From the outside looking in, the reasons behind Disney Plus naming its street-level series set in the depths of Hell’s Kitchen as Daredevil: Born Again seemed pretty straightforward, making it clear that it isn’t a continuation of the three-season Netflix favorite.
As well as harking back to a classic comic book arc, it also makes it perfectly clear that Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock, Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk, and Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle might be reprising their iconic roles, but as brand new MCU versions of their established counterparts that aren’t tethered to their former streaming home at all.
However, there might be something more sinister afoot, as alluded to by former showrunner Steven DeKnight on social media. When it was brought to his attention that renaming and rebooting the property sets its established contractual terms back to square one, the filmmaker revealed that it wasn’t exactly a revelation to him, and it’s even something he says Disney has been guilty of in the past.
One of the most fascinating responses drags Hannah Montana into the conversation, with a query wondering if that was why one of the later runs was dubbed Hannah Montana Forever was done for the exact same reason.
Maybe it was, which is about the only connection between Daredevil and Miley Cyrus’ alter ego, but it’s yet another disingenuous use of small print that can and should be used as another bone of contention waved in the company’s face as writers and actors continue to strike for fair compensation.
