Credit: NetflixIt’s been over ten years since Marvel Studios was acquired by The Walt Disney Company, following the success of the superhero franchise from Marvel Entertainment’s Iron Man (2008), which brought Robert Downey Jr. back into the spotlight. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has made significant progress since then, with The Avengers (2012) redefining the superhero genre. The MCU’s first three phases eventually culminated in Phase Three’s hugely popular conclusion, Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
Related: New ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Set Photos Reveal Beloved Main Characters’ Likely Replacement
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) gears up for Phase Five, the second act of the Multiverse Saga, The Walt Disney Company’s Marvel Studios is heavily expanding into different superhero teams. According to Kevin Feige’s announcement at San Diego Comic Con 2022, the MCU will feature teams that deal with a smorgasbord of villainous threats, including those at a “cosmic-level,” “supernatural,” and “street-level.” This expansion of the superhero story down on Earth will be led by none other than Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil. Naturally, Marvel Studios needs to build the character of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen back up for current MCU audiences, seeing as the character has been on an extended hiatus since 2015.
The return of Daredevil in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) was a pivotal moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as it establishes a clear link between previous Netflix Marvel properties like The Defenders (2017) characters and the mainline universe. This includes characters such as Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Coulter), and Danny Rand/Iron Fist (Finn Jones), who previously had their respective solo shows on the Netflix platform but have since been moved to Disney+ after their contracts expired.
Related: ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Explained: What We Might See In Marvel’s Revival
What can we expect in Daredevil: Born Again?
It was only in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home and Disney+ Original Hawkeye that major Daredevil characters were reintroduced. With Matt Murdock showing up to be Spidey’s lawyer, and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin back on the prowl (and out of prison) as the Big Bad of Hawkeye, the new 18 episode-long Daredevil: Born Again will have to reestablish this old rivalry once again, alongside Jon Bernthal’s returning antihero, Frank Castle/Punisher. Changes like Sandrine Holt’s casting as Vanessa Fisk over original actress Ayelet Zurer has sparked waves of worry in many Marvel fan communities about unnecessary changes by Feige and Company. Despite many fan protests and demands, it also appears that Matt Murdock’s best friends, fan favorites Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) have not been cast in Born Again. However, Cox himself has also taken to the convention circuit to allay fans’ fears about one Karen Page — so perhaps all is not lost for them.
Why are mature themes and violence so important to the Daredevil series?
Fans of the Drew Goddard-helmed series have naturally been worried for what Kevin Feige himself has deemed “season one, not season four” of Daredevil in Born Again, promising a more “lighter” take in 2022’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which gave the ever more Lothario-leaning Man Without Fear yet another love interest in Tatiana Maslany’s She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters and showed a more comedic side to the Man Without Fear.
Ever since this promise of a more “light-hearted” Daredevil, rumors have abound about the likely toned down take of Daredevil in his own solo revival series, suited for the more family friendly Disney+ platform — removing the iconically dark and mature themes of the original. The original show is well known for not shying away from violence and gore, with the series opening to one of the most expertly choreographed and executed action scenes in the “Hallway Fight Scene” (viewable below), while Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk began his tenure as a supervillain by (warning: bloody and graphic description) visibly and repeatedly bashing a man’s head in with a car door.
What did Daredevil‘s actor reveal about Born Again?
These mature themes exist for a reason, however, as Daredevil is all about guilt, nuance, manipulation, and emotionally difficult situations. Combining themes of Matt Murdock’s Catholic guilt, the series has been known for exploring mental, emotional and physical trauma, with Charlie Cox’s Murdock dipping frequently between the worlds of law-abiding justice and New York court drama, and Hell’s Kitchen’s ruthless and brutal criminal underbelly — all to help the innocent. However, perhaps all that will continue, as it appears that the Kingpin himself is now helping to lay fans’ fears to rest.
With a history of never shying away from realistic dirt and gore, Vincent D’Onofrio opened up to Newsweek about how he was just as concerned as fans about how the franchise might change, given how “raw and brutal” the Netflix show was. It seems that D’Onofrio himself had to be convinced by Feige and his team, touching on how he “started to look” at what “Marvel has been doing” with regards to the level of brutality:
But then I started to look at what Marvel’s been doing lately with their series, and the direction that they want to go in.
All I can say […] is that if you look at the most brutal stuff that Marvel is doing, which is few and far between but it’s there, it will be there for us too.
D’Onofrio doesn’t stop there.
Expanding on the franchise, he recounts how he believes that fans loved the original show as it wasn’t “just violence to be violent”, and admits:
It was, at times, a bit shocking to see but it was all based in emotional stuff, from Charlie’s part and mine. These are two very emotional characters caught up in this life of theirs, so it will answer all of that for the fans.
He then promises that there will still be “emotional violence” as well as “out-and-out physical violence” — a Daredevil trademark at this point. The Wilson Fisk actor goes on, explaining how with everything that D’Onofrio’s character has been through and what he’s been involved in, that the relationship between Maya Lopez AKA Echo will also be some real, emotional “deep stuff” — just like OG Daredevil fans are used to getting.
But it’s a long game, this series, and for actors that’s so much fun because you get to plan out and bring it.
Looks like we’re just going to have to wait till Echo and Daredevil: Born Again come out to truly be able to tell.
What do you think about Vincent D’Onofrio’s promise about Daredevil: Born Again‘s level of violence? Share your thoughts in the comments below!