Marvel Studios, Phase 5 and Daredevil’s Future
San Diego Comic Con is taking place this weekend, and Marvel Studios took to the stage in Hall H yesterday for their mammoth presentation. Last night I stayed up until gone 2:00am (UK time) to catch all the announcements as they came through. Holy moly was there a lot of news! Kevin Feige has confirmed Phase 4 is ending with the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in November, and Phase 5 will officially start next year with Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania in February. This also came with a full announcement of the Phase 5 slate, and a glimpse into Phase 6. Among the various projects name dropped, the presentation included one particularly huge piece of news, which for me personally was the best announcement of the night: Daredevil is back in a big way.
There are loads of reasons to be excited about the Phase 5 slate, and it’s clear this is a great time to be a Marvel fan. We’re going to see some really exciting solo projects and continuations, and there’s a long term plan which includes Kang the Conqueror wreaking havoc, and the Fantastic Four making their debut. So with all of the bold cosmic plans being unveiled, it was a massive surprise to see the rumours about Daredevil come true. After the character made their cameo appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), and Wilson Fisk appeared in the latter half of Hawkeye, it was clear there are plans for these characters in the MCU. It was our first time seeing them since Daredevil came to an end on Netflix in 2018, so the prospect of these actors reprising their roles was huge. The blindfold has now been lifted, and Marvel Studios have given us a wealth of riches to reward our patience.
I’ve seen rumours for a while about how Daredevil will be a massive part of the MCU moving forwards. Rumours speculated that Kevin Feige is a big fan of Daredevil and has wanted to use the character for years. Hence, with Daredevil passing back to Disney, we’d be seeing the devil of Hell’s Kitchen in his own solo series and scattered throughout other projects. Which sounds perfect, and very much mirrors the comic books. Certain characters, like Daredevil and the Fantastic Four, are the centre of the Marvel Comics spider’s web and have connections to countless other heroes.* Having a character who is both a vigilante and lawyer means they interact with other characters on a regular basis, and they’re an important figure beyond their own adventures. I liked the sound of these rumours, not only because I thoroughly enjoyed the Netflix Daredevil series and the cast was incredible, but because Daredevil is my favourite Marvel character of all time. So you can see why yesterday’s news felt like Christmas had come early.
*Side note - this also includes having connections to each other! Daredevil is the Fantastic Four’s lawyer, and he famously came to their aid by fighting Doctor Doom on the pages of Fantastic Four issues #39 and #40.*
It was announced during the Marvel Studios presentation that Daredevil is back and is indeed going to be a big part of the MCU. Not only will he appear in Echo next summer and She-Hulk next month (more on that later), but he is also getting his own solo series. Spring 2024 will see the release of Daredevil: Born Again, borrowing its title from the iconic Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli comic book. The series stars Charlie Cox as the titular hero and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk (AKA Kingpin), and the first season is going to be 18 episodes long. Yes, you read that correctly. This series is going to be 18 episodes long. Which makes it the longest MCU series to date by quite a stretch, and is longer than the original Netflix seasons. Not much is known about the story at this point, although I’d assume it’s not taking direct inspiration from ‘Born Again’ because parts of that story were already used in season 3 on Netflix. As a guess I’d say the title has a more literal meaning, because Daredevil is now sitting with Marvel Studios and is receiving both a sequel and soft reboot. However ‘Born Again’ could also be a reference to both Daredevil and Kingpin getting back on their feet in the post-blip era. Either way it’s exciting times for the MCU. Yes there’s wild things happening in terms of Kang the Conqueror and the multiverse, but it’s important not to forget about the street level characters. Much like in the comic books, even when there’s a big cosmic event, it’s important to maintain individual character arcs.
Now I appreciate 2024 is a long time to wait for this new solo series, so in the meantime it’s great to know we will be seeing more from the character. Echo will be starting next summer, which is set to have both Daredevil and Wilson Fisk make appearances, but it’s also confirmed Daredevil will appear in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law next month. The new trailer was released last night during the SDCC event, and although we don’t see his face, the last shot clearly shows Daredevil leaping through the air and making a dramatic entrance. Queue me trying not to wake my neighbours by screaming, because this was another huge win. I’d seen rumours Daredevil would be in this series, which makes sense given Daredevil and She-Hulk’s relationship as friends and peers (in both the realm of legal representation and superhero antics). Exploring this relationship is a great move because it strengthens the universe as Marvel’s plans become more expansive and ambitious. It’s fine to be going bigger and bolder, but there needs to be some connective tissue between characters. Team-ups like this are perfect for building the audience’s understanding, and enhancing our emotional connection to the characters.
