By now, we're sure you're aware that Marvel Studios originally envisioned Daredevil: Born Again as a clean break from Netflix's Daredevil. While the original series would be treated as (very) loose canon, characters were recast and others, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, for example, were ditched.
The two shows were likely to have some things in common but it appears the original version of Daredevil: Born Again - overseen by Matt Corman and Chris Ord - was a significant departure from what we'd previously seen.
Talking to GQ, Charlie Cox says, "The thinking was, Well, we don’t want to do the same thing. We’ve done that. Vincent and I were both not 100 per cent convinced what we were doing at the time was the right path, but we’re both good soldiers and professionals, and we were trying to be open-minded."
Six episodes had been shot by May 2023 but work on Daredevil: Born Again was paused when the WGA strikes began. "The writers’ strike happened," Cox recalls, "then the actors’ strike, which gave the producers an opportunity to look at our episodes and decide that it wasn’t quite working."
While there were concerns that the series might be scrapped, a creative overhaul followed with The Punisher's Dario Scardapane enlisted as showrunner. Three new episodes were shot and additional scenes were written to connect some of the old footage that did work with the new.
Kingpin actor Vincent D'Onofrio tells the site, "We made it known that we were not happy, and the big bosses, especially Kevin [Feige], listened to us." According to Cox, the result is a Daredevil: Born Again that "feels much more in keeping with the kind of stuff we did at Netflix."
He holds no ill will towards the original creative team but acknowledges that "in a bizarre twist of fate, the strikes that were so terrible for so many people in the industry ended up being the best thing that happened for our particular show."
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.