Daredevil: Born Again
Development
Initial work
Marvel Studios decided to make a new Daredevil-led series in January 2022, following the appearances in No Way Home and Hawkeye. Cox discussed such a series in March, believing it should begin a few years after the end of the previous series and be "re-imagined". Regarding whether it should be rated TV-MA as the Netflix series was, he believed Marvel Studios would be able to create a faithful version of the character without that rating. However, he found the comics "more exciting, readable, relatable when it lives in a darker space" such as Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev's run on the comics, and he felt important attributes of the character such as his age, Christian guilt, and history with women were more mature subjects. Cox was hopeful that a new series could have a more faithful adaptation of the "Born Again" storyline, from the comics by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, than the original series which had taken inspiration from that storyline for its third season. He described the storyline as "kind of a PG comic" and a guide for how the series could work with that rating.
Later in March, a Daredevil reboot series was reported to be in development with Feige and Marvel Studios Production and Development group executive Chris Gary as producers. The series was confirmed to be in development for Disney+ in late May, with Matt Corman and Chris Ord attached as head writers and executive producers. The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood both described it as a fourth season of the original series. During the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con in July, the series was officially announced as Daredevil: Born Again and was revealed to have 18 episodes for its first season. Cox said an 18-episode series was a "huge undertaking" and was chosen in part due to the many story possibilities that come with Murdock being a lawyer. Christian Holub at Entertainment Weekly believed the title was a reference to the character "literally being 'born again' into the official MCU" rather than the series being an adaptation of the "Born Again" storyline. Cox described Born Again as a "whole new thing" and not a fourth season of the Netflix series, which he felt was "the way to go. If you are going to do it again, do it differently."
Michael Cuesta was revealed to be directing the first episode of the series in March 2023. Additional directors were expected to direct blocks of episodes. D'Onofrio said they were working on two seasons and there would be "gigantic payoffs" during the second. He reiterated that they were approaching the new series differently from the Netflix series, with few plans to connect to the original. Jeffrey Nachmanoff and Clark Johnson—who was previously a director on the Marvel Netflix series Luke Cage (2016–2018)—joined the series as additional directors in May, with Johnson hired to direct two episodes.David Boyd was also set to direct.
Dario Scardapane, a writer on Netflix's Daredevil spin-off series The Punisher (2017–2019), was hired to serve as showrunner for Born Again in October 2023. This came after Marvel changed its approach to television production to have more traditional showrunners rather than head writers. Filmmaking duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who previously worked on the Marvel Studios series Moon Knight (2022) and the second season of Loki (2023), were hired to direct the remaining episodes of the first season. Soon after Scardapane joined, the creative team decided that Born Again should harken back to the tone of the Netflix series and continue storylines from it, rather than be a complete reset.Cox said there was a "fine balance to strike" with this approach, but thought the new creative direction had a good reason for "remaking it" while still being familiar to what came before. In November 2023, Benson and Moorhead said they were reviewing the existing footage and looking to prior Daredevil content, including the Netflix series, to inform the foundation of their direction. They said they were fans of Miller's "Born Again" run, and Benson said he was a fan of Daredevil as a child despite not being "a huge comic book guy". The duo said this was their first MCU project where they were able to find their footing early on after being "thrown in the deep end" with Moon Knight and Loki. They were also more comfortable working with the more grounded style of Born Again, which is similar to their independent films, compared to the "mind-bending sci-fi affairs" of those previous MCU projects. Moorhead described Born Again's stakes as "primal and graspable". D'Onofrio said the directors were Marvel's "hottest talent", and he was confident the series would work after they joined. His friend and Moon Knight co-star Ethan Hawke told D'Onofrio about his positive experience working with the pair, and D'Onofrio was also a fan of their work on Loki, particularly how they handled violence.
Three new episodes were written, including a new pilot episode, as well as additional scenes for the previously shot episodes. Cox confirmed in May 2024 that nine episodes had been filmed, which Feige said was the first season of Born Again. Cuesta, Nachmanoff, and Boyd were re-confirmed to be credited directors for the series. Cox said the new version of the series was more in line with the Netflix series, while D'Onofrio said he and others who worked on the previous version were pleased with the new iteration.
