Matt Murdock is finally getting his second series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it will be one of the darkest installments in Marvel Studios history according to the Daredevil: Born Again showrunner. With the Marvel-Netflix shows officially canon in the MCU timeline, Phase 5 is about to revisit one of the best eras for the franchise with the launch of Daredevil: Born Again. Even though there have been dark MCU shows on Disney+, Daredevil: Born Again is to raise the bar for Marvel Studios.
In a new interview with SFX magazine (via GamesRadar), Daredevil: Born Again showrunner Dario Scardapane spoke about the lengths the new Hell’s Kitchen-centric series is going to compared to other Disney+ shows in recent times. According to Scardapane, the Disney+ show is pushing the boundaries in Charlie Cox’s new MCU project, with the showrunner also explaining that, because of this, the biggest competition for Daredevil: Born Again in terms of gritty comic book series is The Penguin:
Dario Scardapane: It’s really strange. You work in a vacuum and then something else comes out and you go, ‘Oh, wow’. I would say in many ways The Penguin is our direct competition. However, we’re even more grounded, even less stylized, even more rooted in the here and now. I loved Penguin. We’re a little faster, meaner, cleaner in our storytelling… It has a pace and a scope that, for a lot of reasons, Netflix wasn’t able to do. They were very dark cinematically, not necessarily story-wise, although there were some dark elements. We’re much darker. This is as far as a Disney Plus show has ever gone.
From Scardapane’s comments about the Daredevil: Born Again story, it makes sense that the sequel series will be able to explore areas that they couldn’t back during Netflix’s Daredevil. While Daredevil, through its whole run, was one of the most violent and gritty series for the comic book genre, this was still back during the MCU’s relatively early era, as Marvel Studios was still building out their universe. But the MCU has come a long way since Daredevil season 3 concluded, as the franchise has gone through some major changes, both in terms of story and tonally, too.
Throughout the Disney+ era of MCU TV shows, most of its releases have been relatively balanced in their overall tone, with a handful of exceptions. Recent additions like Echo showed that Marvel Studios can and is willing to explore corners of the MCU where it’s less fantastical and more gritty, which sets a good precedent for Daredevil: Born Again. If Daredevil: Born Again ends up being a success for Marvel Studios, it could potentially lead to more MCU shows on Disney+ that go in similar directions while also allowing the franchise to grow a bit.
With less than two months to go before its release, time will tell just how far Daredevil: Born Again will go from all the other MCU shows that have aired already. But, based on the first Daredevil: Born Again trailer, fans who loved the original Netflix series and are hoping to see the MCU go into darker territory will not be disappointed. Hopefully, there will be more footage released from Daredevil: Born Again in February as the MCU gets ready for the show’s March premiere.
Daredevil: Born Again
- Release Date
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March 4, 2025
- Showrunner
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Chris Ord
- Directors
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Michael Cuesta, Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Jeffrey Nachmanoff
- Writers
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Chris Ord
Upcoming MCU Movies
Source: SFX magazine/GamesRadar