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Credit: Marvel Studios/NetflixOne Marvel star has no idea what the studio was thinking when it initially attempted to reboot the beloved Daredevil series and bring Charlie Cox into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the Man Without Fear.
Marvel Studios first brought Matt Murdock, AKA Daredevil, to the small screen as part of a joint deal with Netflix, which rapidly expanded into a mini-universe within the MCU itself.
While it was always a little unclear whether the New York City that Charlie Cox lived in was actually the same one where Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) was hanging out in Avengers Tower, it was always clear that Daredevil was the center of that world.
The Daredevil series was quickly joined by Jessica Jones, starring Krysten Ritter; Luke Cage, starring Mike Colter; Iron Fist, starring Finn Jones; and eventually, a team-up series titled The Defenders (The Punisher, starring Jon Bernthal, was also around there somewhere too).
While each series was clearly designed to work in tandem with the others, it was clear that not all were equal; while each member of the Defenders had fans, it is undeniable that Daredevil was the star of the franchise.
Related: Marvel Pours Energy Into Adult Content as Disney’s Daredevil Update Revealed
It was not surprising, then, that Daredevil was the first character to be inserted into the larger MCU after Kevin Feige got full rights back from Netflix. Charlie Cox reprised the role in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and the Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, to the delight of fans, and plans for a new series titled Daredevil: Born Again were rapturously received.
That is until it came out that the Daredevil reboot would have a “lighter’ episodic tone, courtesy of head writers Matt Corman and Chris Ord. Filming began on the series and was almost immediately shut down, allegedly due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strikes.
However, as soon as the production was able to get back into gear, Corman and Ord were dropped, the series was completely overhauled, and the creative team of Dario Scardapane, Justin Benson, and Aaron Moorhead were brought in.
Apparently, a big part of the overhaul was bringing in fan-favorite actors Deborah Ann Woll (who played Karen Page) and Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson), who were bewilderingly not cast in the reboot. Additionally, the role of Vanessa Marianna-Fisk had been recast, with Sandrine Holt replacing Ayelet Zurer. At some point, Holt was dropped, and Zurer was brought back in.
In short, things have been pretty chaotic for the Daredevil: Born Again reboot, and Luke Cage himself, Mike Colter, has gone on record to express his confusion about the whole thing.
The actor recently told Comic Book that the initial new direction of the reboot was bizarre, saying, “They should have never tried [to reboot it.] No, no, I don’t know what that was about. I’m like, ‘Well, yeah, duh,’ It was not broke, so don’t fix it.”
It is unclear whether Marvel Studios has any plans to bring back Mike Colter as Luke Cage. The actor continued, “I would love to explore it if they found some story, some way, somewhere, to take it. And I’m happy that Charlie Cox and those are getting it rebooted, but I don’t have any [about a Luke Cage reboot]. I’m not holding anything back.”
Related: Ben Affleck’s ‘Daredevil’ Gets Official Live-Action Sequel, Ignores MCU
Daredevil: Born Again will also bring back Vincent D’Onofrio, who has portrayed Wilson Fisk, AKA the Kingpin, in both the Netflix series and the Disney+ shows Hawkeye and Echo. Of the Kingpin and Daredevil’s new relationship in the reboot, Marvel Studios Head of TV and Streaming Brad Winderbaum said, “It is taking it in a new direction. These characters have matured. The universe is different than it was. Things have changed. Society’s changed.”
Vincent D’Onofrio has been dropping some heavy hints about the new overhauled tone of Daredevil: Born Again, recently saying at D23 that, “There are some things in this show, that we go much further with than we did on the original show. There’s one thing in particular that my character does that I can’t believe made it into the cut.”
It sounds like whatever needed to change for the reboot has happened behind the scenes, but we’ll just have to wait and see what the new show brings. Apparently, “light” is no longer in the cards for Matt Murdock.
Which Daredevil character is your favorite?