#INTERVIEW: THE CAST OF MARVEL TELEVISION’S “DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN”

By Mr. Will Wong

The Devil’s work is never done. Marvel fans will be thrilled that beloved DAREDEVIL makes his return in upcoming series DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN, which has the distinction of being Marvel Television‘s 13th series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After an absence of eight years, the titular character Daredevil/Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) continues his fight for justice, all while crime boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) pursues becoming the Mayor of New York City. Once again, these two powerful forces collide in a superhero story about humanity.

We were thrilled to join DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN‘s global Press Conference. Gracing us in the conversation were:

Dario Scardapane, Executive Producer / Showrunner
Sana Amanat / Executive Producer
Justin Benson / Executive Producer & Director (eps. 101,108-109)
Aaron Moorehead / Executive Producer & Director (eps. 101,108-109)
Brad Winderbaum / Executive Producer
Charlie Cox ‘Matt Murdock /Daredevil’
Vincent D’Onofrio ‘Kingpin’

The group was asked whether or not there was pressure to live up to the legacy built by famed Comic Writer and Artist Frank Miller.

Scardapane: Absolutely. Frank Miller came to set on our last day of shooting and sat at the monitor. We had that kind of, how do you say, Holy Trinity of the Show there. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my creative life. And his stuff was such an influence on me. You’re always going to try to live up to it and sometimes arrogantly trying to beat it just a little bit. And I don’t know, I’m not the one to say if we beat it, but I am always trying to live up to it as a Writer and Director. I can’t speak for Charlie (Cox), but what Frank Miller a bunch of other great Artists like Ed Brubaker and Charles Sewell, we’re always trying to live up to the bar they’ve set.

Cox: Yeah, it’s important we’re not doing the ‘born again’ story. The name of the Show is really just a reference to coming back after so many years and of course, an homage to Frank, an icon. Obviously, we’re trying to find the best version of the best Murdock aka Daredevil. But in finding the best version, we also seek out the worst version. I think that’s what makes him a compelling character and so relatable, actually. I have to think of Daredevil as being when you play that character, you’ll get to see the best version of yourself and you’ll get to see the worst version of yourself, which is fun.

One of the Series’ Executive Producers Sana Amanat talks about female presence in the Series, and also humanizing a villain in Wilson Fisk.

Amanat: Our Cast across the board, is really incredible. I love that all our female characters are unique, very strong and tough. It was such a joy to have Ava Ayala back. I have to say seeing Vincent and Ayala back together at work, I think that in itself showcased their own personal relationship. But it just changes who Wilson Fisk is. The spots of humanity you see with Fisk only happens wth Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) and I as a fan sometimes feel sympathy for him in those moments, which is shocking for a villain. And obviously, credit to Vincent, but Ayala and him together was just really fantastic. So it was a joy to work with everybody and hopefully everybody will be drawn to these new characters too.

New York City is a character and portraying this in the Series is discussed.

Moorhead: Daredevil is a Show that often seems like it often it deals in institutions, politics, and also the law because he’s (Murdock) a lawyer, of course. And gansters. So a lot of the locations are things like courthouses and police stations, etc. So you’d think that would be quite boring, but the thing is both with the collaboration of our Cinematographer Hillary Fyfe Spera and our Production Designer Michael Shaw, it felt like you were actually were stepping into this gilded coutroom with beautiful burnished wood. But it’s also a place where people go to just have their dreams die. Those kind of things make you feel like you are kind of just there with them rather than just being presented a movie. And so a lot of that for example, in Matt Murdock‘s world we’re just using more of like a handheld camera and all that and a wider lenses where you just feel like you’re sitting right in front of them. It was really about immeirsion in the world. Just feeling the same thing as we were about earlier with the Documentary within the show. I just wanted it to feel like it was a New York you recognize, not ‘Movie New York’, you know?

Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio are asked about their strong working relationship and the sense of trust they’ve built between themselves.

Cox: It was so fun. You can see the joy. You (D’Onofrio) said something yesterday, which is great. Over the last ten years, we’ve become very good friends. And the good news is that it does feel like the better friends we become, the easier it is to hate eachother.

D’Onofrio: It’s so true – with like no consequenes. You know, you develop because we’ve known eachother for so long and we love playing these roles. We have a lot in common and I’ve fallen in love with Charlie and the more I love him, the more I love to hate him. The other thing is that we trust each other a lot. I know that when I’m in the studio, when we were shooting this, he’s usually in one side of the studio. I don’t even know what they are doing. And I’m on the other side of the studio doing something else. I never have to question, I have complete confidence in what is going on. And it gives me a lift on my side to have that knowledge and that’s because of our team and Charlie in a big way – it’s great to have this kind of relationship with your partner in crime.

Scardapane: The scenes that you’re in together, that trust comes out in like such a wild way. You go for it in subtle ways that people who don’t believe in eachother couldn’t have pulled off. We don’t know how we did it, but we’ve developed a kind of shorthand.

Cox: Yeah, we think very similar and our notes are always very similar.

D’Onofrio: And if not, we just fall into collaboration without even thinking about it, because we know that we have deliver stuff that makes sense to him. If we have notes, we don’t want to go in and say ‘Hey, I’d rather say this word than that word, or say I’m not comfortable with that sentence’. That is always helpful for a Writer. Rather than just say ‘I’d really like to do this’, it’s more about ‘I loved it!’. That’s me. I’m just saying we prep really well together, and collaborate really well together.

Marvel Television’s DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN premieres March 4, 2025 at 6pm PT/9pm ET on Disney+ Canada.

(Photo/video credit: Marvel Studios)

#FIRSTLOOK: “RUN ALL NIGHT” TRAILER STARRING ED HARRIS, JOEL KINNAMAN + LIAM NEESON

Hot on the success of his Box Office domination this weekend, Liam Neeson stars in yet another high-octane Action-Thriller, RUN ALL NIGHT, its new Trailer just getting released this past weekend.

Official Synopsis:
Brooklyn mobster and prolific hit man Jimmy Conlon (Liam Neeson), once known as The Gravedigger, has seen better days. Longtime best friend of mob boss Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris), Jimmy, now 55, is haunted by the sins of his past—as well as a dogged police detective (Vincent D’Onofrio) who’s been one step behind Jimmy for 30 years. Lately, it seems Jimmy’s only solace can be found at the bottom of a whiskey glass.

But when Jimmy’s estranged son, Mike (Joel Kinnaman), becomes a target, Jimmy must make a choice between the crime family he chose and the real family he abandoned long ago. With Mike on the run, Jimmy’s only penance for his past mistakes may be to keep his son from the same fate Jimmy is certain he’ll face himself…at the wrong end of a gun. Now, with nowhere safe to turn, Jimmy just has one night to figure out exactly where his loyalties lie and to see if he can finally make things right.

Watch the Trailer:

Warner Bros. Pictures Canada release RUN ALL NIGHT on Friday, April 17, 2015.

(Photo/video credit: Warner Bros.)