be as crazy as it may have seemed a few years ago.
Bringing back Pompeo to cameo as Karen Page may be unlikely but isn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. After all, they did cast John Krasinski as Mr. Fantastic himself, Reed Richards, in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness after fan castings considered him perfect for the role. In the same scene that Krasinski appeared, director Sam Raimi also brought back Anson Mount as Black Bolt despite the overwhelmingly negative response to Marvel’s The Inhumans. Seeing deep cuts like these so recently in the MCU provide a bit of hope for fans of Ellen Pompeo that she’ll be featured in some fashion moving forward — if only as just a cameo to tease what could have been.
Marvel has proven time and time again that they aren’t afraid to experiment with the characters they use in their films, or the ways in which they implement them. With Ellen Pompeo’s Karen Page getting such a raw deal in 2003’s Daredevil — and with the notable success she has experienced since that film’s release — it wouldn’t be surprising for Kevin Feige to consider such a surprising cameo. Deadpool 3 will include several unexpected cameos, so fans will likely need to wait until that film’s release for any possibility of glimpsing Pompeo’s underserved Karen Page in future films.
Daredevil
A blind lawyer by day, vigilante by night. Matt Murdock fights the crime of New York as Daredevil
- Cast
- Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Vincent D’Onofrio
- Main Genre
- Superhero
- Seasons
- 3
<!––>
