While Daredevil: Born Again's creative overhaul continues to make headlines, we still know relatively little about what the series originally looked like (though there have been plenty of rumours claiming to shed light on the matter).
We've heard that Foggy Nelson was going to die off-screen, with no Bullseye and zero connections to the original Netflix series. Instead, the lawyer was going to die at the hands of one of the corrupt cops who worship The Punisher.
The Hollywood Reporter recently spoke with Daredevil: Born Again's roster of directors, and Aaron Moorhead revealed how the series started before they came in and reshot the pilot.
"This is something kind of juicy," he started. "During the first round of shooting, there was a shot that isn’t in any of [Daredevil: Born Again]. This shot used to open the show, I believe, and Matt was in the outfit. He then pulled off his mask, and he was just so unbelievably sad, crying and all that. Then he dropped the mask, and that was the whole scene."
"It was supposed to be the last thing that happened after Foggy died, and it explained why he didn’t put the suit on for so long. But now we have a whole episode [101] about that."
Jeffrey Nachmanoff added that the scene was "by the water," and this not only confirms that Elden Henson wasn't set to return, but that the show's costumed action was going to be very minimal. It's previously been reported that Matt Murdock wouldn't suit up again until as late as the finale.
Talking of Foggy, theories that he'll be revealed as alive continue to run rampant, with fans spotting an apparent nod to a comic where he's revealed to be in witness protection after being murdered (the #468 address next to the Nelson, Murdock and Page law office).
To that, Moorhead said, "I’ve heard this theory, you eagle-eyed geniuses. I would love to tell you, however, Marvel will snipe me if I say anything else. But what is really nice about Daredevil being a street-level superhero is that, generally, the supernatural doesn’t really interact with this universe as much, even though it is within the MCU."
"So that often gives much stronger consequences where punches hurt more and blood means more and getting hurt means more and dying very often does mean that you’re actually dead. But that’s all I can say," he added.
As great as it would be to see Foggy return, we wouldn't bank on it as it risks cheapening much of what we saw in season 1.
Yes, Daredevil would still want to take Vanessa Fisk down for ordering the hit, but if Foggy didn't really die, does it matter as much? There are ways to make it work, though, so we'll see. For now, flashbacks seem most likely if Henson does come back.
"A masterpiece of epic proportions, Daredevil: Born Again delivers a powerful, unmissable take on the Man Without Fear," we said in our review. "Putting street-level heroics on the map in a way that promises to change the MCU forever, the show is sublime superhero storytelling on a whole new level."
All episodes of Daredevil: Born Again are now streaming on Disney+.