There are a lot of things to look forward to with Disney Plus’ upcoming Daredevil Born Again series. With Charlie Cox and Vincent D’onofrio set to reprise their roles of Daredevil (Matt Murdock), and Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) respectively, the series has a lot of promise.
PG-13 Rating or Equivalent
PG-13 is of course a rating for movies, but it’s a nice reference to use especially since the movies of the MCU are all currently PG-13, and the Marvel Disney Plus shows seem to be the equivalent. The Netflix Daredevil series is TV-MA which is a rating that seems to me to essentially be the equivalent of rated R. All of the Marvel Netflix series’ are all rated TV-MA. Just from memory of all of these shows, it seems that Punisher and Jessica Jones had content that was more mature than Daredevil, but if Daredevil was a movie, it may have still been Rated R. The Daredevil that we saw in the She-Hulk series was definitely not Rated R, but was just as entertaining.
There may be an argument that characters like Punisher, and villains like the Kingpin will be stifled by a PG-13 level rating, but Kingpin’s appearance in Hawkeye reveals otherwise. The Kingpin in Hawkeye appears to be every bit as menacing as the version that we see in the Netflix Daredevil series. There are things that Kingpin did that in Daredevil that were more violent than the things he did in Hawkeye, but with the right direction, acting, camera work, etc, the portrayal of the Kingpin can still be true to the character.
Punisher has been announced as part of the cast for the Daredevil series, and he is another character whose portrayal some fans are hesitant about if he appears in a project with a PG-13 equivalent rating. Even the actor, Jon Bernthal has voiced his hesitation to play the character in any project that doesn’t have a Rated R equivalent rating. Last week, we heard that he will be returning as the Punisher for the Disney Plus Daredevil series, so it would seem that he has reached some sort of compromise, but I’m only speculating.
Again, with the right plan, the true character of the Punisher can be portrayed in a PG-13 level project. This is important so that we can see the Punisher interacting with the characters of the Marvel Universe, because his approach to crime fighting provides a great story when juxtaposed against the views of characters like Daredevil. For more on that, check out the video above.
A New Daredevil
After the Daredevil Netflix series was finished with three seasons, it seemed that we may not get to see any more of Charlie Cox playing the street level red costumed superhero. The Netflix series was very popular which is good, but it also sets up a lot of expectations for this upcoming series. Making changes to the characters and the story overall, is risky. Charlie Cox has said in interviews that this version of Daredevil will be “different” than the Netflix version. The show and the character can be different in so many ways, and there is a chance that it will only be a little bit different, but the word different could cause some hesitation for fans.
In addition to the fact that we are getting the same actors back for Daredevil and his arch enemy Kingpin, there are many other reasons not to worry. We’ve already seen Matt Murdock appear in Spiderman: No Way Home, Matt and his alter ego Daredevil appear in She-Hulk, and Kingpin appear in the Hawkeye series. The versions of these characters that appeared in these projects appear to be very similar to the versions that were established in the Netflix series.
Recasting
While we will get to see Charlie Cox return as Daredevil, and Vincent D’onofrio return as Kingpin, there are other characters from the Daredevil series who will either be recast or may not be in the show at all. Jon Bernthal will return as Punisher who was a big part of the second season, but Vanessa who is Kingpin Wilson Fisk’s wife is being recast. Originally played by Ayelet Zurer, Vanessa will now be played by Sandrine Holt. There are reports as well that Deborah Ann Woll, and Elden Henson will not be returning. Woll, and Henson played Matt Murdock’s friends and colleagues Karen Page, and Foggy Nelson respectively. It seems that these re-castings have probably more to do with scheduling than the desire to have the actors back, but more information may come out in the future.
The Disney Plus Daredevil Born Again series will premiere sometime in 2024 and is scheduled to have 18 episodes. With the recent appearances of Daredevil and Kingpin in Disney Plus shows, the series shows promise. Overall, the shows of She-Hulk (which Daredevil appeared in), and Hawkeye (which Kingpin appeared in) weren’t as good in my opinion as say, the Netflix Daredevil series, these two characters really stood out.
Leave a Reply