The Netflix Marvel shows aren’t part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Right?
Those programs were produced by Marvel Entertainment NOT Marvel Studios and while they were being released, Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios refused to acknowledge them, even though the shows picked up elements from the films. All of these shows were abruptly canceled by Netflix when Marvel’s parent company, Disney, announced plans to create a competing streaming service, Disney+.
Now, suddenly, years later, it seems that Feige has seen the merit of certain elements of the Netflix Marvel Universe (or whatever it’s called). Vincent D’Onofrio returned as Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, in Hawkeye. That was followed by Charlie Cox‘s reprisal of his Matt Murdock role on the big screen in Spider-Man: No Way Home which led to his return as Murdock/Daredevil on She-Hulk.
RELATED: DISNEY+ CONFIRMS A SERIES STARRING ‘ECHO’ (‘ECHO’… ‘ECHO’…)
Both Cox and D’Onofrio are slated to appear in the Disney+ series Echo. But that’s just set up for their full-blown return in the spotlight on the series Daredevil: Born Again, the first Disney+ Marvel series to consist of 18 episodes. (The rest have been in the 6-8 episode range.)
And on that program, they will be joined by another Netflix alumnus, Jon Bernthal, who reprises the role of Frank Castle/The Punisher.
Bernthal originally played Castle/The Punisher on Netflix’s Daredevil before headlining his own series which ran for two seasons.
Daredevil: Born Again is being created by writers and executive producers Matt Corman and Chris Ord. The show takes its title from a famous storyline from the comics, published in 1986, written by Frank Miller, and drawn by David Mazzuchelli. However, many Marvel projects have borrowed the titles of comic book storylines, but have bore no resemblance to them. It’s very likely that this one is doing the same. They probably just picked the name “Born Again” to emphasize that this is the return of these Netflix actors in their famous Marvel roles.
RELATED: VINCENT D’ONOFRIO SAYS DISNEY+ IS THE REASON NETFLIX CANCELLED ‘DAREDEVIL’
The other bigger questions are, are these the same versions of these characters, and how will Disney take these TVMA characters and make them work in a PG-13 setting?
While everyone is always evasive when discussing upcoming Marvel projects, it appears that these characters are SIMILAR to the way they were depicted on Netflix, but they aren’t exactly the same. I can’t see Disney/Marvel Studios making direct connections to projects that a big chunk of their audience — kids — can’t watch. (At least they shouldn’t!)
While Deadpool 3 will be R-rated and is said to be set within the MCU, I doubt it will tie in too heavily to the unfurling continuity of Phase Five. After all, the first two barely connected to the continuity of the X-Men introducing entirely different versions of Colossus and the Juggernaut.
But by putting Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+, it would seem that this will more closely connect. So with that in mind, this show may be gritty… but it ain’t gonna be Netflix gritty. So it remains to be seen how they will depict The Punisher, one of the most hardcore characters around.
Echo was expected to be released this year, but with Bob Iger back in charge of Disney, the decision was made to space some of these Marvel projects out. It is now likely that it will debut sometime next year. As of right now, Daredevil: Born Again is also expected sometime in 2024.
