Marvel is already ‘rebooting’ its upcoming Daredevil Disney Plus reboot

Daredevil: Born Again — Marvel Studios’ forthcoming live-action Daredevil reboot — is meant to further reintroduce Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock to the Marvel Cinematic Universe following the winding down of the studio’s yearslong partnership with Netflix, where the original Daredevil series previously streamed. While Marvel still seems to have big plans for the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, it seems as if Born Again has hit some major production snags that are almost certain to delay its Disney Plus debut.

According to a new piece from The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel has parted ways with former Daredevil: Born Again head writers Chris Ord and Matt Corman after determining that the duo’s vision for the series wasn’t in line with its own. Though “fewer than half of the series’ 18 episodes” were shot by late September, that was all Kevin Feige and other members of Marvel’s top brass needed to see of the more straightforward legal procedural before choosing to pump the brakes and going back to square one by beginning the search for a new creative team.

Ord and Corman will still be listed as executive producers on the show, which will feature “some scenes and episodes” the pair wrote. But in addition to releasing all of the directors who were previously attached to helm unshot episodes from this specific episodic project, Marvel is also reportedly planning to overhaul its entire approach to producing serialized television. Though it isn’t clear whether it will take this approach with Daredevil: Born Again, The Hollywood Reporter describes Marvel as being very keen on hiring showrunners — not just head writers paired with studio executives — to guide its series “from start to finish.”

The studio seems to have learned how valuable that role is following the tumultuous runs of recent series like Secret Invasion and She-Hulk, which both had production leads who seemingly had to fight losing battles to retain creative control. But Marvel’s pivot to showrunners also comes just as that role has officially been codified into the Writers Guild of America’s new labor contract — partially to address situations just like this before they become problems.

While it’s somewhat disappointing to hear that Daredevil: Born Again’s hit some turbulence, the last thing anyone really wants or needs are hordes of edgelords losing their minds on the internet because Charlie Cox doesn’t suit up until the show’s fourth episode. Marvel’s right to be asking itself “what is it that we’re trying to accomplish here, exactly?” with all of its projects because we’ve all seen how prioritizing growth (in the getting bigger sense) at all costs doesn’t automatically lead to quality entertainment franchises.

Clearly, Daredevil: Born Again doesn’t have an announced projected release date, but old episodes of the original Netflix-produced series are now streaming on Disney Plus.