Daredevil: Born Again was originally going to serve as a reboot for the Man Without Fear in the MCU. Hawkeye and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law made that clear, as did the decision to recast Vanessa Fisk for the Disney+ revival.
The creative overhaul changed things and the series will now serve as Daredevil season 4. It's also set to forge a new path for these characters in a world inhabited by other superheroes.
During a recent interview, Kingpin actor Vincent D'Onofrio confirmed that Daredevil: Born Again was originally planned as a completely clean break without Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson as Karen Page and Foggy Nelson.
"The way that we finally ended up doing it worked. It worked really well. It needed the connection to the Netflix show. It needed the other characters to come back. [It] needed all the familiar faces. The other iteration wouldn't have had that. It was a straight-up, 'Hey, forget what you just saw. This is what we're doing.'"
"That was tough for me to swallow. We felt emotional about not having the others back, you know, because our success in that show we believe, is not just because of us and the writing. We believe it's because of the whole cast. Elden and Deborah, those characters are theirs now. Nobody will ever play those characters as well as they did as far as I'm concerned."
You can hear the D'Onofrio's comments in full below.
Another wave of Daredevil: Born Again promo art has also dropped ahead of tonight's two-episode premiere showcasing Matt Murdock's new superhero costume.
It's a big upgrade over both Daredevil and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, though it would arguably be perfect if it had "DD" written somewhere on the vigilante's chest.
Hasbro has also shared a first look at its Daredevil: Born Again Marvel Legends figure. We'd imagine Hot Toys will be next to reveal its take on the Man Without Fear, so stay tuned for that the moment it drops.
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.