Matt Murdock and his friends (and enemies) are set to return with Daredevil: Born Again in March. The path to getting this show has been somewhat fraught, in part owing to a creative overhaul in 2023 that stemmed from Marvel’s general issues with the TV format.
In a recent interview with SFX Magazine, showrunner Dario Scardapane talked about the pivot away from that original version from Chris Ord and Matt Corman. According to Scardapane, Ord and Corman’s version, which only had less than half of its planned 18 episodes filmed before being scrapped, “had really strong points. But it wasn’t feeling in line with what Daredevil had been established to be.” In that initial version, Born Again was a soft MCU-connected reboot of the Netflix series that also kept some (but not all) elements of that initial show. Once Scardapane was brought on, it was decided the Netflix series (and by extension, the larger Defenders universe) were fully part of the MCU, and Born Again could fully pick up where the show left off.
Speaking on the “U-turn,” actor Charlie Cox acknowledged the first Born Again iteration just “wasn’t quite working,” even as he called it equally “interesting and valid” in its own right. Ord and Corman wanted to avoid just “doing exactly the same thing,” and when Scardapane joined, a new pilot was shot to be more in the vein of the Netflix series. That did the trick, as made clear by how much Born Again’s trailer is working to make you think of the best parts of Daredevil. There are some changes ahead, though: Scardapane also told SFX about his desire to have “a lot less navel-gazing” than the original series and have more fun in the moments between characters.
In Scardapane’s eyes, this show is more of a “New York crime story” compared to the original noir feel of the Netflix show. For him, the least appealing scenes came “when it was two characters in a room talking about what a hero is.” He was quick to clarify he wasn’t throwing any shade, he just doesn’t want characters “grousing about their lot in life, I wanted to see them doing things. I felt that had been done.” As such, there’ll be longer scenes in Born Again, particularly during the fights. When he ran the Punisher series, characters would “hash things out” for five pages so there’d be space for action scenes. With characters like Matt, Punisher, and newcomers like White Tiger and Muse to play with, Scardapane teased the show will be “big action scenes at a lot more pace” than before.
How big are we talking? We’ll find out when Daredevil: Born Again hits Disney+ on March 4.
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