With Daredevil: Born Again hitting Disney+ this past month, Marvel Studios' red-suited vigilante is officially back—but whether he and the rest of the cast will leap from the small screen to the silver one remains to be seen.
Originally announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, the series was pitched as an ambitious 18-episode arc. But what followed was a complete reworking of the project. Behind-the-scenes shake-ups led to the firing of creators Matt Corman and Chris Ord, along with the initial team of writers and directors. Dario Scardapane eventually stepped in as showrunner, while Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead—who’ve previously helmed episodes of Moon Knight and Loki—joined the directing team.
The overhaul reflects a broader recalibration within Marvel Studios, particularly in how it approaches TV production. Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s Head of Streaming, Television and Animation, noted the studio's new strategy. The studio would be operating with a more traditional TV model of using showrunners and developing more than would be produced, signaling a move away from the film-centric approach that had previously shaped Disney+ offerings.
With Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil) and Vincent D’Onofrio (Wilson Fisk/Kingpin) reprising their roles, Born Again also reintroduces Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson, Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page, and Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle/The Punisher. The revised series will now run for nine episodes in its first season, with a second season of eight episodes already penciled in for 2026.
Despite the anticipation, some fans have noted tonal inconsistencies in the reworked show. A standout example is episode five, “With Interest,” a pre-overhaul bottle episode focused largely on Murdock and Ms. Marvel’s Yusuf Khan (Mohan Kapur). It stands in contrast to the rest of the series, which tries to blend the original and new visions into one cohesive narrative.
Meanwhile, speculation continues to swirl around the potential big-screen future of these street-level heroes. Cox has already made his MCU debut in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), but D’Onofrio’s Fisk and Bernthal’s Punisher have yet to make that leap. While Bernthal is currently co-writing a Marvel Special Presentation centered on the Punisher, it's reportedly a more standalone affair than fans may have hoped.
As for Fisk, D’Onofrio recently addressed the uncertainty during an interview with Josh Horowitz (via Comic Book Movie), explaining that legal complications are holding things up.
“The only thing I know is not positive. It's a very hard thing to do, for Marvel to use my character,” D’Onofrio said. “Right now, I’m only usable for television series… but not even a one-off Fisk movie or anything like that, it’s all caught up in rights and stuff. I don’t know when that would work out, or if it ever would work out at all, actually.”
His comments came in response to rumors about a potential appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026), which is expected to follow Avengers: Doomsday—a Phase Six tentpole directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. That film, just recently unveiled with an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr. as Victor Von Doom, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, and Chris Hemsworth returning as Thor, is already shaping up to be a game-changer for the MCU.
Whether Daredevil gets pulled into that cosmic-scale chaos is still unclear. With Season 2 of Born Again likely airing in early-to-mid 2026, the timeline does allow for a potential crossover, but Marvel has yet to confirm anything regarding Cox's involvement in the Avengers saga or beyond.
For many fans, the comparisons between Born Again and the original Daredevil series on Netflix are inevitable. That series, which ran from 2015 to 2018, helped redefine what a superhero TV show could be.
Set in Hell’s Kitchen, Netflix’s Daredevil followed Matt Murdock as he balanced life as a blind lawyer and masked crime-fighter. Alongside Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, he faced off against D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, whose layered portrayal remains a standout in the MCU’s villain roster. The show also introduced characters like Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), Elektra (Élodie Yung), and Frank Castle, with Jon Bernthal's Punisher proving a massive fan favorite.
Helmed by Drew Goddard and later showrunners Steven S. DeKnight, Doug Petrie, Marco Ramirez, and Erik Oleson, Daredevil earned praise for its gritty tone, intricate character work, and visceral action—elements fans are hoping will translate to the Disney+ revival.
With Cox and D’Onofrio now firmly planted in the MCU, the legacy of Daredevil continues to shape the current landscape of Marvel storytelling. But whether that legacy will extend to a theatrical return for these characters remains one of the franchise’s biggest lingering questions.
Would you like to see the Daredevil: Born Again cast hit the big screen? Sound off in the comments below!
