Marvel scraps Daredevil: Born Again halfway through shooting

Well, this is unexpected news. Marvel Studios has reportedly scrapped all progress on Daredevil: Born Again despite being over halfway through shooting.

It was a great shame when Daredevil was cancelled on Netflix, likewise with Jessica Jones and The Punisher. Sorry to Iron Fist and Luke Cage. Those shows lost their way. It’s understandable why the Netflix Marvel universe drew to a close. With Disney Plus launching, Disney needed to nab back the Marvel TV rights. It doesn’t make the thought of a lost season four of Daredevil or season three of The Punisher any easier to swallow though. What did ease our woes was the announcement of Daredevil: Born Again - a brand new series which would officially draft Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock into the MCU.

The Marvels is on the way next. Take a look at the trailer below.

Of course, Cox has already appeared in a couple of MCU projects, but Born Again would debut the Daredevil character in the franchise on a much grander scale. With Jon Bernthal confirmed to return as Frank Castle and Krysten Ritter rumoured to be returning as Jessica Jones, it looked as if our dreams were finally coming true. However, a new report by The Hollywood Reporter claims that Marvel has fired all writers and directors on the show, despite the series having filmed over half of its episodes.

It’s believed that Daredevil: Born Again is still in development. It’s just that Marvel has taken the decision to do a rather costly and drastic reset. The show was due to have 18 episodes, and the report claims that at least nine of these had been filmed. Filming has been on hiatus since June though due to the now-resolved WGA strike and ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.

Last month, Marvel reportedly let head writers Chris Ord and Matt Corman go, parting ways with the show’s various directors shortly after. It’s now believed that new writers and directors are being recruited. Sources told THR that “Corman and Ord crafted a legal procedural that did not resemble the Netflix version, known for its action and violence”. The reset may be a good thing then, as we clearly want the latter.

The source added that it took four episodes for Cox to actually don the Daredevil costume. Marvel is now rethinking the concept, and plans to keep some scenes whilst injecting new life into the show. Ord and Corman remain as executive producers. I guess it’s back to the drawing board.