2021 was an exciting time to be a Daredevil fan, as that was the year both Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin were officially inducted into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with cameos in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye, respectively.
However, the more we heard about the planned Disney Plus reboot, Daredevil: Born Again, the more worried we all were. Now, reports of an overhaul happening with the show mid-production is giving Marvel a golden opportunity to course correct in order to make it more aligned with the tone of the original Netflix series.
Though the production for Born Again was originally put on pause due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Marvel boss Kevin Feige and other executives watched what was filmed so far, realized it wasn’t working, and have decided to essentially start from scratch. The overhaul includes eventually replacing head writers Chris Ord and Matt Corman.
So what can Marvel do to ensure Daredevil: Born Again gets on the right track? We have a list of five suggestions that we believe Disney should consider a top priority.
Bring back Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page
It’s been previously reported that Deborah Ann Woll will not be returning as Karen Page in Daredevil: Born Again. However, now that an overhaul is taking place, this could be an opportunity to change that fact and please the many fans who were devastated by that news to begin with. After all, Woll was fantastic as Karen, who was somewhat the heart of the series in a strange way.
In the first season of Netflix’s Daredevil, it is Karen who is Matt and Foggy’s first client as lawyers after she is framed for murder, so she somewhat serves as the stand-in for the audience as we are introduced to the Man Without Fear and Hell’s Kitchen. She was great in the role, and we never quite got why she wasn’t brought back for Daredevil: Born Again. However, if the rumor is true that both Karen and Foggy were initially killed off as characters in the now-scrapped first episode of Daredevil: Born Again, that makes it as urgent as ever to undo that misguided plot point.
Bring back Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson
Like Woll’s Karen, Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson was a similarly integral character in Netflix’s Daredevil that we can’t really see any good reason to not bring back. I will admit, that I personally disliked the Foggy character in the earlier seasons of Daredevil due to what seemed like his jealous, almost petty relationship with his friend Matt, always complaining that he was better looking and got all the girls and such. However, as the character developed, I grew to love him, especially when he truly came into his own during the subplot of him running for district attorney in season 3.
Even during the early seasons, Henson’s performance as Foggy was never at fault. Even if Feige and company wanted to retool his character slightly for Daredevil: Born Again, I personally think it would be an instant lay-up to bring Henson back. Clearly, his version of Foggy is pretty much just as beloved among fans as Woll’s Karen.
Keep Kingpin grounded in reality
D’Onofrio returning as Kingpin in the MCU is probably one of the smartest decisions Feige has ever made, right up there with bringing Cox back as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. However, when the actor appeared briefly in the Disney Plus series Hawkeye as the secret antagonist in the final episode, some fans were put off by how he was portrayed. You see, the character survived getting hit by a car and being shot, making some wonder if he all of a sudden had superpowers in the MCU iteration.
There could be some non-supernatural explanation for how Wilson Fisk survived these things, as established in the comics, such as wearing a bullet-proof over-jacket and having layers of muscles akin to a sumo wrestler that contribute to his over-sized frame. However, all we ask is that the MCU keep Kingpin as a realistic threat and don’t go too crazy with these types of antics. The reason for this is that Kingpin being a character who you could imagine existing in real life made him that much more frightening in the Netflix Daredevil series.
Maintain Matt Murdock’s status as an almost antihero
Something that was so compelling about the original Netflix Daredevil series was Matt Murdock’s somewhat morally gray approach to crimefighting. True, he didn’t go as far as killing people like Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle, who we are delighted is returning to the MCU. However, it can be easy to forget just how willing Daredevil was to get blood on his hands during one of the multiple epic hallway fight scenes in the series.
In fact, one moment in the first season of Netflix’s Daredevil sort of made him a straight-up antihero in many regards. After all, in episode 2, Matt Murdock throws a thug off the roof and into a dumpster and then callously quips “He’ll live.” Would the yellow-clad version of the superhero who appeared in Disney Plus’ She-Hulk do the same thing? We certainly hope so.
Keep the dark tone of the Netflix series
It’s fair to say the Netflix Daredevil series was something of a film noir in many ways. You have a complex, somewhat tortured main character going up against the seedy underbelly of a notoriously crime-filled New York City neighborhood with darkness lurking in every corner. The show was visually filled with shadows and often took place at night, as well. Not only that but we got chilling scenes regularly, such as D’Onofrio’s Kingpin smashing a person’s head in a car door until he dies for insulting his crush.
To date, no Disney Plus show has matched the dark tone of Netflix’s Daredevil thus far, with all of them being considerably more colorful, bright, and less violent. However, we think Marvel would be wise to change this paradigm when it brings the Man Without Fear into the fold. After all, we are at a place where R-rated movies like Deadpool and Logan can now be found on the House Mouse’s streaming service, so there is a precedent.