How Daredevil: Born Again Stars Improved the Series for the Better

If you ask Wilson Fisk how he justifies his actions, he’ll usually give a rant about how he built the city for the better. Turns out, the actor currently most associated with the Kingpin of Crime feels the same way.

Speaking to attendees at LA Comic Con 2025 (via Watchin America), Vincent D’Onofrio revealed that he and co-star Charlie Cox played a role in reversing course on the revival series Daredevil: Born Again. For those who don’t recall, Born Again‘s original head writers Matt Corman and Chris Ord had planned to pivot from the gritty superhero action of the Netflix series and push for more courtroom and political drama.

According to D’Onofrio, he and Cox raised concerns about that direction. “We had many, many conversations about the fact that we were on a train that we felt we needed to stop,” he said, but the producers were not receptive.

“Basically our plan was just to give notes, give notes, give notes, give note. We would talk about it, we were in on each of our own notes, we’d share emails, and send the group emails, and none of it was working. They weren’t taking us seriously.”

Finally, producers were forced to pause when the writers and actors strikes halted production. “And then when that happened, our bosses, the guys who run the studio, were allowed to look at the six [episodes] we had shot.”

From that point, Corman and Ord were replaced by new showrunner Dario Scardapane, who brought aboard indie directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the duo responsible for the excellent second season of Loki. The new creative team brought back original supporting players Deborah Ann Woll and Eldon Hansen as Karen Page and Foggy Nelson, respectively, and changed direction to include more superhero action, adding the supervillain Muse into the mix.

Still Scardapane, Benson, and Moorhead had to use quite a bit of footage shot by the earlier creative team, resulting in a very uneven season of television. D’Onofrio and Cox shine as their characters find themselves in unique positions—Matt Murdock trying to leave the costumed life behind and Fisk as the mayor of New York—but the episodes take wild tonal shifts.

Frustrating as that first season was, there’s hope for season two. Instead of building on the work of others, the current creative team gets to tell their own story (well, as much as that’s possible in the MCU). The first season ended with Mayor Fisk outlawing costumed vigilantes after smashing the police commissioner’s head, and with Matt gathering allies to resist the Kingpin.

Comic book readers know that this stand off has a lot in common with the Devil’s Reign arc from 2022, in which Fisk and his Thunderbolts waged war against New York’s superheroes. By the end of that story, Fisk was disgraced and removed from office, replaced by Luke Cage. So far, we know that Krysten Ritter will be reprising her role as Jessica Jones, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see Mike Colter come back as Luke Cage, especially if Born Again season two is going to adhere to Devil’s Reign.

Whatever direction the season takes, it’s clear that Scardapane, Benson, and Moorhead get to be the prime creative force. And if they step out of line, at least D’Onofrio and Cox are there to get things back on track.

Daredevil: Born Again season 2 is slated to stream on Disney+ in 2026.