Marvel fans will get to experience something rather unprecedented whenever Disney+ brings out Daredevil: Born Again, as it’ll be the first MCU project fully focusing on characters and cast members who were quasi-ported from the Netflix era, with Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Jon Bernthal each returning to deliver adjusted versions of Matt Murdock, Wilson Fisk, and Frank Castle, respectively. Many have wondered what to expect from the new drama after having spent a bit of comedic time with Cox’s MCU Daredevil in She-Hulk. Now, D’Onofrio has shared a handful of interesting (if not exactly specific) details about how the Born Again vibe will compare to the Defenders shows, while also seemingly confirming a second season is being planned out.
The Full Metal Jacket star was chatting with Newsweek to promote the Season 3 finale of MGM+’s Godfather of Harlem, and addressed the fact that he’s back in smooth-scalp mode as Wilson Fisk, having spent the past few weeks filming for Disney+’s Daredevil: Born Again, which was previously reported as being in production throughout the rest of 2023. And in D’Onofrio’s mind, the MCU’s take on these characters will take things in a different direction from what viewers have seen before, which will no doubt enthuse some while worrying others. In his words:
I think it's something that people are not going to expect. But, always with these Marvel old comic stories that are being revisited and reinvented by us actors, and the writers, the main thing is to answer the fans. To give them what they want, but try to be original in some way at the same time, and so that's what we're doing on the show. It's definitely an original way to look at this, and it's really deep, really emotional.
It’s obviously impossible to know exactly what he’s talking about in terms of what’s being reinvented and what counts as original storytelling fodder for Born Again that wasn’t in play for Daredevil’s three seasons on Netflix. But I can’t help but wonder if that emotional element will have anything to do with a particular set decoration detail that could indicate the Man Without Fear, the Kingpin and Punisher were all safe during the Thanos-induced Blip, while others in their lives wouldn’t have been as lucky. It would make sense for Matt to be down in the dumps without Foggy and Karen, if that’s indeed how things will play out.
Vincent D’Onofrio already views Daredevil: Born Again as handling the dual task of meeting up with fan expectations while simultaneously managing to buck those suppositions. Not exactly a weak order by any stretch.
But if the actor is to be believed, Disney+ may have already put in a soft renewal order for a second season of the Marvel series. And not only that, but D’Onofrio is already teasing the idea that both seasons are being set up around some massive developments that’ll no doubt shake up the universe. Here’s how he put it:
And, by the second season, there are gigantic, gigantic payoffs—in the first season, too, but I can't say much about that—but the fans are gonna really get what they want. It's really quite cool to be doing it.
It’s also admittedly possible that the initial 18-episode order that Disney+ announced will be split into two parts, with Vince D’Onofrio calling them “seasons” by instead. Or maybe Kevin Feige already has plans to give this show more episodes than Daredevil received on Netflix. We probably won't know for sure for many months yet.
With only one big change in cast members revealed so far, Daredevil: Born Again will no doubt have many more updates on the way throughout 2023, so stay tuned and keep that Disney+ subscription current.
