Daredevil: Born Again - Marvel releases head writers, directors as it retools the Disney+ series

It’s all change for Marvel Studios’ new Daredevil series set for Disney+, as the studio has released both the directors for the first season and the show’s head writers as it prepares to retool the series in the wake of the writers’ strike.

A new report from The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Marvel has let Chris Ord and Matt Corman, the former head writers of Daredevil: Born Again, go as it prepares to overhaul not just that one series, but the company’s entire approach to television.

According to THR, Marvel execs looked at the already completed work on Born Again — which was midway through shooting its first season when production shut down because of WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike action — and decided that it wasn’t working; sources told the outlet that the show was a legal procedural that didn’t even see Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) get into his Daredevil costume until the fourth episode. Elements of what has already been filmed will be used in the finished show, THR reports, but Marvel is currently looking for new head writers and directors to significantly rework the core concept moving forward.

The THR piece extensively quotes Marvel’s head of streaming, television, and animation, Brad Winderbaum, who speaks to a new approach at Marvel when it comes to its TV and Disney+ properties: “We need executives that are dedicated to this medium, that are going to focus on streaming, focus on television,” he’s quoted as saying at one point, “because they are two different forms.” Elsewhere in the piece, he admits, “We’re trying to marry the Marvel culture with the traditional television culture.”

Part of this wider rethink will see Marvel finally adopt the industry-wide terminology of “showrunner,” rather than “head writer,” as writers will be allowed more creative freedom for TV projects — again, an industry standard that Marvel had previously shied away from. Additionally, the report suggests that Marvel will look to television series to run for multiple seasons, instead of its previously preferred miniseries format. (Loki, currently running its second season on Disney+, is the first Marvel Studios show to make it past its first season to date.)

Tellingly, Winderbaum suggests that Marvel changing its approach might be an attempt to stay ahead of audience burnout. At the end of the THR story, he’s quoted as saying that he wants fans to tune in because the show works “beyond the fact that it ties into [other projects] or if they are going to be in a movie or if it is setting up an Avengers film.”

Daredevil: Born Again had been scheduled for a Spring 2024 release; with this new pause and rethink, it’s safe to assume it will be removed from the calendar for the time being.

We’ve got a guide to everything that’s coming up for the MCU anytime soon, for anyone looking to keep track…