While MCU fans are currently able to get obsessively bogged down into the time-focused machinations while streaming Loki Season 2, there’s no denying the growing fervor for Daredevil: Born Again, which will mark the more straightforward MCU arrival of Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock following the character’s amusing She-Hulk appearances. However, it sounds like we could be waiting longer than expected to see Daredevil taking on Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk anew, with rumors pointing to Marvel boss Kevin Feige calling for a massive creative overhaul after he and other execs were unimpressed with what had been filmed so far.
Marvel Released Daredevil: Born Again’s Head Writers And Directors
The new report technically counts as a “grain-of-salt” update that shouldn’t necessarily be fully taken at face value, but according to THR, Kevin Feige and other Marvel bosses passed their eyes over the various episodes whose productions had been completed ahead of the WGA writers strike-related hiatus. And what they witnessed apparently didn’t please anyone, as Daredevil: Born Again’s head writers Chris Ord and Matt Corman were allegedly removed from their duties in late September.
The duo will still maintain executive producer credits, it’s stated, as there are select scenes and sequences and episodes they filmed that will be preserved and ported over into whatever the finished product will be down the line, with other elements inserted. But for now, Marvel is still on the prowl looking for another writer or writing team, as well as new directors.
Daredevil: Born Again Apparently Ignored What Fans Love The Most
Specific details about the problematic issues were few and far between, and obviously are unconfirmed, but it sounds like Daredevil: Born Again wasn’t going to be very quick about delivering what audiences love the most about Matt Murdock’s vigilante. It’s claimed that the new series fell in line more with legal procedural dramas than the superhero action saga that was Netflix’s standalone series. While I can possibly see a future where a straightforward courtroom drama could be an interesting way to tell a unique Matt Murdock story, that needs to come well after he’s already been established as one of the MCU’s most deft brawlers, with or without any A+ hallway fights involved.
In particular, it’s claimed that everybody’s favorite blind lawyer went the first three episodes of Daredevil: Born Again without donning his signature costume, which wasn’t brought into the show until the fourth episode. That, among other questionable decisions, apparently played a big part in Feige’s decision to take a big step back, refocus on what makes the Hell’s Kitchen hero so beloved, and attempt to move forward again from there.
Brad Winderbaum, the head of Marvel’s streaming, television and animation sector, shared this as the general thought process behind what the studio is looking for, and while his take makes sense and all, it’s perhaps strange that it’s taken this long for Marvel bigwigs to grasp that TV productions are handled certain ways for good reason. In Winderbaum’s words:
We’re trying to marry the Marvel culture with the traditional television culture. It comes down to, ‘How can we tell stories in television that honor what’s so great about the source material?’
According to the new report, Kevin Feige & Co. are making a dedicated effort to bring in actual showrunners for its episodic content, so that there can be more connective throughlines during the creative process, and so that the teams can attempt to replicate what has worked well for series outside the MCU’s multiverse. By and large, past seasons split focus between head writers of minor authority and directors with big-picture ideas, with Marvel bosses having the final creative say over just about any element imaginable. That kind of system has obviously produced some winning seasons already, with WandaVision and Loki as the easy standouts, but the myriad production headaches and subsequent viewer backlash that plagued Secret Invasion was reportedly the final straw in that respect.
Considering both Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio have spoken well of Daredevil: Born Again in the past, one has to wonder whether they were just blindly happy to be filming again without passing judgment on the material, or if the actors were perhaps overplaying their enthusiasm in the moment. Whatever the situation, I’m just hoping new writers and directors are found with the quickness, and that the eventual episodes that come out are the best they can possibly be.
Check out all the other upcoming Marvel movies and TV shows, and head to our 2023 TV premiere schedule while waiting to see when the Man Without Fear will arrive for those with Disney+ subscriptions.