Is Marvel trying to keep their Netflix shows at an arms-length? An editor for Daredevil: Born Again reveals they were discouraged from watching the beloved series prior to the overhaul.
Almost everyone knows the tale of the infamous overhaul of Daredevil: Born Again. The series was originally meant to have nothing to do with the original Netflix incarnation. However, following delays caused by the WGA strikes, the project was retooled to be a direct continuation of the show, even if it meant a few controversial decisions to keep continuity.
However, it seems that the distance Marvel wanted to keep between Daredevil: Born Again and the original Netflix series was bigger than even the most dedicated of fans seemed to think. An editor for the project recently spoke about their experience working on the show, revealing they were told not to watch the original incarnation as to not be influenced by its editing style.
“The original take on it was to lean away from the Netflix Daredevil show,” Stephanie Filo explained to Awards Radar in a recent chat. “They actually told us not to watch the Netflix show, because they didn’t want to affect how we were editing it. Once we restructured everything and figured out we would do a different take on it, we dove back into the Netflix side of things. We were able to use temp music from that Netflix series, and get back to that darker vibe.”
How The Netflix Series Influenced Daredevil: Born Again’s Editing
However, it seems that this separation wasn’t all bad. By the time of the creative overhaul, the editors were finally allowed to watch the Netflix series. In turn, they were inspired to recut Daredevil: Born Again using some of the same techniques and themes present in the original run. This includes intercutting, which helped highlight the similarities between Fisk and Daredevil throughout the show.
“Sometimes, we would iterate these episodes,” editor Cedric Nairn-Smith explained. “And would be asked at times to intercut these scenes. We thought intercuts would not work because they weren’t intended to be intercut. However, once we started intercutting, we found out that there were common threads here. It felt like it was a happy accident that these inner cuts worked, and that you would find these connections. A lot of it was trial and error trying to find those threads, but some of it was also planned.”
Even though it was a shame that Daredevil: Born Again was kept from its Netflix roots for so long, it seems everything worked out in the end. The series was far from perfect, but it laid a solid foundation for the Man Without Fear to continue to light up TV screens for many, many years to come. At least…until Disney decides to overhaul their streaming tactics again!
Daredevil: Born Again is now streaming on Disney Plus, with season 2 set to release in March 2026. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
