Summary
While the arrival ofDaredevil: Born Again, there has been much rejoicing among its fans from back when it was a Netflix original show and didn’t have any sort of tie into the MCU. After all, when the first episode hits,Daredevil: Born Againwill officially usher in one of the most popular Marvel Comics characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The show will also be bringing some of the characters that were fan favorites along with the hero of Hell’s Kitchen as well as some iconic villains that haven’t been part of the MCU before.
By bringing this show back, the MCU is expanding and that’s a good thing. There are stories thatDaredevil: Born Againcan tell that none of the other movies or television shows can.Matt Murdock is a unique characterand not just because he’s blind and operates with a special ability that is unlike any other hero in the multiverse. Unfortunately, the show is apparently going to do something that might hamper the ability for people to see just how special this particular series can be. And it’s doing it because this is how Marvel wants all it shows and movies to work. At some point, Kevin Feige and his people are going to realize that formula doesn’t work nearly as well as they think, but for now, its the one they’re sticking to, and that’s a problem.
Daredevil Born Again Chasing Viewers Off Already?
Perhaps even more frustrating about the way that Marvel isrolling outDaredevil: Born Againis that there was a moment when Marvel looked like it was doing things the right way. During a recent interview withEmpire, the show’s star, Charlie Cox talked about the directionBorn Againwill take.
“There was talk early on about reinventing the whole thing, to see if Matt was a slightly different person. But it ended up more of a continuation.”
Cox went on to say that a lot of the history from theoriginalDaredevilNetflix showwill carry intoBorn Again. The problem with that should be obvious at this point. It means that there will be stories that people won’t be able to follow is they didn’t watch the original. And considering that original show was both quite a while ago and really only fair to middling in quality, that should frustrate MCU fans.
Starring
Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson
Marvel has done this far too often, especially of late. It’s the intended consequence of having a totally connected universe using both movies and television shows.Things that happened inWandavisioncarried right intoDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. If someone didn’t watch the former, they almost certainly wouldn’t understand why Wanda went so very, very bad in the latter. If someone didn’t watchWandavision, they’d also have no point of reference forAgatha All Along. And if someone didn’t watchLoki, they’d be pretty darn lost on just what the heck the big evil entity was that was chasing Wade Wilson for most ofDeadpool & Wolverine. They’d also be pretty confused about who Kang was inAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Despite technically being standalone projects, Marvel has made it so that fans need to watch every single thing they put out in order to have a firm grasp on what’s going on in the worlds they love. And while that’s annoying, the one blessing for the MCU is that at least each chapter comes relatively quickly.WithDaredevil: Born Againthe show is picking up a few years after the final season of the original Netflix show. That final season aired six years ago. There’s a decent chance even some of the more devout MCU fans might not even know it existed. It makes things easier now that it’s on Disney+, but people still need to go looking for it.
Marvel Walking A Tightrope With Daredevil: Born Again
While it’s frustrating that Marvel is using the same formula that has been far too common place of late, it has backed itself into an area where it finds itself between a rock and a hard place by takingas long as it has withBorn Again. Feige and the rest of the higher ups know that people don’t want to sit through the characters all being introduced again. They don’t want to go through the idea of Matt Murdock reestablishing himself again.
However, there are going to be issues with people whodidn’t watch the entire series, don’t want to have to do it in order to watch the new series, who simply could find themselves deeply confused at certain parts. It’s a formula that Marvel embraces.Daredevil: Born Againis hardly the first IP to do this. But that doesn’t mean the company should keep doing this to its fans.
