Daredevil: Born Again

Initial work

Marvel Studios decided to make a new Daredevil-led series in January 2022,^[13]: 24 following the appearances of Cox in No Way Home and D'Onofrio in Hawkeye.^[2] Cox discussed such a series in March, believing it should begin a few years after the end of the previous series and be "re-imagined".^[61] Regarding whether it should be rated TV-MA as the Netflix series was, he believed Marvel Studios would be able to create a faithful version of the character without that rating. However, he found the comics "more exciting, readable, relatable when it lives in a darker space" such as Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev's run on the comics, and he felt important attributes of the character such as his age, Catholic guilt, and history with women were more mature subjects.^[62] Cox was hopeful that a new series could have a more faithful adaptation of the 1986 comic book storyline "Born Again" by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, which the original series took inspiration from for its third season.^[6][61][62] He described the storyline as "kind of a PG comic" and a guide for how the series could work with that rating.^[62]

Later in March, a Daredevil reboot series was reported to be in development with Marvel Studios' Feige and Chris Gary as producers.^[63][64][65] The series was confirmed to be in development for Disney+ in late May, with Matt Corman and Chris Ord attached as head writers and executive producers.^[66][67] The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood both described it as a fourth season of the original series.^[68][69] During the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con in July, the series was officially announced as Daredevil: Born Again and was revealed to have 18 episodes for its first season.^[70] Cox said an 18-episode series was a "huge undertaking" and was chosen in part due to the many story possibilities that come with Murdock being a lawyer.^[7] Christian Holub at Entertainment Weekly believed the title was a reference to the character "literally being 'born again' into the official MCU" rather than the series being an adaptation of the "Born Again" storyline.^[71] Cox described Born Again as a "whole new thing" and not a fourth season of the Netflix series, which he felt was "the way to go. If you are going to do it again, do it differently."^[72] D'Onofrio reiterated this, saying they had few plans to connect to the original.^[73] He added that they were working on two seasons and there would be "gigantic payoffs" during the second.^[74]

Directors were hired for blocks of episodes: Michael Cuesta joined in March 2023 to direct the first two episodes;^{[26][15]: 17–18} Jeffrey Nachmanoff joined in May to direct the third and fourth episodes;^{[75][76]: 2:14–2:24} David Boyd directed the fifth and sixth episodes;^{[15]: 17–18} and Clark Johnson, a director on the Marvel Netflix series Luke Cage (2016–2018), also joined in May to direct another two episodes.^[77] Actor Tom Hiddleston, who portrays Loki in the MCU and is a close friend of Cox, was also hired to direct an episode in the later half of the season.^[78]

Creative overhaul

By late September 2023, while production was on hold due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Marvel Studios decided to overhaul the series with a new creative direction.^[63] Filming for six episodes was largely completed by then.^[79] The studio reviewed that footage and decided Born Again "wasn't working".^[2][63] Corman and Ord were let go as head writers, as were the directors for the remainder of the series, and the studio began searching for new writers and directors. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Corman and Ord's episodic take was a large divergence from the Netflix series, including that Cox did not appear in costume as Daredevil until the fourth episode.^[63] Marvel planned to retain some elements that had been shot, add new serialized elements, and move closer to the tone of the Netflix series.^[63][80] Corman and Ord would still be credited as executive producers.^[63]

Cox and D'Onofrio had not been convinced that the original approach was working,^[79] with Cox saying it was confusing that Born Again was not a direct continuation of the Netflix series or a complete reboot.^[2] Brad Winderbaum, the head of streaming, television, and animation at Marvel Studios, said the studio believed they could "play it loose" with the history of Daredevil,^[2] wanting to keep Cox and D'Onofrio but otherwise "reset" to avoid alienating new viewers. Cox said Daredevil and Kingpin were essentially being treated like alternate universe "variants", a concept from previous MCU projects, but he said some people did not understand this and found the approach to be disingenuous.^[81] Cox was also concerned that the new series was "unlearning" lessons from the 2003 Daredevil film which he felt had made the original series a success, saying "the character really does work best in a serialized platform, but also when it's darker and grittier and there's less tongue-in-cheek levity".^[82] The studio realized they had to either fully embrace the Netflix series or start over fresh.^[2] D'Onofrio said Feige in particular listened to him and Cox when the pair expressed their concerns.^[79] Cox was grateful that their concerns were heard, and said "it takes a huge amount of courage and money to make a U-turn like that".^[82]

