Daredevil: Born Again is perhaps Marvel Studios' most highly anticipated Disney+ TV series but, as a result of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, production on the 18-episode series was halted back in June.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, fewer than half of the show had been shot but, having reviewed the footage, it was enough for Kevin Feige to decide it wasn't working. As a result, Marvel Studios fired Head Writers Chris Ord and Matt Corman last month along with directors attached to the remaining episodes.
The plan now is to essentially reboot Daredevil: Born Again from a creative level, with the hunt on for new writers and directors.
Ord and Corman came up with a legal procedural that was vastly different from Netflix's Daredevil; in fact, Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock wasn't going to don his superhero costume until the fourth episode! Even in an 18-episode season, that's a strange decision.
Now, Daredevil: Born Again - in its original form, at least - has been scrapped but the show will live on.
"Marvel, after greenlighting the concept, found itself needing to rethink the original intention of the show," the trade explains. "Marvel plans to keep some scenes and episodes, though other serialized elements will be injected, with Corman and Ord becoming executive producers on the two-season series."
This overhaul is part of Marvel Studios' new approach to small screen storytelling. The plan now is to begin hiring proper showrunners who will be joined by full-time TV executives in place of movie ones. As Marvel's Brad Winderbaum explains, "We need executives that are dedicated to this medium, that are going to focus on streaming, focus on television, because they are two different forms."
This revamped development process will see showrunners write pilots and show bibles, while the days of an entire series being shot - and then figuring out what did and didn't work in post-production with costly reshoots - are now over.
We'll also start seeing multi-season serialised TV shows rather than limited series which are used primarily to set the stage for other stories in the wider MCU. As we've seen, that approach has led to mixed results, especially when conflicting production schedules lead to a lack of connectivity.
It's likely Daredevil: Born Again will now slip even further down the release calendar, and it's hard to say how much of what we've heard about the show - such as The Punisher's return and The Kingpin's attempt to become New York City Mayor - will actually remain.
Stay tuned for updates.