Marvel’s Head of Streaming Explains How ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Led to the Netflix Series Becoming Canon
When the story of the MCU is finished, we may look back on the creative overhaul of Daredevil: Born Again as one of the pivotal moments in the franchise’s history.
For those who don’t remember, with production in Hollywood ground to a halt during the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, Marvel executives viewed the completed work on the Daredevil reboot and decided the show wasn’t working.
Quickly pivoting, the studio brought in Moon Knight and Loki veterans Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead to help rework the show.
The Netflix Marvel Series Are Now Canon
Perhaps more importantly, they also decided to make Daredevil: Born Again a continuation of the original Netflix series. This not only opened the door for the return of a collection of fan-favorite characters, but it also necessitated that Marvel deem the entire Netflix Defenders Saga canon.
In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Studios’ head of streaming Brad Winderbaum said that it was actually Loki that helped influence Daredevil: Born Again.
“Frankly, a lot of that was influenced as much from Loki as it was from our ‘X-Men ’97’ experience. It’s about honoring what came before in order to find a new arc for these iconic characters,” Winderbaum shares. “So I am really excited about what’s on the horizon. There’s some great, great work coming down the pipe that audiences are going to really love.”
The Shows Were Added to the Timeline
After years of leaving the canonicity of the Netflix Marvel series in question, Marvel not only officially deemed the series canon, but they also added them to the MCU timeline on Disney+.
“We finally said it out loud,” Winderbaum says. “Flash forward now to Disney+, where we are actually laying out the timeline with tiles on a screen, all of a sudden we’re like, ‘We should just do it. Let’s do it.’ It was also spurred by the redevelopment of ‘Daredevil: Born Again,’ once we started to really lean into some of the mythology and backstory that was established in those Netflix shows.”
While we don’t have a release date for Daredevil: Born Again, the series is expected to premiere next year.