Daredevil: Born Again was a big success for Marvel Studios, receiving praise from critics and fans alike. The series also managed to bring back characters and storylines from the popular Marvel Netflix shows, officially making them part of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe – something many longtime fans were excited to see. The show’s strong viewership even led to discussions about a third season before the second season was set to release in March 2026. However, the show faced significant challenges during its creation. It went through a major change in creative direction mid-production, which resulted in some problems with how the story flowed and felt in the first season. Recently, Vincent D’Onofrio, who plays Kingpin, explained how he and co-star Charlie Cox were instrumental in persuading the studio to reconsider its approach.
“We had countless discussions about feeling like the show was heading in the wrong direction and needed to be stopped,” D’Onofrio explained while speaking at LA ComicCon. “It was a significant step for us to be honest with the studio, our supervisors, and the producers.” The actor described how he and Cox persistently tried to improve the production. “Our approach was simply to consistently provide feedback – note after note. We discussed everything, reviewed each other’s comments, shared emails, and sent group messages, but nothing seemed to be working,” he said. “They weren’t listening to us. Eventually, we managed to get the attention of the right people. And we were fortunate-though, sadly, not for everyone else-that the actors went on strike. This allowed our studio heads to review the 6 [episodes] we’d already filmed. And that’s when they began making changes to the series.”
Wow, the changes after that studio reassessment were huge! They totally ditched the original idea for the show – it was supposed to be a legal drama with a bit of fun, but they went in a completely different direction. They wanted it to feel much more like the original Netflix Daredevil series, and honestly, I was relieved! They also replaced the original head writers, Matt Corman and Chris Ord, with Dario Scardapane, who’d worked on Netflix’s The Punisher. He became the new showrunner. This creative shift really brought the show back to its gritty roots and allowed them to really lean into the characters’ established history. And get this – the original plan for one long, 18-episode season was scrapped too! Instead, they decided to split the story into two seasons. This meant they could really focus on the Mayor Fisk storyline and give it the deliberate pacing it deserved over multiple seasons. It was a smart move, in my opinion.
Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again Is Bound to Be Better
Although the first season of Daredevil: Born Again was ultimately successful, you can still see evidence of its difficult production process. The season’s uneven rhythm and storylines that weren’t fully explored clearly show that the show had to change course after filming was already underway. Furthermore, the final result sometimes feels like two separate shows combined, which happened because the creators shifted from a case-of-the-week format to a continuous, overarching crime story mid-production. Despite all of this, the fact that the season works at all is a testament to the efforts made to fix it. This also suggests that the second season of Daredevil: Born Again has the potential to be much better.
Now that a single, focused creative team is in place from the beginning, Season 2 won’t suffer from the disagreements that plagued the first season. Showrunner Dario Scardapane can now bring a clear and consistent vision to life right from day one of filming. This means no need for major changes mid-season, resulting in a smoother, more unified story that doesn’t have to awkwardly piece together footage from an earlier, different version of the show. This single creative direction, without the problems of Season 1, is the biggest sign that the best is still to come for The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.
The second season of Daredevil: Born Again is scheduled to premiere in March 2026.
What are you looking forward to most in the upcoming season of Daredevil: Born Again? Share your thoughts in the comments below and join the discussion now in the ComicBook Forum!
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2025-10-02 16:14