The upcoming season of the blind lawyer-turned-crimefighter series Daredevil has been subject to a massive creative overhaul. According to The Hollywood Reporter, during the writers’ strike production break in mid-June, Marvel executives, including President Kevin Feige, looked at what had already been shot of the soft reboot and concluded that it simply wasn’t working.
This reportedly led the studio to rework and reshoot several episodes with new writers, directors, and even new actors. The move was risky for Marvel, as the series is a ratings success, and the studio wants to keep it from dropping. However, the reshuffling will allow the show to retain some of what has already been shot and give it a fresher, more exciting direction.
It’s not uncommon for TV shows to undergo these changes during production and even post-production. Television is a different medium than movies and requires showrunners to have the right skills to keep the story arc consistent throughout the season. Showrunners are typically hired to oversee a series and ensure that the plot is arcing correctly, that the writing is good, and that the characters remain engaging.
The big problem for Marvel, which prompted the rework of Daredevil: Born Again, was that the series needed to meet expectations during its first season on Netflix. The ratings did not spike as high as hoped, and the overall reception could have been better.
This may have been due to the premise of the series itself, which was not as gripping as the previous iteration of the show and didn’t quite capture Hell’s Kitchen’s dark, gritty atmosphere. It also could have resulted from an uneven pace and a tendency for certain scenes to feel unnecessarily long.
Regardless, Marvel has now severed ties with head writers Chris Ord and Matt Corman and their respective directors. However, Ord and Corman will still be credited as executive producers on the project. The company is seeking new writers to revamp the series and bring it in a more thrilling direction, though they will keep some of the footage that has been shot while adding some other elements and a serialized focus.
Despite this massive series reworking, co-star Vincent D’Onofrio remains positive. He believes that the rumors reflect the constantly changing nature of television and that the Daredevil team will continue to deliver a quality product. He also encourages fans not to believe everything they read and wait until the series premieres. It’s expected to air sometime next year, with Charlie Cox reprising his role as Matt Murdock and Vincent D’Onofrio continuing as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin. Watch a video of D’Onofrio discussing the reports of the creative overhaul below.