Daredevil: Born Again

• 1. The Cancellation And The Return

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  In November 2018, Netflix canceled the original Daredevil series after three seasons. Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio had expected a fourth season to begin shortly after that cancellation. They believed a new antagonist would appear in that fourth season before a final showdown between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk occurred in a fifth season. Amy Rutberg, who played Marci Stahl, said the cast and crew hoped for five total seasons. When Marvel Studios began discussions about continuing the franchise within the MCU, Kevin Feige insisted on bringing back Cox and D'Onofrio. Feige felt the pair were as linked to their characters as Robert Downey Jr. was to Iron Man or Chris Evans was to Captain America. Feige contacted Cox in June 2020 about reprising his role. Cox announced he was returning for future projects in December 2021. He first appeared as Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home later that year. D'Onofrio returned as Fisk in Hawkeye during the same period. A new Daredevil series entered development in early 2022 with Matt Corman and Chris Ord attached as head writers by May. The studio announced Born Again in July 2022 with a planned eighteen-episode first season.

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• 2. The Mayor And The Lawyer

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  In late 2025, blind lawyer Matt Murdock has not been Daredevil for one full year after crossing a line. Benjamin Poindexter killed Franklin Nelson, and Murdock tried to kill Poindexter in return. Murdock continues his fight for justice as a lawyer while former crime boss Wilson Fisk is elected mayor of New York City. This puts the pair on a collision course immediately. After Fisk consolidates power and declares martial law, he begins targeting vigilantes. The second season sees him hunting Daredevil specifically. Murdock goes underground and gathers allies to resist Fisk's corruption and his Anti-Vigilante Task Force. Heather Glenn serves as Murdock's therapist and love interest, holding differing views on vigilantism. Karen Page remains Murdock's friend and partner at their law firm. She brings more humanity out of him according to showrunner Dario Scardapane. Franklin Nelson was described as the heartbeat of the MCU until his death in the first season. His passing was considered really hard for Charlie Cox to portray.

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• 3. The Creative Overhaul Of 2023

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  By late September 2023, Marvel Studios decided to overhaul the series with a new creative direction. Filming for six episodes had largely completed before the decision. The studio reviewed that footage and determined Born Again was not working. Corman and Ord were let go as head writers along with the directors for the remainder of the series. Brad Winderbaum, head of streaming television and animation at Marvel Studios, said the studio believed they could play it loose with history but wanted to reset to avoid alienating new viewers. Cox and D'Onofrio had not been convinced the original approach was working. They found it confusing that the series was neither a direct continuation nor a complete reboot. Feige listened to their concerns when they expressed them directly. Dario Scardapane was hired to serve as showrunner in October 2023 after Marvel changed its production approach. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead were hired to direct the remaining episodes of the first season. Three new episodes including a pilot were written alongside additional scenes for previously shot material. Some existing episodes received rejiggering while others remained one hundred percent intact. The team blended style from original episodes with new lead director material.

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• 4. The Cast And The Costumes

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  Charlie Cox began training for the role by October 2022 focusing on mixed martial arts. He hoped to portray Murdock as someone who employs various fight styles rather than just being an all-around brawler. Vincent D'Onofrio chose to wear a fat suit for Born Again using modern technology to make it lighter and more realistic. He added other techniques to sell the size of his character. Ayelet Zurer returned as Vanessa Fisk after Sandrine Holt was originally cast before the creative overhaul. Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson also returned to reprise their roles. Krysten Ritter joined the cast for the second season as Jessica Jones. Emily Gunshor served as costume designer for the series. Ryan Meinerding designed the Daredevil suit again for this iteration. The suit features a darker tone of red along with black detailing and added texture. It was described as less shiny than the suit in the Netflix series. Jon Bernthal appeared as Frank Castle during filming of the first season. His Punisher special was conceived during that same production period.

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• 5. A Crime Saga In New York

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  Dario Scardapane described Born Again as a New York crime story compared to the noir tone of the original series. He took inspiration from The Sopranos which ran from 1999 to 2007 and King of New York released in 1990. Brad Winderbaum likened the series to Game of Thrones because it features multiple factions vying for power in complex ways. The new series has more fun character moments and a lot less navel-gazing than the original. Scardapane felt the previous series was at its worst when featuring two characters talking about what a hero is. He preferred showing characters doing things instead. The pace of episodes differs significantly from the Netflix requirement for longer character scenes between action sequences. This allowed the creative team to give Born Again a pace and scope the earlier show could not achieve. The second season begins a small amount of time after the first season. It runs concurrent with events of an untitled Punisher television special set for release in 2026.

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• 6. The Premiere And The Praise

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  Daredevil: Born Again premiered on Disney+ on the 4th of March 2025 with its first two episodes. The premiere received 7.5 million views on Disney+ within its first five days according to Disney data. This marked the biggest debut on Disney+ for 2025 up to that point. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an 87% approval score based on 211 reviews. Metacritic assigned a score of 69 out of 100 indicating generally favorable reviews. Critics found the season exceeded expectations and highlighted character-driven storytelling. They particularly praised performances by Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio. Some reviewers remained unsure whether it was better or worse than the original Daredevil series which received more positive reviews overall. The series won Best Drama Series at the Astra TV Awards. Charlie Cox took home Best Actor in a Drama Series from the same organization. Vincent D'Onofrio won Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series there as well. The Saturn Awards honored the show as Best Superhero Television Series on the 8th of March 2026.

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