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Daredevil: Born Again is even "faster, meaner, cleaner" than The Penguin, as the MCU competes with Max's Batman spin-off

Daredevil: Born Again showrunner sees The Penguin as their direct competition but says the Disney+ superhero series is even more grounded.

A still of Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in Daredevil: Born Again
Image credit: Marvel Studios

We’re just a few weeks away from Daredevil: Born Again giving the Man Without Fear his first new series in the MCU in over six years. Since then, superhero trends have changed. While 2024’s The Penguin series on Max showed a darker, more gritty side to the genre, Daredevil: Born Again showrunner Dario Scardapane says that he and star Charlie Cox take things even further.

“It’s really strange,” he explains in an interview in SFX magazine. “You work in a vacuum and then something else comes out and you go, ‘Oh, wow.’ I would say in many ways The Penguin is our direct competition. However, we’re even more grounded, even less stylized, even more rooted in the here and now. I loved Penguin. We’re a little faster, meaner, cleaner in our storytelling.”

The comparisons between the two projects are tough to get away from, though you’d expect The Penguin, with its focus on one of the most famous villains in Batman’s rogues gallery, to be the one with the darker tone. However, the original Daredevil series on Netflix was so well-received because it embraced the dark tone of the hero. Echo’s TV-MA rating showed that the MCU could handle violence and darkness even when it was confined to a Disney+ series, so we’re excited to see where Daredevil goes with the same kind of freedom.

The apparently very gritty and grounded Daredevil: Born Again is coming to Disney+ on March 5 and sees Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio returning as Matt Murdoch/Daredevil and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin. 


Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

Trent Cannon

Trent Cannon: Trent is a freelance writer who has been covering anime, video games, and pop culture for a decade. (He/Him)

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