Daredevil arrived on Netflix in 2015, with Steven S. DeKnight taking charge of the series as showrunner. For 12 of the first 13 episodes, the Man Without Fear wore his black homemade costume, and didn't suit up until the finale.
A battle with The Kingpin followed that felt a little out of place in the grounded series, and it was clear that Daredevil was constrained by its budget (particularly in the portrayal of Matt Murdock's powers). That was evident when 'ol Hornhead entered the MCU and got some major upgrades to his skillset in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Daredevil: Born Again.
Daredevil featured plenty of hard-hitting violence and boasted a TV-MA rating in the U.S., the same as Daredevil: Born Again. However, in the UK, for example, the Netflix series is rated 16+ compared to the follow-up's 18+ rating.
Talking to The Direct, DeKnight opened up on the restrictions he faced while making the series, including a limited budget and what he described as "PG-16 handcuffs."
"I have really liked [Daredevil: Born Again]," he started. "Look, I admit I'm completely biased, because I love the actors. I mean, Charlie Cox is one of the just purest, sweetest human beings in the world, and Vincent D'Onofrio, the same way. I mean, those guys, I'd take a bullet for those guys."
"I loved the fact that ['Daredevil'] was being resurrected, and resurrected with a bigger budget than we had, that's for damn sure, let me tell you. I remember when Daredevil was in 'She-Hulk,' and he was doing a lot of the acrobatics, and people were saying, 'Well, what do you think about those acrobatics?' And I told them on social media, 'Hey, if I had the money, that's exactly what he would have.' We didn't have the money to do that."
Pushed on what he'd change about Daredevil, DeKnight said, "I wanted to be more R-rated. They were able to go there, whereas I had the PG-16 handcuffs on, where I could only go so far. And as you can see from ['Spartacus: House of Ashur'], I like to go pretty far. So, I really appreciated that Marvel and Disney+ was willing to go there. That honestly surprised me and delighted me."
Daredevil still got pretty bloody and dealt with a lot of adult storylines and themes, which, at the time, made it feel vastly different from every other story being told in the MCU.
It was legitimately surprising to see how violent Daredevil: Born Again got at times on Disney+, especially thinking back to the horrific scene where The Kingpin crushed a man's head between his hands. That pushed the boundaries further than perhaps any mainstream comic book adaptation.
Despite DeKnight's dissatisfaction with certain elements of Daredevil, it remains beloved by fans and was made official MCU canon last year. All three seasons are streaming on Disney+, alongside Daredevil: Born Again.
You can watch our in-depth interview with Daredevil: Born Again composers The Newton Brothers in the player below.