Dario Scardapane, a writer on Netflix's Daredevil spin-off series The Punisher (2017–2019), was hired to serve as showrunner for Born Again in October 2023.^[80] This came after Marvel changed its approach to television production to have more traditional showrunners rather than head writers.^[63] Filmmaking duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who previously worked on the Marvel Studios series Moon Knight (2022) and the second season of Loki (2023), were hired to direct the remaining episodes of the first season.^[80] Soon after Scardapane joined, the creative team decided that Born Again should harken back to the tone of the Netflix series and continue storylines from it, rather than be a complete reset.^[83] Cox said there was a "fine balance to strike" with this approach, but thought the new creative direction had a good reason for "remaking it" while still being familiar.^[73]

Justin Benson (left) and Aaron Moorhead (right) were hired as lead directors for Daredevil: Born Again after the series' creative overhaul.

In November 2023, Benson and Moorhead said they were reviewing the existing footage and looking to prior Daredevil content, including the Netflix series, to inform their direction,^[84] and said they were fans of Miller's "Born Again" run.^[85] They added that this was their first MCU project where they were able to find their footing early on after being "thrown in the deep end" with Moon Knight and Loki. They were also more comfortable working with the more grounded style of Born Again, which is similar to their independent films, compared to the "mind-bending sci-fi affairs" of those previous MCU projects. Moorhead described Born Again's stakes as "primal and graspable".^[86] D'Onofrio said the directors were Marvel's "hottest talent",^[83] and he was confident the series would work after they joined. His friend and Moon Knight co-star Ethan Hawke told D'Onofrio about his positive experience working with the pair, and D'Onofrio was a fan of their work on Loki, particularly how they handled violence.^[87]

Three new episodes were written, including a new pilot episode, as well as additional scenes for the previously shot episodes.^[79][88] Cox confirmed in May 2024 that nine episodes had been filmed,^[89] which Feige said was the first season of Born Again.^[90][91] Cuesta, Nachmanoff, and Boyd were re-confirmed as credited directors in August 2024.^[92] Some of their episodes had "some rejiggering, and [new] framing, and bookends" added while others were left as is.^[88] Nachmanoff and Boyd returned to film new footage for the existing episodes and assisted Benson and Moorhead with blending the style of the original episodes with the new material.^{[76]: 4:44–4:54, 14:50–15:03} Cox said the overhauled series was more in line with the original,^[79] while D'Onofrio he and other original crew members were pleased with the new iteration.^[93]

Subsequent seasons

Also in August 2024, Feige announced that a second season was planned;^[90][91] with the creative overhaul, it was decided that the planned 18-episode season would be split into two, nine-episode seasons.^[88][2] In February 2025, Scardapane, Benson, and Moorhead were confirmed to be returning for the second season,^[94][2] and Scardapane described its production as a "better-oiled machine".^[2] He said the second season would just be eight episodes.^[95] Additional directors for the season include Solvan "Slick" Naim, Angela Barnes, and Iain B. MacDonald.^[96]

Following the overhaul, Marvel Studios began looking at all of Marvel Television's Netflix series as more integral to the MCU,^[83][97] and retroactively added them to the MCU timeline on Disney+.^[98] Winderbaum said the studio was open to bringing back more characters and elements from Daredevil and the other Marvel Netflix series such as Elektra Natchios, the Hand, and Murdock's fellow Defenders—Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Danny Rand / Iron Fist.^[2] Scardapane had discussions about including Jones and Cage in the series from when he first joined.^[99][100] He later explained that all the Marvel Netflix series—Daredevil, Jessica Jones (2015–2019), Luke Cage (2016–2018), Iron Fist (2017–2018), the crossover miniseries The Defenders (2017), and The Punisher—were produced together, sharing soundstages and with their writers' rooms in the same building, creating a feeling that they were all part of one neighborhood. Scardapane said his creative goal for Born Again, particularly starting in the second season, was to expand the series to cover the world of all those shows.^[101]

