Daredevil is almost ready to take his place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Cuesta (Elementary, Blue Blood), who is known for directing pilot episodes for Dexter and Homeland, has been selected as the director of the first episode of Daredevil: Born Again. Production for the Marvel Studios show starts this month in New York.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the eighteen-episode show will be the first step in integrating characters, like Daredevil and Kingpin, into the MCU. These characters began their on-screen life on Netflix when Marvel had a slate of more mature TV shows on the platform almost ten years ago. They shared the Netflix-Marvel universe with lesser-known heroes and villains like Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Kilgrave, and Iron Fist.
Marvel has been planning on introducing Charlie Cox’s (Stardust, Kin) Daredevil and Vincent D’Onofrio’s (Godfather of Harlem, The Kid) Kingpin into the bigger MCU for the last couple of years. Both actors had cameos in MCU movies and TV shows before Marvel revealed their new show Daredevil: Born Again. Cox had a small cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home as Peter Parker’s attorney. Daredevil also recently appeared in a couple of episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law where Cox appeared wearing a new suit, and having a brief romance with She-Hulk, played by Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black, Perry Mason). D’Onofrio reprised his role as Kingpin for the season finale of Hawkeye, which came as a surprise to fans of the original Daredevil show.
The cast of the show includes Cox as Matt Murdock aka Daredevil; D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk also known as Kingpin; Jon Bernthal (American Gigolo, The Bear) will be reprising his role as Frank Castle aka The Punisher; Margarita Levieva (The Deuce, In from the Cold); Sandrine Holt (American Gigolo, The Expanse) who according to The Hollywood Reporter is going to play Vanessa Fisk, the wife of Kingpin; Michael Gandolfini (The Deuce, The Independent); and Nikki M. James (Spoiler Alert, Proven Innocent). One notable absence from the cast is Matt Murdock’s closest friends Karen and Foggy, played by Deborah Ann Woll (Children of Éarte, Deborah) and Elden Henson (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Jobs) in the Netflix series.
Chris Ord (Containment, Covert Affairs) and Matt Corman (The Enemy Within, The Brave) serve as both writers and executive producers for the show. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cuesta will only direct the first episode of Daredevil: Born Again. The other episodes from the show will be directed by other directors that will be in charge of blocks of episodes.
Daredevil: Born Again is set to premiere in the spring of 2024 on Disney+. The original Daredevil show is available to stream on Disney+. The Punisher, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, The Iron Fist, and The Defenders are also available to stream through Disney+.