Daredevil: Born Again and The Penguin sets shut down until writers strike is over

It’s now been almost two months since screenwriters in the Writers Guild of America went on strike. In summary, the writers want better pay, more secure working condition and regulations on the use of AI, among other things. The body representing the studios, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), has not come back to the negotiating table, resulting in the productions of many shows and movies being interrupted and others getting delayed. We normal viewers haven’t felt the effects too badly yet, but we will the more time passes; get ready for a lot less scripted content and a lot more reality shows.

And the disruptions are only getting more intense. Thanks to the writers strike, the filming dates for shows like The Last of Us have gotten pushed back, since the writers aren’t working on scripts. But there are some TV shows where the scripts for the new season are already done and the studios are just plunging ahead, like House of the Dragon. But other TV shows aren’t so lucky: for instance, Deadline reports that production has shut down on both Daredevil: Born Again and The Penguin.

Daredevil: Born Again is a follow-up to the beloved Daredevil show on Netflix, with Charlie Cox returning to play superhero Matt Murdock. Meanwhile, The Penguin is a Max show starring Colin Farrell in the same villainous role he played opposite Robert Pattinson in The Batman. Both shows have had to shut down temporarily thanks to the writers strike before, but now they’re just closing up shop until the strike is resolved.

The writers strike shuts down more shows as studios refuse to come to the table

How will this affect their release dates? It’s unclear, but it can’t be good. It’s also interesting that these shows chose to shut down while a series like House of the Dragon is plunging ahead. It’s possible that the scripts for all the episodes of Born Again and The Penguin weren’t finished by the time the strike started, and they’re now running up against a lack of source material.

Or maybe it’s that both Born Again and The Penguin are filmed in major American cities where writers can form picket lines that interrupt production to the point where it’s not cost-effective to keep going, whereas House of the Dragon is filmed in far-flung parts of the world where it’s difficult to gather. Whatever the reason, the result is the same: shutdown.

So when will the strike end? It depends on when the AMPTP is willing to talk to the writers again. It’s possible the AMPTP is waiting until the end of the month to see if SAG-AFTRA — the union representing actors — also decides to strike. If they do, the studios may have to come back to the table; it’s hard to produce anything without writers or actors, after all.

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h/t The A.V. Club