New Daredevil: Born Again Directors Are Immersed In Their Matt Murdock Homework
At a time when the Marvel Cinematic Universe is floundering like it never has before, Marvel Studios top dog Kevin Feige and co. have found a remarkably unlikely team of saviors in multi-hyphenates Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. The sensibilities of the pair behind such off-kilter sci-fi horror films as "Synchronic" and "Something in the Dirt" proved to be a surprisingly perfect fit for "Moon Knight," an MCU show that often balanced precariously at the intersection of action-adventure, supernatural horror, and dark comedy. When the duo returned to direct the majority of "Loki" season 2, they delivered a similarly dizzying blend of trippy sci-fi, whimsical humor, and creepy horror, bringing the God of Mischief's tale to a frequently confusing, always engaging, and ultimately satisfying ending (or, at the very least, a resting place).
It's little wonder, then, that Feige and friends turned to Benson and Moorhead once again when they needed someone to overhaul "Daredevil: Born Again," the upcoming Disney+ series that will continue the story of Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk/Kingpin from Marvel's Netflix shows. The show was only partly through filming its planned 18 episodes when it shut down during the recently concluded actors' and writers' strikes, at which point the House of Ideas came up with the wild notion of actually developing its Disney+ series like television shows rather than really long movies.
When it came to "Daredevil: Born Again," that necessitated bringing in a whole new team of creatives, including Benson and Moorhead as series directors. Hence, when The Wrap caught up with the duo to discuss the "Loki" season 2 finale, they confirmed they've still got a lot of homework to do before they start shooting anything involving The Devil of Hell's Kitchen.
A nice, thick information stew
Everything old is new again in the MCU. And by that, I mean the franchise is returning to the more adult mindset of Marvel's Netflix series with the incoming "Echo," a "Hawkeye" spinoff that will see Alaqua Cox reprise her role as Maya Lopez/Echo opposite D'Onofrio as Maya's "Uncle" Fisk. The popular assumption is that "Echo" will subsequently tee up "Daredevil: Born Again" to embrace an identical approach, allowing Benson and Moorhead to tap even deeper into their darker artistic inclinations than they have on MCU projects past.
Of course, with the ink still drying on the actors' guild new agreement with the major Hollywood studios, it's very much early days on "Born Again" for Benson and Moorhead. "We have the best answer for you. So you see this space we're in right now? This is our office and we just found out we have an office about 45 minutes ago," Benson joked to The Wrap. "And that's what we're at with 'Daredevil.'" Moorhead added:
"It is day zero. We're currently just consuming 'Daredevil' content, not just the Netflix show but all the possible material. We're just making our stew of information nice and thick."
Perhaps the biggest challenge that lies ahead for Benson and Moorhead is having to film additional material for the "Daredevil: Born Again" episodes that have already been shot, so as to ensure the final result doesn't come across as a Frankenstein-ed concoction of different tones and styles stitched together. Thankfully, the two will be assisted by a showrunner in the form of Dario Scardapane ("The Punisher"), which already gives "Born Again" a major leg up on all those poor Disney+ series that had to do without one.
"Daredevil: Born Again" will stream on Disney+ at some point in the future.