+ Q: Why did Kevin Feige fire Matt Corman and Chris Ord from Daredevil: Born Again, and who is going to replace them?
A: On October 11, 2023 THR broke the news that in late September Marvel let go of executive producers Corman and Ord, along with the directors, as part of a creative reboot to make the series more closely resemble its Netflix inception. This reset is part of a whole new approach Marvel Studios will be undertaking, i.e. learning to love “traditional TV culture,” by writing pilots, show bibles, and hiring showrunners to oversee a creative throughline, as required by their freshly inked contract with the WGA.
These are things we as a campaign have been openly longing for since the MCU TV experiment began, so it was surprise met with a sense of inevitability when on October 27th Variety announced that Marvel Studios had found its new showrunner in Dario Scardapane, who wrote and executive produced Marvel’s The Punisher.
As previously reported, Jon Bernthal will be reprising his role as Frank Castle in Daredevil: Born Again, so hiring Scardapane will no doubt please fans of the anti-hero, and perhaps bode well for Daredevil fans who were hoping for a darker, grittier Man Without Fear in his Disney+ revival.
+ Q: I read that Elden and Deborah won’t be in Daredevil: Born Again. Why aren’t you fighting for them? I thought Save Daredevil was about more than Charlie Cox.
A: Save Daredevil was indeed about more than Charlie Cox. The proof is embedded in the history of our campaign.
The Hollywood Reporter noted there was no mention of either character on the roll call they saw, but that it was unclear if the characters had been recast or excised from the story. This isn’t the same as saying they won’t be in it.
That being said, as Born Again is in full production we have entered the wait and see stage of our campaign. Anything that could have been done from our end has been done.
+ Q: I read that recasting Vanessa means that the first three seasons of Daredevil aren’t canon.
A: The truth is, we don’t know why Ayelet won't be back. It’s very possible Marvel Studios wanted her, but she was simply unavailable.
The internet is full of self-appointed authorities on the inner workings of the mind of Kevin Feige. Don’t listen to them. Edward Norton’s Incredible Hulk is MCU canon, despite the fact Mark Ruffalo replaced him as the face of Bruce Banner. Unless there is something huge that directly contradicts previous events, don’t waste your time trying to make sense of rumors and conjecture.
+ Q: I’m worried Disney will ruin Daredevil by making it child-friendly.
A: It’s a valid concern considering most of the Disney+ Marvel series that have been produced so far, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the Netflix shows were produced by Disney-owned Marvel Entertainment and ABC Signature. It was also recently announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 that Marvel Zombies is going to be TV-MA.
Now that Bob Chapek’s tenure at Disney has been brought to an abrupt end, there’s renewed concern the return of Bob Iger will kill any hope of Daredevil being TV-MA.
We can only emphasise that as of now, nothing official has been announced regarding the maturity level of Born Again, however, Kevin Feige confirmed in February, 2023 that Marvel Studios' first Deadpool film would also be its first R-rated film.
+ Q: Why didn’t Marvel Studios hire the showrunner / original writers room from Netflix's Daredevil?
A: It’s safe to say that revolving writers and showrunners became the norm for Netflix's Daredevil, starting with Drew Goddard who is credited as the creator. Goddard wrote the first two episodes of season one before handing the baton off to Steven DeKnight. Doug Petrie and Marco Ramierz took over showrunning responsibilities for season two before Erik Oleson came on board for season three.
While it was always our wish to see the return of as many of the original cast, crew and creatives as possible, we have to acknowledge it was always a very distinct possibility they simply would not be available. Steven DeKnight is currently working on a new Spartacus project, and it was recently reported that Erik Oleson has extended his exclusive contract with Amazon Prime as he sets up his own production company. So it's with that we extend to them our sincere congratulations, and wish them the best of luck in their new endeavors.