In February 2025, Winderbaum said the series could continue beyond the second season,^[2] and that May he said the strong audience response to the first season gave Marvel Studios the confidence to make the series "annually into the future".^[5] In July, D'Onofrio said the studio had plans for a third season but an official renewal was dependent on audience responses to the second season.^[102] D'Onofrio reiterated a month later that both he and Cox believed a third season was likely, while Variety reported that chances of a third season renewal were "promising".^[103] Winderbaum confirmed the third season renewal in September,^[45] with Scardapane returning as showrunner.^[104] Benson, Moorhead, and MacDonald returned as directors.^{[105][independent source needed][106]}

Executive producers for Born Again include Marvel Studios' Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Winderbaum, and Sana Amanat, alongside Scardapane, Benson, and Moorhead.^[3][96] Additional executive producers include Marvel Studios' Gary as well as Corman and Ord for the first season,^[3] and MacDonald, Cox, and D'Onofrio for the second.^[96] Scardapane, Corman, and Ord are credited as the series' creators.^[107] David Chambers serves as producer for the second season.^[96] The series is released under Marvel Studios' "Marvel Television" label.^[108]

Approach

The initial take on the series was described as a legal procedural,^[63] with Feige explaining to Cox that the studio wanted to bring a traditional broadcast procedural into the world of streaming and felt it was a natural path to build such a series around a lawyer character that was already popular.^[82] Feige added that the studio was hoping to experiment with more episodic, "self-contained" episodes, unlike some of their Phase Four series that had a larger story split across multiple episodes.^[109] Cox said the initial take was dark but not as gory as the Netflix series. He wanted to take what worked from Daredevil and broaden it for Born Again to appeal to a younger audience.^[110] He also said early discussions for the series were about "reinvent[ing] the whole thing" and portraying Murdock as a different person from the one seen in the Netflix series.^[1] Murdock's friends Franklin "Foggy" Nelson and Karen Page were largely not acknowledged in this version. Amanat said the creative team struggled to incorporate them into the story, but Cox said there were discussions to do some "cool stuff" with them in the future.^[2]

Following the creative overhaul, serialized elements were set to be added.^[80] Scardapane said several elements in the original version worked well, but he felt there were storylines that needed to be added along with context from the Netflix series.^[2] His pilot acts as a bridge between the Netflix series and Born Again,^[111] beginning a few years after the end of Daredevil with Murdock, Nelson, and Page running their law firm and having a "pretty good rhythm" together.^[1] Winderbaum said Marvel Studios' approach to connecting Born Again with the Netflix series after the creative overhaul was influenced by how Loki and the animated series X-Men '97 (2024–present) honored prior iterations of their characters to establish new storylines.^[112] The cast said the events of the Netflix series were part of their characters' histories, and there are some new storylines that build on the original's events, but they did not want to dwell too much on past events or alienate new viewers who did not watch the Netflix series. Cox praised Scardapane's balance between respecting the Netflix series and not relying on that history too much. Co-star Jon Bernthal said any large diversions to the characters from the past were done for a reason, not simply for the sake of trying a different idea.^[113] Some of Scardapane's early ideas for the series were turned down due to Marvel Studios' larger plans for the MCU, but he otherwise had "leeway" to tell a specific Daredevil story. The character's appearances in Daredevil, No Way Home, and the Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) are part of his history, but the series does not lean into all of those events. Scardapane said Marvel had "moved Matt through other corners of the MCU, and now he's back in his own story",^[14] which has a more serious tone.^[2]