As you might expect, this news has been met with a largely positive response, with long time Daredevil fans like myself feeling absolutely spoiled. However, this is the internet we’re dealing with. People are never truly happy in the realm of the internet, even when a goddamn miracle has happened. Already there are people expressing concerns about how Daredevil is going to be treated by Disney, in comparison to the gritty tone of the Netflix series. Which to a small extent I do understand, but I don’t think there’s any genuine reason to worry. For anyone concerned about the tone of the show, or if we’re going to see the original 60s yellow costume, consider the following:
- There is no single definitive version of Daredevil. Sure, the gritty tone of the Netflix show and Frank Miller’s comic books are both highly coveted, but it doesn’t mean that’s the only tone for the character. If you read the Daredevil comic books, particularly those of Mark Waid and Carl Kesel, the character also suits a comedic swashbuckling tone. Daredevil is both light and dark, and it’s a huge benefit to have such a versatile character who can cross paths with other heroes in other stories. Painting the character exclusively as dark and moody is an incredibly reductive reading of a very complex character, and it actually limits their prospect of future appearances outside of their own series. I’m confident with the right showrunner they’ll be able to strike a tone which suits the character and keeps everyone happy.
- The suit colour doesn’t really matter. The red suit has become something of a default, but other suits still exist. A black and red suit is rumoured for Echo, and the yellow suit is rumoured for She-Hulk, both of which are fine. At the end of the day this is a comic book adaptation about someone leaping from buildings with devil horns on their head. To some extent it’s always going to look corny, the same as any comic book costume adapted to the screen. Personally, I hope we see all three suits in the MCU, because we should never shy away from a character’s roots and we should honour the legacy. I especially want to see the yellow costume if it annoys bitter people even further.
- I don’t think there’s any reason to be concerned over whether Marvel Studios can go dark and gritty. I too was sceptical about this, until I saw Moon Knight earlier this year, and my doubts were truly laid to rest. It’s clear Marvel are able to head into darker territory, and execute fight sequences which feel raw and brutal. In fact Moon Knight was compared to the Netflix Daredevil series on a weekly basis, so that should immediately verify we’re in safe hands. Just because Daredevil is sitting with Disney it doesn’t mean he’s suddenly going to be paired up with Mickey and friends. I think we’ll still see him as untethered and complicated as usual, with action sequences which are expertly choreographed, but difficult to watch without flinching.
So there is an air of cynicism, but I guess that was always going to happen. Sometimes people can’t see the gifts they’ve been given, and will inexplicably seek out reasons to feel bitter. In recent months there’s been a strange fermenting process in the MCU fandom, whereby some fans have become more hostile and difficult to please. Which is to be expected among any fandom (unfortunately), but it’s an exhausting endeavour to avoid ruffling feathers when some people are consistently grumpy little chickens whose feathers are always ruffled. The way I see it, we’re being given a huge amount of Daredevil content, after thinking we’d seen the cast and characters for the last time, so what is there to be negative about? There’s a bright future for Daredevil, so this is the time to be hopeful!
It is undoubtedly an exciting time to be a Daredevil fan, and a Marvel fan in general. Bringing Daredevil fully into the MCU will please existing fans, and has the potential to create new fans, so it’s a win on both fronts. Granted there’s a delay before we see the character fully fleshed out, but it’ll be worth the wait. We’ve got some smaller projects to enjoy over the next couple of years, and then we’ll be rewarded with an 18 episode feast. For the time being, I’d recommend anybody wanting their Daredevil fix to do one or more of the following:
1. Wait patiently for She-Hulk next month.
2. Head over to Disney Plus to watch (or re-watch) Daredevil.
3. Pick up a comic book. Daredevil is fortunate to have an impressive number of iconic runs, so there’s plenty of amazing comic books to check out. Frank Miller, Ann Nocenti, Carl Kesel, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Mark Waid, Charles Soule, Chip Zdarsky. Just some of the writers who have helped shape Daredevil into such a compelling and fascinating character. Picking up any of their runs would give you hours of entertainment and food for thought. However, I’d recommend checking out all of them, obviously.
Aside from that, it’s just a matter of patience. All good things come to those who wait, and Daredevil is always worth waiting for. Plus we’re only a matter of weeks away from seeing him team up with his lawyer / crime fighting buddy She-Hulk. Face forwards and get ready, the fun is only just starting!
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