Development
Marvel Studios decided to make a new Daredevil-led series in January 2022, following the appearances of Cox in No Way Home and D'Onofrio in Hawkeye. Cox discussed such a series in March, believing it should begin a few years after the end of the previous series and be "re-imagined". Regarding whether it should be rated TV-MA as the Netflix series was, he believed Marvel Studios would be able to create a faithful version of the character without that rating. However, he found the comics "more exciting, readable, relatable when it lives in a darker space" such as Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev's run on the comics, and he felt important attributes of the character such as his age, Catholic guilt, and history with women were more mature subjects. Cox was hopeful that a new series could have a more faithful adaptation of the 1986 comic book storyline "Born Again" by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, which the original series took inspiration from for its third season. He described the storyline as "kind of a PG comic" and a guide for how the series could work with that rating.
Later in March, a Daredevil reboot series was reported to be in development with Marvel Studios' Feige and Chris Gary as producers. The series was confirmed to be in development for Disney+ in late May, with Matt Corman and Chris Ord attached as head writers and executive producers. The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood both described it as a fourth season of the original series. During the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con in July, the series was officially announced as Daredevil: Born Again and was revealed to have 18 episodes for its first season. Cox said an 18-episode series was a "huge undertaking" and was chosen in part due to the many story possibilities that come with Murdock being a lawyer. Christian Holub at Entertainment Weekly believed the title was a reference to the character "literally being 'born again' into the official MCU" rather than the series being an adaptation of the "Born Again" storyline. Cox described Born Again as a "whole new thing" and not a fourth season of the Netflix series, which he felt was "the way to go. If you are going to do it again, do it differently." D'Onofrio reiterated this, saying they had few plans to connect to the original. He added that they were working on two seasons and there would be "gigantic payoffs" during the second.
Directors were hired for blocks of episodes: Michael Cuesta joined in March 2023 to direct the first two episodes; Jeffrey Nachmanoff joined in May to direct the third and fourth episodes; David Boyd directed the fifth and sixth episodes; and Clark Johnson, a director on the Marvel Netflix series Luke Cage (2016–2018), also joined in May to direct another two episodes. Actor Tom Hiddleston, who portrays Loki in the MCU and is a close friend of Cox, was also hired to direct an episode in the later half of the season.
By late September 2023, while production was on hold due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Marvel Studios decided to overhaul the series with a new creative direction. Filming for six episodes was largely completed by then. The studio reviewed that footage and decided Born Again "wasn't working". Corman and Ord were let go as head writers, as were the directors for the remainder of the series, and the studio began searching for new writers and directors. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Corman and Ord's episodic take was a large divergence from the Netflix series, including that Cox did not appear in costume as Daredevil until the fourth episode. Marvel planned to retain some elements that had been shot, add new serialized elements, and move closer to the tone of the Netflix series. Corman and Ord would still be credited as executive producers.
Cox and D'Onofrio had not been convinced that the original approach was working, with Cox saying it was confusing that Born Again was not a direct continuation of the Netflix series or a complete reboot. Brad Winderbaum, the head of streaming, television, and animation at Marvel Studios, said the studio believed they could "play it loose" with the history of Daredevil, wanting to keep Cox and D'Onofrio but otherwise "reset" to avoid alienating new viewers. Cox said Daredevil and Kingpin were essentially being treated like alternate universe "variants", a concept from previous MCU projects, but he said some people did not understand this and found the approach to be disingenuous. Cox was also concerned that the new series was "unlearning" lessons from the 2003 Daredevil film which he felt had made the original series a success, saying "the character really does work best in a serialized platform, but also when it's darker and grittier and there's less tongue-in-cheek levity". The studio realized they had to either fully embrace the Netflix series or start over fresh. D'Onofrio said Feige in particular listened to him and Cox when the pair expressed their concerns. Cox was grateful that their concerns were heard, and said "it takes a huge amount of courage and money to make a U-turn like that".
