There is a lot of confusion surrounding Marvel Studios’ upcoming series, “Daredevil: Born Again.” Is it a continuation of the Netflix series? If not, why have the same actors in the roles? Marvel has been a bit vague on the details, but fans aren’t the only ones a bit frustrated by the lack of clarity regarding the idea behind ‘Born Again.’ Is it a reboot? Is it a revival? Well, according to the showrunner of Netflix’s “Daredevil” Season 1, this is all part of a plan by Disney to avoid having to pay the creators involved in the original series.
In a very lengthy series of posts on X/Twitter, writer-producerr Steven DeKnight talked about an “old Disney scam” being used with the new “Daredevil: Born Again,” which allows for the studio to avoid paying backend money to those involved with the Netflix series. While he’s very clear talking about how he isn’t mad at the people involved with ‘Born Again’—and he’s excited to watch the new series—DeKnight wants everyone to be aware of the legality surrounding a name change and how it abstains Disney from any obligation to pay those involved with the original series.
“It’s an old Disney scam where they slightly rename a series to reset contract terms back to first season. Needs to be addressed by all the guilds/unions and crushed!” said DeKnight. “From what I understand, I’m not going to see a penny from ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ because they added the ‘Born Again’ and can claim it’s a completely different show. You know, with the exact same two lead actors (who I love!) playing Daredevil and Fisk.”
As mentioned, ‘Born Again’ brings back Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio to reprise their roles as Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk, respectively, in a new story in the MCU. The original “Daredevil” series was released by Netflix and was never under the Marvel Studios banner, which led to confusion about whether or not it exists in the MCU. Now, there’s even more confusion as Marvel Studios brings back the stars for a new “reboot.”
Obviously, DeKnight would love to get an extra check in the mail, considering his hard work with creating “Daredevil” on Netflix and shepherding its first season is being used by Disney to launch this new iteration of the character on Disney+. However, he’s not beating this drum solely for his own benefit. He wants everyone to know this is part of a larger issue at Disney.
“It’s about shining a light on a company with a history of pulling this kind of thing to avoid certain contractual payments. Also if you’re starting from scratch, that means completely starting over from square one. New everything, including cast,” he added. “And more specifically, using this tactic for years to cheat the crews out of proper bumps in pay for their kids/young adult shows. That’s the main issue if you ask me.”
And DeKnight wants to make it clear that he’s perfectly happy with how Marvel Studios is relaunching the Daredevil character, as glimpsed in last year’s “She-Hulk.”
“I dug that! Nice nod to his original yellow suit! And I LOVED him on ‘She-Hulk.’ Great stuff!” he said.
In a time when actors and writers are in open war with studios about contracts and the future of the business in terms of how people are compensated, it’s interesting to see even more issues come to light from folks involved. Perhaps someone like DeKnight using “Daredevil: Born Again” as an example will help showcase the practice allegedly used by Disney to avoid contractual obligations. It’s just another argument added to the list that shows just how important the current strikes are for SAG and WGA.