Marvel Studios Revamping Daredevil: Born Again, Searching For New Writers And Directors
"Daredevil: Born Again" is in big trouble. The highly anticipated Marvel Studios show, which promises to bring back The Devil of Hell's Kitchen (and supposedly also Punisher), is undergoing a huge revamp. According to The Hollywood Reporter, less than half of the show's 18 episodes had been shot by the time "Born Again" paused production during the writers' strike, but the footage available made Kevin Feige and other Marvel executives reconsider the entire project.
And so, late last month, Marvel quietly fired head writers Chris Ord and Matt Corman and let go of the directors for the remaining episodes while they head back to square one. Marvel is now looking for new writers and directors. According to THR, Ord and Corman's take was more of "a legal procedural that did not resemble the Netflix version, known for its action and violence." What's more, Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock doesn't even show up in costume until episode four.
In a rather baffling move, it seems either no one at Marvel knew about this, or they hoped it would somehow look different on the screen than on the page. Only after shooting had begun did they decide the entire concept for "Daredevil: Born Again" wasn't the right one. As of now, THR states that the plan is to "keep some scenes and episodes" while injecting more serialized elements. As for Ord and Corman, they'll become executive producers on the show, instead.
This is all part of a much bigger problem plaguing Marvel Studios at the moment. A lot has been said about Marvel's VFX woes and how it rushed to produce more movies and shows after "Avengers: Endgame" rather than take a break. When it comes to TV, however, the issue is more fundamental.
TV, what a concept!
The problems with "Daredevil: Born Again" are symptomatic of a far more fundamental one: Marvel has been trying to change how TV production works. According to THR, the studio doesn't commission pilots but shoots entire seasons of TV on the fly with budgets in the hundreds of millions. It also doesn't hire showrunners and "depended on film executives to run its series."
Without traditional showrunners and a writers-first approach that TV has followed for decades, Marvel TV has faced numerous creative issues with its staff. "Moon Knight" eventually lost its creator and writer Jeremy Slater, who was essentially replaced by director Mohamed Diab as development went on. "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" creator Jessica Gao was similarly sidelined over time in favor of director Kat Coiro.
In an attempt to fix things, Marvel Studios is reportedly changing its production model. For one, the studio plans to hire actual showrunners, seemingly making the huge discovery that "it would be helpful for its shows to have a creative throughline from start to finish," according to THR. Showrunners will also start writing pilot episodes, as well as show bibles, rather than shooting the whole season and then figuring out what works in post-production. Additionally, Marvel will reportedly lean away from limited series and instead focus on shows that run several seasons. You know, the way TV works.
Likewise, there are plans for bringing in full-time TV execs rather than using film executives. Brad Winderbaum, Marvel's head of streaming, television and animation, told THR they're making the move because "[TV and film] are two different forms."