In March, Disney will debut Daredevil: Born Again, a continuation of the Daredevil series that ran for three seasons on Netflix, to much acclaim. All of the cast members from the original show are coming back, including Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock and Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, but there will be changes. There will be fewer episodes per season, for instance: nine vs 13. And showrunner Dario Scardapane told SFX Magazine that the tone would shift.
"There is more fun in the moments with these characters and a lot less navel-gazing than before," Scardapane said. "The earlier show, at its best, was fantastic. At its worst, it was two characters in a room talking about what a hero is. I felt that had been done. I'm not taking swipes. I just didn't want to hear characters grousing about their lot in life. I wanted to see them doing things.”
Before taking this job, Scardapane worked as a writer on the Netflix show The Punisher, where he remembers being told to write longer scenes between characters, something he apparently doesn't have to do now that he's making a show on Disney+. "You had these long five-page scenes of characters hashing it out in order to make space between these massive action sequences. The way stuff has evolved since then, we're able to do big action sequences at a lot more pace.
"I really feel that Netflix's Daredevil, which I know in my blood, was much more noir, and this show is more New York crime story. It has elements of The Sopranos and King Of New York. There's a feeling for those classic '90s crime tales. 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."
Should fans be worried about the new Daredevil show?
We can conclude anything definitive based on one interview, but I don't think Scardapane did himself any favors with these soundbites. Interpreted uncharitably, he basically seems to be saying, "Scenes where characters talk are bad. Our new show will have lots of action, which is what people really want."
This strawman version of Scardapane's comments might set off alarm bells. The original Daredevil show received consistently excellent ratings from fans, so I don't think they were calling for change. Daredevil was trending on X today, with many fans worried that Scardapane's comments preview a dumbed down version of the show they loved.
We won't know for sure until Daredevil: Born Again premieres on Disney+ on Tuesday, March 4. Of course I'm hoping it will be good, but I'm also bracing for impact. Scardapane can say that the new show is "much darker" all he wants, but the fact is that it's airing on Disney+, a streaming service that tries to maintain a family-friendly vibe, so I'll believe it when I see it.
If you're wondering, Scardapane was not the showrunner on the original Daredevil series, although he did work on spinoffs like The Punisher. The original show actually had a lot of turnover in the showrunner's seat: Steven S. DeKnight filled the role in the first season, Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez stepped in for the second, and Erik Oleson took over for the third. Throughout it all, the quality stayed pretty high. Will Scardapane keep that roll going? We'll find out soon.
Charlie Cox confirms that Daredevil: Born Again season 2 will happen
However people react to the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, star Charlie Cox recently revealed the Fan EXPO in San Francisco that filming on season 2 will start in February or March, meaning that the cameras will be rolling on the second season while the first is dropping new episodes.
Hopefully this all works out. Hopefully the first season drops and people love it. Hopefully they're ravenous for more by the time it ends, and Disney will already be working on a way to get them more of what they want. Hopefully.
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