The showrunner of Netflix’s Daredevil Season 1, Steven McKnight, recently took to social media to express his frustration with the upcoming reboot of the series on Disney+. In a response to a crew member’s post, McKnight called the reboot an “old Disney scam” and urged guilds and unions to address the issue.
The reboot, titled Daredevil: Born Again, will feature the return of Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin. However, the decision to recast Vanessa Fisk and make changes to Kingpin’s origin story, as well as the absence of Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, strongly suggest that this is not a continuation of the Netflix series.
McKnight’s criticism stems from the reset of contract terms that often occurs when a series is slightly renamed. This allows the production company to avoid offering better benefits to crew members as more seasons are produced. McKnight called on guilds and unions to address this practice and “crush” it.
This is not the first time Disney has employed this tactic. The company has previously renamed series in order to pay actors less money. For example, the series Liv & Maddie was rebooted as Liv & Maddie: Cali Style, allowing Disney to pay its talent less than the minimum wage in the first three seasons.
This practice of rebooting series and resetting contract terms raises concerns about fair pay and compensation in the entertainment industry, particularly in the era of streaming. Currently, there are ongoing actors’ and writers’ strikes calling for more equitable treatment.
While many fans are excited for the Daredevil reboot, it is important to acknowledge the potential repercussions for those who worked on the original series and other Marvel shows on Netflix. As production remains delayed, there is no set release date for Daredevil: Born Again.
Sources:
– [Source 1]
– [Source 2]
Note: URLs of actual sources not provided
