The original Marvel Television had little to no connection with Marvel Studios; in fact, the only power Kevin Feige seemed to have with the Isaac Perlmutter-led outfit was to veto the use of certain characters (M.O.D.O.K., for example, was made off-limits to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).
The launch of Disney+ brought Marvel's small screen projects fully under Feige's control, though the executive has learned it's not easy to balance movies with TV shows...especially when former Disney CEO Bob Chapek was big on quantity over quality with streaming.
Original plans called for Daredevil: Born Again to be largely separate from Netflix's Daredevil. However, a creative overhaul changed things and the revival will now be a direct sequel, albeit with a few - largely necessary - tweaks to bring the Man Without Fear more in line with what we've come to expect from the MCU.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man included the Daredevil theme and, according to insider Daniel Richtman, that will return for Daredevil: Born Again's opening credits. We're getting a new animated intro and it's described as "a statue of Daredevil that breaks down and builds back up."
This sounds like a solid approach and one that pays homage to the past while blazing a new trailer for this character in his new home. Charlie Cox has already suited up in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Echo but this series will finally tell the vigilante's story without him playing second fiddle to anyone.
Daredevil will, however, be surrounded by some familiar faces from his past.
"That was actually one of the first things I said to the bosses," showrunner Dario Scardapane recently said of Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll's return. "You can’t do this show without Karen and Foggy. They’re Matt’s family. They’re the heart of his world. You can’t take them out without explaining why, and if that explanation doesn’t ring true, don’t take them out."
"It was much less the world we knew, and more trying to blaze a new trail," he said of Marvel Studios' original approach to Daredevil: Born Again, "but in doing so, they’d forgotten some things that really were necessary to the engine of the story."
Ultimately, Scardapane knew he had to make good on Daredevil season 3's promise that Matt Murdock would team with Foggy and Karen as part of Nelson, Murdock & Page.
"I was willing to lose a job over this one," Scardapane added with a laugh. "Because Season 3 of the Netflix show ended with a dream, with the names on that napkin. If you don’t pay that off, you’re not giving your characters context. You can’t ignore that dream."
In Marvel Television's Daredevil: Born Again, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer with heightened abilities is fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) pursues his own political endeavors in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course.
The series also stars Margarita Levieva, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Zabryna Guevara, Nikki James, Genneya Walton, Arty Froushan, Clark Johnson, Michael Gandolfini, with Ayelet Zurer and Jon Bernthal. Dario Scardapane is showrunner.
Episodes are directed by Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, Michael Cuesta, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and David Boyd; and executive producers are Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Sana Amanat, Chris Gary, Dario Scardapane, Christopher Ord & Matthew Corman, and Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead.
Daredevil: Born Again premieres with two episodes on Disney+ on March 4, 2025.