Dario Scardapane, a writer on Netflix's Daredevil spin-off series The Punisher (2017–2019), was hired to serve as showrunner for Born Again in October 2023. This came after Marvel changed its approach to television production to have more traditional showrunners rather than head writers. Filmmaking duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who previously worked on the Marvel Studios series Moon Knight (2022) and the second season of Loki (2023), were hired to direct the remaining episodes of the first season. Soon after Scardapane joined, the creative team decided that Born Again should harken back to the tone of the Netflix series and continue storylines from it, rather than be a complete reset. Cox said there was a "fine balance to strike" with this approach, but thought the new creative direction had a good reason for "remaking it" while still being familiar.
In November 2023, Benson and Moorhead said they were reviewing the existing footage and looking to prior Daredevil content, including the Netflix series, to inform their direction, and said they were fans of Miller's "Born Again" run. They added that this was their first MCU project where they were able to find their footing early on after being "thrown in the deep end" with Moon Knight and Loki. They were also more comfortable working with the more grounded style of Born Again, which is similar to their independent films, compared to the "mind-bending sci-fi affairs" of those previous MCU projects. Moorhead described Born Again's stakes as "primal and graspable". D'Onofrio said the directors were Marvel's "hottest talent", and he was confident the series would work after they joined. His friend and Moon Knight co-star Ethan Hawke told D'Onofrio about his positive experience working with the pair, and D'Onofrio was a fan of their work on Loki, particularly how they handled violence.
Three new episodes were written, including a new pilot episode, as well as additional scenes for the previously shot episodes. Cox confirmed in May 2024 that nine episodes had been filmed, which Feige said was the first season of Born Again. Cuesta, Nachmanoff, and Boyd were re-confirmed as credited directors in August 2024. Some of their episodes had "some rejiggering, and [new] framing, and bookends" added while others were left as is. Nachmanoff and Boyd returned to film new footage for the existing episodes and assisted Benson and Moorhead with blending the style of the original episodes with the new material. Cox said the overhauled series was more in line with the original, while D'Onofrio he and other original crew members were pleased with the new iteration.
Also in August 2024, Feige announced that a second season was planned; with the creative overhaul, it was decided that the planned 18-episode season would be split into two, nine-episode seasons. In February 2025, Scardapane, Benson, and Moorhead were confirmed to be returning for the second season, and Scardapane described its production as a "better-oiled machine". He said the second season would just be eight episodes. Additional directors for the season include Solvan "Slick" Naim, Angela Barnes, and Iain B. MacDonald.
Following the overhaul, Marvel Studios began looking at all of Marvel Television's Netflix series as more integral to the MCU, and retroactively added them to the MCU timeline on Disney+. Winderbaum said the studio was open to bringing back more characters and elements from Daredevil and the other Marvel Netflix series such as Elektra Natchios, the Hand, and Murdock's fellow Defenders—Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Danny Rand / Iron Fist. Scardapane had discussions about including Jones and Cage in the series from when he first joined. He later explained that all the Marvel Netflix series—Daredevil, Jessica Jones (2015–2019), Luke Cage (2016–2018), Iron Fist (2017–2018), the crossover miniseries The Defenders (2017), and The Punisher—were produced together, sharing soundstages and with their writers' rooms in the same building, creating a feeling that they were all part of one neighborhood. Scardapane said his creative goal for Born Again, particularly starting in the second season, was to expand the series to cover the world of all those shows.
In February 2025, Winderbaum said the series could continue beyond the second season, and that May he said the strong audience response to the first season gave Marvel Studios the confidence to make the series "annually into the future". In July, D'Onofrio said the studio had plans for a third season but an official renewal was dependent on audience responses to the second season. D'Onofrio reiterated a month later that both he and Cox believed a third season was likely, while Variety reported that chances of a third season renewal were "promising". Winderbaum confirmed the third season renewal in September, with Scardapane returning as showrunner. Benson, Moorhead, MacDonald, and Naim returned as directors, with Jet Wilkinson also directing episodes.
Executive producers for Born Again include Marvel Studios' Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Winderbaum, and Sana Amanat, alongside Scardapane, Benson, and Moorhead. Additional executive producers include Marvel Studios' Gary as well as Corman and Ord for the first season, and MacDonald, Cox, and D'Onofrio for the second. Scardapane, Corman, and Ord are credited as the series' creators. David Chambers serves as producer for the second season. The series is released under Marvel Studios' "Marvel Television" label.
