‘I was willing to lose a job over this’: MCU fans can’t thank ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ showrunner enough for fighting Marvel on this big change

The nearer we get to Daredevil: Born Again‘s long-awaited release next month, the more it’s sounding like we dodged a bullet with the original vision for the show. The latest comments from showrunner Dario Scardapane remind us that we came this close to a version of the series that would’ve spat in the face of the spirit of the Netflix original, and fans couldn’t be more grateful it didn’t come to pass.

Don’t forget, before Marvel was forced to halt and look at what it had when the 2023 strikes occurred, Born Again had already shot multiple episodes that were ultimately flung on the scrapheap when the studio canned the creative team and started again from scratch. One thing that new EP Scardapane was adamant would be fixed? The lack of Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) and Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), fellow avocados at law to Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock.

Originally, neither star was invited back to reprise their roles for the new series, but Scardapane made sure to change that when he came aboard. As he explained to Empire Magazine, he was even willing to throw himself on the firing line in order to make this happen, as he knew just how integral Karen and Foggy were to the ol’ hornhead’s story.

“I was willing to lose a job over this one,” he stressed. “Because season 3 of the Netflix show ended with a dream, with the names on that napkin. If you don’t pay that off, you’re not giving your characters context. You can’t ignore that dream.”

As Scardapane says, DD season 3 concluded with the trio deciding to rebrand their lawfirm “Nelson, Murdock, & Page,” promising a bright future for the three as inseparable partners, so it’s almost impossible to imagine an iteration of Born Again that ignored that outright. Unsurprisingly, then, Scardapane is earning a lot of brownie points from fans for fighting in their corner.

And that's how we know we got the right showrunner who cares about their work and willing to lose a job over doing the right thing for the characters and the audience pic.twitter.com/lg1Qx5AOpQ

— Gemini Jack (@GeminiJack11) February 11, 2025

This is why you get a Defenders Saga vet like Scardapane (who previously wrote for The Punisher) to bring the Defenders to Disney Plus.

Dario cooking like he did with the punisher

— Timo (@TimooMMA) February 11, 2025

Simply put…

He gets it https://t.co/S5HlPpttI8

— 𝗕𝗹𝘅𝗰𝗸𝘄𝗼𝗹𝗳 (@Blxckwolfeffect) February 11, 2025

On the other hand, some are scared things aren’t going to remain so dreamlike forever for Nelson, Murdock, and Page.

Which one of them dies, Dario? :dd pic.twitter.com/TNqCC0JLIl

— Smeagol 🇬🇪 (@DunduaNino) February 11, 2025

The problem with Scardapane’s promise is that fans have long feared that Foggy and/or Karen are only being brought back so that one (or, heaven forbid, maybe both) of them can get killed off to motivate Matt’s new crime-fighting crusade. Just look at how little the pair have featured in the trailers, for example. Still, the EP’s comments do suggest he really cares about these characters, and he knows how much they mean to people, so with any luck all the fan theories are wrong on this one. If Nelson, Murdock, & Page are missing a member come March 4, though, then there will be hell(‘s kitchen) to pay, Marvel.