Daredevil’s return to our screens, following the cancelation of the beloved Netflix show, has been a slow one. Not only has it been a long time since Marvel announced he would be joining the MCU, but his debut series Daredevil: Born Again was also rehauled during filming.
Production initially began in 2023 before it was halted during the writing and acting strikes. Before filming could resume, Marvel let go original head writers Matt Corman and Chris Ord, and replaced them with The Punisher alumnus Dario Scardapane.
Speaking about the creative overhaul in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which features Daredevil: Born Again on the cover and hits newsstands on January 29, Scardapane explains: “[The footage] had some really strong points, but it wasn’t feeling in line with what Daredevil had been established to be.”
Some of the issues stemmed from the decision to make a soft reboot of the Netflix show while also maintaining elements of it. Scardapane and Marvel instead decided to make the Defenders Saga part of the MCU, filming a new pilot which bridged the gap between the original series and the new show and brought original cast members back.
Scardapane also tells SFX how he created the connective tissue, while also not forcing viewers to have seen the Netflix show before watching Born Again. “At the very end of the Netflix show, Foggy, Karen and Matt had a dream written out on the back of a napkin,” the showrunner says. “We start with that dream. It’s not a dream that needs too much explanation; three good friends go into business together.”
Scardapane isn’t the only one to comment on the change of direction in SFX’s wide-ranging feature on the show. As Matt Murdock star Charlie Cox explains, “There was a U-turn after the strike, where we were headed in one direction which was interesting and valid.
“The argument was, if we’re coming back after all these years, we don’t want to just do exactly the same thing. Marvel looked at the episodes and knew it wasn’t quite working. We shot a whole new pilot and they reorganised what we had filmed to make it feel more like the show we had shot all those years previously. Given what a Herculean task that was, it’s very impressive what they achieved.”
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Daredevil: Born Again releases on March 4 in the US and March 5 in the UK. Read more in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which will be available from Wednesday, January 29. Check out the Daredevil: Born Again cover to look for on newsstands below…
Criminals beware – #Daredevil is #BornAgain! Get the lowdown on the Marvel Television and Disney+ series with exclusive interviews in the new issue of SFX, on sale 29 January…#DaredevilBornAgainPre-order: https://t.co/gxrakqpGUX@MarvelUK @DisneyPlusUK pic.twitter.com/5YItddjE6pJanuary 23, 2025
