Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Daredevil: Born Again episode 3Daredevil: Born Again just broke an MCU rule Kevin Feige forbade Deadpool & Wolverine from breaking. Overall, Marvel Studios was fairly hands-off with the development of Deadpool & Wolverine’s plot, wanting Ryan Reynolds and Shawn Levy to create a legitimate Deadpool sequel that was worthy and of the same caliber as the first two Deadpool films. However, there was one element that was off-limits…which Daredevil: Born Again just featured in its newest episode.

In 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, Wade Wilson is celebrating a birthday with his loved ones during the first act before he’s swept into a TVA crisis and his mission to save his reality with the help of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. During the party, a joke is made about Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige and his one rule for the film. However, it was eventually revealed that this Deadpool & Wolverine’s rule was real, giving Daredevil: Born Again a pretty funny and likely inadvertent nod to the movie, as the MCU series has since broken this exact rule in its most recent episode.

Deadpool & Wolverine’s No Cocaine Rule Came From Kevin Feige

Shawn Levy Confirmed It Wasn’t Just An In-Movie Gag

Thanks to the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, director Shawn Levy confirmed that the main thing Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige asked not to be included in Deadpool & Wolverine’s script was any kind of drug use, specifically cocaine. This was because cocaine was indeed featured in the first two Deadpool movies, of which both Wade and his roommate Blind Al generously partook. Subsequently, Levy reveals that this real-life rule from Feige became one of the first jokes written for Deadpool & Wolverine.

During the birthday party, Blind Al naturally offers Wade some cocaine, only for Deadpool to reject it, chastising Al because “cocaine was the one thing Feige said was off-limits.“. Al attempts to use various slang for the drug so they can secretly take some, but Wade says Disney has a list of all the names including “Bolivian Marching Powder”, “Snowboarding”, “Disco Dust”, “White Girl, Interrupted”, “Forest Bump”, and the funniest one: “Do You Want To Build A Snowman?” However, Daredevil: Born Again seemingly gets away with featuring some light cocaine use in the new MCU show (albeit in a very different context).

Daredevil: Born Again Just Broke Feige’s No Cocaine Rule In Episode 3

Technically, The New MCU Did Break The Rule

In Daredevil: Born Again episode 3, Matt Murdock’s investigator Cherry picks up Matt’s star witness and police informant Nicky Torres to testify on behalf of Hector Ayala aka White Tiger. Ayala saved Torres from two corrupt undercover cops who were beating him, only for one of the officers to be killed by a passing subway train during the fight. To that end, Cherry gives Torres what looks to be a small amount of cocaine to keep him stable so he doesn’t suffer from withdrawal on the stand.

To be fair, the cocaine in Daredevil: Born Again is featured in a very different context, and it’s admittedly different to have a former criminal turned confidential informant doing a small dose of cocaine off-screen versus the literal main character of an MCU movie partaking recreationally. This is especially true considering the cocaine scenes from the first Deadpool. Still, Daredevil: Born Again technically breaks Feige’s no-cocaine rule all the same, giving this seemingly innocuous and basic scene some unintentionally humorous significance.

Daredevil’s Original Netflix Story Explains Why The MCU Show Breaks The Drug Rule

While Daredevil: Born Again so quickly bringing in something that’s been essentially unseen in the MCU may prove surprising for some Disney+ show viewers, this does make particular sense given the backdrop of the original Netflix show that Born Again is building from. Daredevil repeatedly went up against drug manufacturers and distributors in the show, and the story showed drugs explicitly from relatively early on in its run, which featured moments like Daredevil breaking into Madame Gao’s warehouse to find her blinded workers preparing and packaging heroin for mass distribution.

Though this does play a role in making Daredevil a more adult-orientated show, it also stands to reason that including these storylines is key for both the Netflix original and the MCU successor. Having a street-level vigilante who never so much as sees drugs could seem a little overly convenient, and Daredevil: Born Again suddenly being absent of these substances after Daredevil had no qualms with depicting them would have risked making the 2025 release seem comparatively toned down, making the decision one that helps tie the worlds in the respective releases together.

As such, it makes sense that Daredevil: Born Again would do something that other MCU releases have tried to steer clear of. Given the Deadpool & Wolverine comments appear to show that the MCU attempts to generally avoid depicting drugs or drug use in its stories, though, it’s all the more noteworthy that Daredevil: Born Again was able to follow in its predecessor’s footsteps in this regard, as it’s likely this is a topic that is considered a decidedly complicated one whether focused specifically on cocaine or not.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again release Tuesday nights on Disney+.

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