When it was first announced that Charlie Cox would be returning for Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+, there was a question of how closely it would (or wouldn’t) connect to the original Netflix series. Cox, along with fellow returning stars Vincent D’Onofrio, Jon Bernthal, Deborah Ann Woll, and Elden Henson, told Entertainment Weekly that “our history stands” regarding the previous three seasons.
“What the characters went through still exists, that’s still part of who they are, it’s just that now we’re catching up with them at a different point in their lives,” said Woll.
Cox added, “Deborah and I had a scene where we find an old box — am I allowed to say that? I think I can say that. We had a scene where we were looking through a box and we find stuff from the past, and it was real stuff from the past. It was stuff from the old [show]. It was like a photo frame we used on a set eight years ago and we were looking at it together — well, I wasn’t looking at it. But we were reminiscing over it, and it was sweet. It was kind of a little bit of life imitating art.“
Although Cox said that having a “shared character history” gives Daredevil: Born Again “texture,” he also cautions that too many callbacks can be an enemy. “Because that is the stuff that’s left behind you as you go forward and then you’re tied to it,” he said. “I felt like the writers and [showrunner] Dario [Scardapane] did a really amazing job at finding a way for us to have our history, to have our connections, but not dwelling on it so much that you are tied to it the whole time.” Considering Daredevil: Born Again apparently had no connections to the Netflix series when it first started production, I think fans will be pleased that so much has been woven into the new story.
The actor added that while they didn’t want to “alienate” new viewers who may not have seen the original Daredevil series on Netflix, they still wanted to serve long-time fans. “It’s a really tough job so I’m so impressed with what the writers managed to do by allowing us to keep that history but also present it in a way where it isn’t alienating,” Cox said.
Daredevil: Born Again will premiere on Disney+ on March 2025.