Summary
Daredevil: Born Againhit the reset button after Marvel Studios decided the series wasn’t up to the company’s standards. This prompted a formerAgents of SHIELDwriter to point out why Marvel Studios is experiencing difficulties with its TV projects.
Starting in 2015,Daredevilwas a Netflix show based on the eponymous character from Marvel Comics, a blind high-profile attorney who moonlights as a crime-fighting vigilante, challenging the criminal enterprises of his native Hell’s Kitchen like Bullseye and The Kingpin to a war on two fronts. The series was well received by fans and ran for three seasons before ending at the streamer. Marvel Studios would later announce plans to introduce Daredevil to the MCU in a new series, with Charlie Cox reprising the lead role.
Unfortunately for fans looking forward to the show’s previously optimistic 2024 release date, the entire project was recently scrapped by MCU boss Kevin Feige, withseveralDaredevil: Born Againcontributors firedand the show being overhauled creatively despite filming having started before the SAG-AFTRA strike.Drew Greenberg, a scribe on the interrelated Marvel showAgents of SHIELD,took to social media to air what many have seen as shade directed at Marvel Studios in light of the chaos. The post reads, “My time on #AgentsOfSHIELD was among the most rewarding I’ve ever had in my career. I’m intensely proud of the 136 hours of excellent TV we made and made well. It worked because everyone there knew how to make TV. Just thought I’d mention it.”
While the post doesn’t say anything remotely negative or nameDaredevil: Born Again, the general tone and timing of the post say a lot. The fans in the replies seemed to have gotten this message loud and clear, with many sharing humorous responses or speaking fondly about the Netflix-era shows. While he hasn’t had any MCU experience, Greenberg’s writing credits include the likes ofThe OC,Star Wars: The Clone Wars,Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and even work on rival company DC’s showsSmallvilleandArrow. The latter DC project wasone of the highest-ranked Arrowverse shows, singlehandedly starting an interconnected TV franchise similar to the small-screen Marvel universe that includedAgents of SHIELD.
With his wealth of experience as a TV writer on acclaimed shows that appeal to the MCU demographic, there’s no doubt that Greenberg has as much right as anyone to critique the messy affairs happening at Marvel Studios. If he is speaking out against the attempted MCU conversion ofDaredevil: Born Again, it would resonate with a large contingent of fans who complained about the move in the first instance, with many arguing that the Netflix shows still had a lot of mileage and appeal left that a Disney Plus-safe version would never be able to embody. The creators behind the Netflix Marvel shows might also rightly feel left out of the process, comparable toArrowverse creator Marc Guggenheim bemoaning his wasted timebuilding the successful franchise only to be left out when it was time for the heroes to join the bigger-budget company offerings.
With Feige unimpressed by the retooled series and insisting on new writers being brought in to oversee the creation of a Daredevil story from scratch, it might be a good time for the Marvel Studios head honcho to reflect onwhy Daredevil is stuck on the small screenwhen the character could be doing so much more and already resonates with so many fans. Only time will tell how well the resultant series will do after all the chaos behind the scenes.
Daredevil: Born Againwill be released on Disney Plus.
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