Marvel Re-Working ‘Daredevil: Born Again’

The series, which had started production in March, is now in search of new writers and directors as the Marvel Studios TV team go in a different direction.

Charlie Cox as Daredevil in Marvel Studios' 'She-Hulk: Attorney At Law,' exclusively on Disney+.

Preview

‘Daredevil: Begin Again’ is facing a major creative overhaul after the first footage was assessed by executives.
Writers Chris Ord and Matt Corman, and the show’s current directors, have been let go.
The show is not the first Marvel Disney+ series to suffer behind-the-scenes issues.

From the sounds of things, the title ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ is taking on yet another meaning.

The series, which represents Marvel Studios’ attempt to properly bring the blind lawyer-turned-superhero vigilante to Disney+ following cameos by star Charlie Cox in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ and ‘She-Hulk’ has hit some creative wobbles, according to a new story in The Hollywood Reporter.

And the plan to fix it, is to reportedly find some new creative blood.

What’s happening with ‘Daredevil: Begin Again’?

Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in Marvel Studios' 'She-Hulk: Attorney At Law,' exclusively on Disney+.

‘Daredevil: Begin Again’ was supposed to be Marvel triumphantly proving it can take a character that has been brought to TV screens elsewhere (Cox played the character for three seasons and the ‘Defenders’ team-up limited series on Netflix, produced by a different Marvel small-screen team).

Commissioned from writers Chris Ord and Matt Corman, it was set for a mammoth 18-episode shoot and cameras started rolling back in March. Less than half the episodes had been filmed when the writers’ strike closed down production, but that was far from the only issue.

In the Reporter’s story, there is mention that the executives screened the available footage and didn’t like where the show was headed, including the fact that Cox allegedly didn’t show up in costume as Daredevil until episode four.

Which, we must admit, is surprising, because you have to assume the team signed off on the scripts, and the character’s actions would have been apparent on the page.

Now, a big overhaul is planned, with Ord and Corman out and the directors hired for the season also let go. The search is on for new writers and directors to bring the show more closely in alignment with Marvel’s thinking once Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio (reprising his role as classic Daredevil villain the Kingpin from the Netflix version, having also appeared in the MCU’s ‘Hawkeye’ series) and the other cast can return to work with the resolution of the actors’ strike.

Much of the acquired footage will be repurposed and new storylines added.

What other Marvel series have seen issues?

This is far from the first of the MCU-linked series to see problems behind the scenes. The Reporter’s story also mentions that ‘Moon Knight’ head writer Jeremy Slater quit the show, with main director Mohamed Diab taking on more of the creative workload.

On ‘She-Hulk’, show creator and writer Jessica Gao was largely sidelined once director Kat Coiro came on to oversee a production that suffered with Covid issues. But unlike Slater, Gao was brought back in during post-production to finish the series.

And perhaps the most chaotic example –– which can truly be seen on screen –– is ‘Secret Invasion’, which suffered a revolving door of creative teams even through pre-production, with the back-and-forth even threatening to foil the series completely as schedule changes meant cast could have been unavailable.

The result? One of the worst-reviewed and least-watched Marvel TV series to land on Disney+.

It’s clear Marvel is struggling to adapt its successful movie method to TV despite aiming to change how shows are produced.

From the sounds of it, the plan now is to switch back to a more traditional process, including working up pilots and show bibles instead of cranking out whole first seasons of series at big expense.