Daredevil: Born Again star Vincent D'Onofrio has seemingly revealed that a second season of the Marvel TV show is already in development.
Speaking to Newsweek, D'Onofrio – who will make his second Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) appearance in Daredevil: Born Again – suggested that the superhero series had been greenlit for another outing. D'Onofrio's claim comes two weeks after the show's first season began filming.
Answering a question about how Born Again differs from Daredevil's previous live-action series, which ran on Netflix between 2015 and 2018, D'Onofrio revealed that Born Again season 2 is on the way. Or, at the very least, that the storylines set up in the Disney Plus show's first entry will pay off in a sequel season.
"By the second season, there are gigantic, gigantic payoffs," the Marvel actor said. "[That happens] in the first season, too, but I can't say much about that. But the fans are gonna really get what they want. It's really quite cool to be doing it."
Daredevil: Born Again is one of many in-development TV shows that'll be part of Marvel Phase 5. The second part of Marvel's Multiverse Saga began in February with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania but, like many other fans and critics, we weren't totally enamored with the film. You can read more about why in our Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania review.
Since Ant-Man 3 was released in theaters, Marvel has been hit by a number of big issues. Victoria Alonso, one of Marvel Studios' notable figureheads, was fired for allegedly breaching contract. Meanwhile, reports over the weekend revealed Jonathan Majors, who is set to play Kang the Conqueror (and his many multiversal variants) across the Multiverse Saga, was arrested over domestic violence accusations. At the time of writing, it's unclear whether Majors' arrest will affect his MCU future.
Add those major headaches to other problems that have plagued Marvel (The Marvels' release being pushed to November; other Phase 5 movie and TV show delays; wider matters concerning the third-party VFX studios it works with) and the studio needs a big win.
Luckily for Marvel, two of its most popular franchises have new instalments coming out soon, which might atone for some of the bad press. Guardians of the Galaxy 3, the final movie from acclaimed director James Gunn, arrives in theaters on May 5. Meanwhile, Loki season 2 is set to debut on Disney Plus later this year.
Analysis: nobody silences the Kingpin
With the above problems to contend with, Marvel could do without one of its stars leaking out information about one of its most eagerly anticipated TV shows.
D'Onofrio, though, doesn't play by the rules. The actor, who played Wilson Fisk/Kingpin in Netflix's Daredevil series before reprising his role as the same character in Hawkeye's TV series in November 2021, has always spoken openly about his time playing the iconic supervillain. His love for portraying Fisk shines through whenever he's asked about the role. Non-disclosure agreements won't stop him from chatting about the role, regardless of the wrath he might incur from Marvel's lawyers for seemingly leaking information about Born Again's potential second season.
One saving grace for D'Onofrio is that he's not the first individual or industry insider to reveal official news and/or secrets about Daredevil: Born Again.
Speaking to TechRadar in December 2022, Matt Murdock/Daredevil actor Charlie Cox confirmed that, unlike its Netflix counterpart, Daredevil: Born Again wouldn't be fully R-rated. Elsewhere, Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle/Punisher is making the jump from Netflix's live-action series to the MCU – D'Onofrio confirming as much in his Newsweek chat. In our view, Bernthal's return could create a big problem for the MCU from a continuity perspective. However, She-Hulk episode 8 confirmed Netflix's Daredevil TV show is canon in the MCU, so maybe it won't be as big an issue.
Even with things leaking out, given the reverence that Netflix's Daredevil TV show is held in, we'd be surprised if Daredevil: Born Again doesn't prove to be similar popular when it eventually arrives. Currently, the series is due to arrive on Disney Plus in the second half of 2024. But, with Marvel tweaking its release schedule plenty of times in the past year, Born Again might not launch until 2025. Still, we're confident it'll be one of the best Disney Plus shows around when it is release.
For more MCU-based content, find out how to watch the Marvel movies in order. Additionally, read up on everything worth knowing about Secret Invasion, or check out our best Marvel movies ranked piece.
