The original Daredevil series aired on Netflix in 2015 and chronicled the narrative of Matt Murdock, played by Charlie Cox, as he tried to balance his life as a lawyer and as Daredevil. Despite its critical praise and great viewership, the show was discontinued in 2018 after three seasons.
The show was finally brought to Disney+ once Marvel regained control of the rights. This gave the MCU an excellent opportunity to develop Daredevil: Born Again.
However, for a variety of reasons, the original version of the show was scrapped and reworked. In a recent interview, Cox expressed his appreciation for the MCU, but it also raised one significant point.
Charlie Cox praises the MCU’s efforts on Daredevil: Born Again
Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil) and Vincent D’Onofrio (Wilson Fisk/Kingpin) were recently sighted at the Fan Expo Boston 2024 and spoke with Comicbook about the behind-the-scenes happenings of the breakthrough Netflix series. The duo disclosed how heavily involved they were in the scrapping of the original vision for the Born Again series and the creation of a new version of the MCU reboot.
Both actors expressed appreciation that Marvel Studios stepped in at the right time and reworked the show. Furthermore, Cox added:
Marvel had been incredibly open-minded and willing to correct course, and incredibly supportive. Early on, we were trying something that was a bit different, and very quickly they were able to identify that wasn’t maybe working as well as it could’ve done.
In response to Charlie Cox, D’Onofrio stated that the entire event was only possible due to his close relationship with Cox and their shared vision for the characters, as well as what the fandom desired. He added:
We just supported each other in everything that each other wanted, whether we were in the scene or not. Whether it featured our characters, it didn’t matter. As a team, Charlie and I considered the story and the fans.
While the rework of the original idea appears to align with what Marvel and Kevin Feige want from the show, it also raises a series of questions among the audience about why Marvel’s previously successful IPs are proving tough to work on.
For example, there have been multiple instances of reworks and hiring concerns in other productions, including Avengers 5 and Blade. On the other side, movies such as Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts*, relatively new to the MCU, is going seemingly smooth.
The MCU is developing a new plot for Daredevil: Born Again, but they are not fully abandoning the show’s original storyline. Further, Kevin Feige is following the same idea with the Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman starrer Deadpool & Wolverine.
Deadpool and Wolverine under the MCU umbrella
Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), who previously appeared under the 20th Century Fox banner, will make their Marvel Universe debut. While this information is well-known, CEO Kevin Feige recently detailed how he collaborated with Reynolds to introduce his Merc with a Mouth to the MCU. In the Official Marvel Podcast, Feige said:
We (Marvel) had nothing to do with the first two extremely successful Deadpool movies. So, in a way, we were playing on Ryan’s turf. We were playing in somebody else’s sandbox. The other way is that they were coming into our sandbox. We wanted to make it unique with the blending of those styles.
Kevin Feige stated that Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds did an outstanding job of integrating Reynolds’ Deadpool with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, as seen in the trailers.
Further, Jackman’s involvement in the film was an emotional event for Feige, who served as executive producer on the original X-Men film in 2000. He added:
When Hugh came on board, it became very emotional on a personal level for me, because my Marvel career absolutely started 26 years ago in pre-production on the first X-Men film.
The highly anticipated film is just around the verge, and with a star-studded cast and the MCU, it will undoubtedly produce magic on the big screen.
Deadpool & Wolverine is set to hit theaters on July 26, 2024. On the other hand, Daredevil: Born Again has been pushed to 2025.
