Steven DeKnight, showrunner on Netflix’s Marvel Daredevil series, calls the upcoming Disney+ series “an old Disney scam” that will keep the Netflix series creatives from getting what is due to them financially.
Written and executive produced by Covert Affairs‘ Matt Corman and Chris Ord, the new installment centers on Charlie Cox’s Daredevil, otherwise known as Matt Murdock, an attorney by day and crimefighter by night. Vince D’Onofrio reprises his role as mob boss Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin.
DeKnight served as the showrunner for the first season of Netflix’s Daredevil, which launched in 2015 and ran for three seasons.
DeKnight was responding to a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) by a grip named Thomas, who is part of the IATSE union that represents film, TV and stage crew workers.
Thomas wrote that the retitling of the series is “a f***ing scam”, designed to reset guild contract terms to Season 1 levels. DeKnight replied on X that “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!”
DeKnight later wrote on X. “To be clear, I can’t wait to see Charlie Cox and the amazing @VincentDonofrio reprise their iconic rolls. But to claim this is a complete reboot and you don’t have to pay the original creatives is some corporate shenanigans, to say the least.”
Other announced main cast members of Daredevil: Born Again include Margarita Levieva, Sandrine Holt, Michael Gandolfini, Arty Froushan and Nikki M. James. Jon Bernthal’s Punisher also is reprising his role.
Cox spoke with NME late last year about his role in the upcoming reboot.
“This has to be a reincarnation, it has to be different, otherwise why are we doing it?” Cox told the publication. “My opinion is this character works best when he’s geared towards a slightly more mature audience. My instinct is that on Disney+ it will be dark but it probably won’t be as gory.”
Daredevil: Born Again, which had been filming in and around New York, was three months into an eight-month shoot on an 18-episode new season for Disney+ when it suspended production due to the WGA strike.
