Daredevil's MCU Reboot Gets Promising R Rated Tease From Kingpin Star

Daredevil: Born Again is starting over, and the new direction for the show might be closer to the Netflix original, according to Vincent D’Onofrio.

Daredevil: Born Again might be as dark as the original Netflix series based on a new comment from its Kingpin actor. The Marvel Cinematic Universe series is being redeveloped following major behind-the-scenes changes. While Daredevil: Born Again‘s cast features the returns of Charlie Cox in the title role and Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin, the MCU TV show was originally said to be more of a legal procedural than a dark action series like Netflix’s Daredevil was; however, that appears to have changed.

@PostCredPod shared that Wilson Fisk actor Vincent D’Onofrio said the series will “for sure” be under the new Marvel Spotlight banner, which focuses on character-driven stories, such as the Mature-rated Echo.

While the series only releases in January 2024, Echo‘s first trailer revealed that the show will possess the same level of violence and grittiness as the original Netflix Daredevil show. Based on D’Onofrio’s comment, it seems like Daredevil: Born Again‘s story will now be a return to what worked for Cox’s first lead project as the hero after Marvel’s rework of the series, which is exciting. Check out the full quote below:

Why Daredevil: Born Again Needs To Receive A Mature Rating

Daredevil Is More Often Than Not A Dark Character

There is a good reason why Marvel fans are demanding that Daredevil: Born Again be closer in tone to the Netflix Daredevil series than the original, legal procedural idea for the MCU show. Cox can play a light-hearted Matt Murdock to perfection, as seen in Disney+’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. However, the character has been best served in live-action through the Netflix series’ choice of balancing extremely dark moments with pockets of levity.

Something like having D’Onofrio play the version of Kingpin seen in Hawkeye, which was more in line with how Daredevil was portrayed on She-Hulk than in the Netflix series, would not work for Daredevil: Born Again. While it is okay to have the characters act according to the limits of other characters’ projects, it has become clear that both Cox and D’Onofrio work best with the darker tone of the original series. Netflix’s Daredevil used its violence and heavier themes to develop a gray world with two complex characters, Daredevil and Kingpin, at odds with each other and themselves.

The MCU has mostly featured light-hearted projects, and a healthy dose of the ones that differ from that at least continue the same brand of jokes found in other MCU properties. Following the success of the original Daredevil, the MCU’s Daredevil: Born Again simply cannot repeat the usual Marvel formula. Audiences have their expectations high for a return of Cox and D’Onofrio in their own series, and anything other than a compelling story that challenges the limits of the characters’ morality through heightened violence and dark themes would be considered a letdown to many.