Marvel Studios’ “Daredevil: Born Again” series is quite unlike any prior Marvel series for the Disney+ service. Yes, it’s essentially a reimagining of the Netflix “Daredevil” series and brings back both Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio as Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin respectively.
One key difference though is length. At 18 episodes it’s twice as long as most of the other Disney+ Marvel series to date which run 6-10 episodes each. Turns out there may be a fairly reasonable explanation why.
Filming on the new series began earlier this month with the shoot expected to last until just before Thanksgiving to film all eighteen episodes. Speaking to Newsweek (via The Playlist) whilst still in these early stages of filming, D’Onofrio offered a tease that a second season is at least in development.
He tells the outlet that the second season will pay off elements introduced in the first season and talks in a way suggesting its already mapped out:
“We’ve only just started shooting. I think we’re a couple of weeks in, and the show is going to be very, very different than the Netflix show, and it’s so exciting because what we’re doing is quite something.
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. 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.”
The comments would suggest the super-sized eighteen-episode run of the series is actually two regular Disney+ seasons being shot back-to-back with the streamer potentially releasing the series as two separate nine-episode seasons or parts. Disney+ or Marvel have not confirmed that possibility at this time.
The two-part/two-season filming as one approach is becoming a little more common for various shows from “You” to “Stranger Things” to “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” adopting the approach over at Netflix, and “Slow Horses” doing so at Apple TV+.
“Daredevil: Born Again” does not yet have a premiere date beyond sometime in 2024.
