‘Literally reshot most every episode’: ‘Deadpool’ creator drags Marvel boss over ‘Daredevil: Born Again’s possible fate
The Netflix show Daredevil, which ran for three years from 2015 to 2018, was a big hit with audiences and critics alike, and it had a dark, mature tone that did justice to the complexity of the famous character. That’s why when Daredevil: Born Again was announced with much of the same cast, people were understandably excited. Then they shot it as a comedy, according to Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld.
Liefeld is notably uninvolved in Born Again, and he actually parted ways with Marvel Studios after 30 years for not being invited to the Deadpool & Wolverine after party. He said Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige meant to “embarrass, diminish,” and “defeat” him. Sounds personal.
Liefeld tweeted about the show originally being a comedy after Vincent D’Onofrio, who plays Wilson Fisk on the show, told GQ Magazine that he and star Charlie Cox made it known that they “were not happy, and the big bosses, especially Kevin [Feige], listened to us.” This is in reference to a number of reshoots done on the project following the writer’s strike.
Liefeld inserted himself in the conversation by saying Fiege brought in stunts director Phil Silvera to reshoot “most every episode.” Turns out this wasn’t the case.
D’Onofrio went on X to clarify. He said that “Phil was hired again for the stunts that’s true” but that the new episodes and the actions scenes were written by showrunner Dario Scardapane. Silvera brought expertise and coordinated the stunts, he said, but he didn’t reshoot any episodes.
“It was a wonderful restart and we all worked really hard for the fans,” D’Onofrio said. “Charlie, myself, and Dario our producers and studio heads felt like we knew what the fans wanted. That was our goal.”
Whether or not the show was a comedy, D’Onofrio did not say. If it was, that would be something because the show is rated TV-MA in the states and 18+ in Europe. This isn’t that common for a Marvel show on Disney+, with the show Echo being the first one to carry that distinction.
Other Marvel shows on Netflix have had the rating, such as The Punisher and Iron Fist, but Disney is understandably trepidatious about the whole “mature content” thing, being a family-friendly company and all. The original Daredevil on Netflix was a short-lived collaboration between Marvel and the streaming service, and Daredevil in particular was praised for its intricate fight scenes and dark narrative.
Born Again has gone through quite the production journey. When the Writers Guild of America strike went down in May of 2023, Marvel took another look at the show following those complaints from Cox and D’Onofrio. Original showrunners Matt Corman and Chris Ord were replaced with Scardapane, who added new episodes and scenes that were more in line with the Netflix show.The rework also brought back a lot of the original cast as well, including Jon Bernthal as the Punisher and Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page. Daredevil: Born Again premieres on Disney+ on March 4.
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