Marvel Exec Reveals the Reason Behind Daredevil: Born Again’s Shortened Episode Count

If you’ve been following the development of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ you likely know that it’s been difficult, to say the least. The development of the show began in 2022, the original developers of the reboot series for Disney+ were Matt Corman and Chris Ord, who were attached as head writers and executive producers.

Kevin Feige and Chris Gary also served as producers during the early stages of its development. The show then used the SAG-AFTRA strike to reassess its current state and that’s when the trouble began.

It faced a major overhaul after executives deemed the original creative direction, led by Matt Corman and Chris Ord, to be a poor fit, with significant tonal differences from the Netflix series and a slow introduction of Daredevil in costume.

The original writers and directors were replaced, with ‘Punisher’ writer Dario Scardapane hired as showrunner and Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead brought on as directors. The series shifted to a darker, serialized tone closer to the Netflix version, retaining some pre-strike footage while adding new scenes.

The initial 18-episode plan was scaled back, with nine episodes confirmed to have been filmed by mid-2024. Both the cast and Marvel Studios expressed confidence in the revised direction, which now serves as a fresh start while honoring the original series.

The number of episodes of the original reboot was always deemed problematic. Charlie Cox described the 18-episode series as a “huge undertaking,” noting that Matt Murdock’s role as a lawyer offered numerous story possibilities, which contributed to the decision for the extended episode count. Ultimately only 6 episodes out of 18 were filmed.

Now the reboot will have 9 episodes in total, at least for the first season, and Brad Winderbaum recently commented on the Phase Hero podcast about why they decided to slash the episode count in half:

Our first conceit for Daredevil was let’s try a longer format. Let’s take this character and this world of New York City and build an ensemble. Then we learned a lot of lessons doing it that way.

So, because of a number of reasons, including the shutdowns due to the strikes, we were able to reassess the episodes and see what we had. It’s just the best nine episodes. It feels like it is a great kind of first season

Whatever Corman and Ord initially managed to cook up clearly wasn’t working and it’s no wonder that Daredevil would debut in his costume relatively late in the series considering its original episode count.

We’re glad that in this case, the studio decided to focus on quality over quantity. Now except for the much shorter run, the first season of the reboot will be more alike Netflix’s version of the show in all significant ways. Both Cox, D’Onofrio, and Winderbaum confirmed that it’s going to be dark, brutal, and action-packed.

‘Daredevil: Born Again’ is set to premiere on Disney+ on March 4, 2025. Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!

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