When Daredevil premiered on Netflix in 2015, it did so to overwhelmingly positive reviews. The money that studios spend on streaming now has increased significantly, and this series was overseen by a very frugal Marvel Television.
While there was plenty of costumed action, the show limited the Man Without Fear's powers and had few links to the wider MCU.
There were some vague references to the events of The Avengers—"The Incident"—and a handful of superheroes (who were typically described but never named), and the series never seemed to move beyond 2012; the Sokovia Accords were ignored, for example.
Steven DeKnight was the showrunner on Daredevil season 1 and has now revealed why the series didn't feature any splashy cameos or more obvious connections to what was happening in theaters.
"The MCU and Marvel Television at the time were not exactly simpatico," he admitted. "We had very, very limited access to the toys and had to basically stay in our lane. Which isn't a complaint!"
DeKnight added, "I think it forced us to really concentrate on character and not flashy cameos or gimmicks."
While Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist are now considered loose MCU canon, that wasn't always the plan and Daredevil: Born Again was originally envisioned as a full reboot.
Marvel Studios taking full control of the Man Without Fear has made all the difference; so far, we've seen Daredevil interact with Peter Parker and She-Hulk, while The Kingpin battled Hawkeye and mentored Echo.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos recently reflected on the Marvel Television deal and didn't have many positives to share about his experiences with the previous regime; Marvel Entertainment Chairman Isaac Perlmutter held the pursestrings, and Jeph Loeb was tasked with overseeing the studio's output.
"We wanted to make great television; they wanted to make money. I thought we could make money with great television."
"You want to work with people whose incentives are aligned with yours. When people are producing for you, they’re trying to produce as cheaply as possible. My incentive is to make it as great as possible," Sarandos continued. "That’s a lesson that I take forever."
"As producers, whatever [Marvel] didn’t spend, they kept. So every time we wanted to add something to the show to make it better, it was a fistfight," he concluded.
Check out DeKnight's Daredevil comments in full below.