Describing some of Born Again's differences from the Netflix series, Scardapane said the new series would have more fun character moments and "a lot less navel-gazing" than the original. He felt that series had been at its worst when featuring "two characters in a room talking about what a hero is" and was more interested in showing the characters doing things. Scardapane described Born Again as a "New York crime story", compared to the noir tone of the original series, taking inspiration from the series The Sopranos (1999–2007), the film King of New York (1990), and other crime media from the 1990s.^[114] Winderbaum likened Born Again to the series Game of Thrones (2011–2019) because it features "multiple factions [in New York City] vying for power in really complex ways".^[115] Another difference from Daredevil is the pace of episodes, with Scardapane explaining that there was an edict for the Marvel Netflix series to feature longer character scenes between their action sequences. This was not a requirement for Born Again which allowed the creative team to give it a pace and scope that the Netflix series were unable to.^[114] D'Onofrio said Born Again would have a similar tone and feel to the Disney+ series Echo (2024),^[116] and Scardapane said it would be darker than Daredevil which he felt only had some dark elements.^[114]

Storylines and characters

Despite using the Born Again subtitle, the series does not directly adapt that storyline or others from the comics.^[117] It also does not incorporate any of the planned material for the fourth season of Daredevil.^[13]: 24 At the beginning of Born Again, Murdock has not been Daredevil for a year after a "line was crossed",^[2] when Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter / Bullseye kills Nelson and Murdock tries to kill Dex in return. Amanat believed killing Nelson, who is Murdock's moral compass, was "the only thing that made sense" when telling a story about Murdock starting a new life without being Daredevil.^[118] Cox felt Nelson's death was an appropriate way to start the series, believing the new story needed to be "big, brave, and bold" and "shake things up" from the original.^[19] Scardapane said the series was a "two-hander", exploring both Murdock and Fisk.^[15]: 4

The first season sees Fisk being elected mayor of New York City,^[24][19] after learning of the need for a strong candidate in the post-credits scene of Echo.^[9][10][119] Scardapane said the Mayor Fisk storyline was fun to explore but became too topical and moved the series away from "the large, mythological genre stuff" from the comics. He said the storyline would end with the second season and future seasons would return to the tone and street-level storytelling of Frank Miller's Daredevil comics.^[120] Scardapane felt the first two seasons were "Part 1" and "Part 2" of the same story, and said there was a "Part 3" to the Murdock and Fisk story that could be explored in the future. Amanat said the Murdock and Fisk storyline would "always be the heartbeat of this franchise... but there are also so many great characters and storylines" to also explore.^[121] The third season begins with Murdock in jail after publicly revealing that he is Daredevil at the end of the second season, while Fisk goes into exile. Scardapane said "they've been put in their separate corners for a moment" and both characters' new storylines were based on runs in the comics, with Murdock's taking inspiration from "The Devil in Cell Block D" from Daredevil vol. 2 #82–87 (2006).^[101]

Scardapane said the writers had a wish list of characters they wanted to include in the series based on iconic comic book storylines, and each season they were able to include any of those characters who fit into the story they were telling and Marvel Studios' wider plans for the MCU. He added that Born Again's tone was "very Frank Miller-esque" and that other Daredevil writers and artists, such as Chip Zdarsky and Brian Michael Bendis, have a "particular tone and a particular sweet spot" and some of the desired characters, such as Elektra or Colleen Wing, "work in that sweet spot".^[100] Though Fisk is the "prime villain", the series features other antagonists who Scardapane said would be "piling up" as the story continues.^[2] These include serial killer Muse, whose storyline was inherited from the initial take on the series. Scardapane felt they did not do justice in resolving this storyline at the end of the first season, due to being limited by what had already been filmed and what they had time to film for the new episodes. However, he was able to expand on this in subsequent seasons, exploring how therapist Heather Glenn is impacted by Muse's actions during the second season and eventually taking on the mantle of Muse herself going into the third season.^[101]

Within the MCU, the first season is set after Echo and begins in late 2025, before jumping ahead a year to late 2026. The season continues into early 2027,^[122][123] showing New Year's Eve and Saint Patrick's Day celebrations.^[123][23] The second season begins around six months after the first,^[124] and the third season is set around a year after the second.^[125]