It turns out we nearly got a Daredevil movie series before the Netflix show!
Right now, Daredevil: Born Again is a great follow-up to the beloved 2015-18 Netflix Daredevil series. It has most of the same cast and more thrilling tales as Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) battles for justice in the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. The series isn’t overseen by Drew Goddard, who had created the original Netflix show as well as The Defenders series.
Goddard, who co-wrote the current smash hit film Project Hail Mary, talked to Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast about his career. He first clarified that he wasn’t originally going to be the showrunner for the Netflix series, as he had planned to direct The Martian in 2015 and let Steven S. DeKnight lead the show. DeKnight departed while Ridley Scott directed The Martian, freeing Goddard up.
“Steven S. DeKnight comes aboard, and he and I go way back. There’s nobody better to do Daredevil than Steve. We mapped out the whole season already. So, now it’s just about Steve making it his own, right? That's why I’m still credited on all of those because we just kept working. Looking back, I think we should have just been clearer with the public."
Of course, Daredevil had gotten the big-screen treatment before, in the 2003 movie starring Ben Affleck, which was famously shifted from a dark cut to something more “audience-friendly.” In the early 2010s, 20th Century Fox had planned an R-rated reboot directed by Joe Carnahan, but that didn’t get off the ground.
Then Marvel acquired the rights back, and Goddard pitched an idea to Kevin Feige with the concern that “I think there was concern that it was too adult. The Marvel model at that time was definitely not a play to adults."
Of course, that would morph into the Netflix show, but what would Goddard’s vision for Daredevil have been?
A two-part Daredevil movie could have happened
Goddard revealed that rather than just one film, he pitched two that would work together. Obviously, the Kingpin would be the villain of the first installment, but his choice for the bad guy in the second was more interesting.
"I remember saying, 'Well, here’s my vision. My vision is that the first one would be The Kingpin. Find a way to make that special.' My second idea was that the villain of the second movie should be The Punisher. I remember that everyone in the room was like, 'Oh, that’s exciting.' I love anytime two quote-unquote 'heroes' do battle with each other, right? We got to do it. We just did it on Netflix, which I think was the right fit for that."
It does seem like Goddard simply reworked his movie plans into the Netflix series, which gave him far more freedom to develop the plotlines. There had been plans for a fourth season before Netflix pulled the plug. It's unclear how many of Goddard’s ideas have been used in Born Again as it hasn't been revealed how the show has adapted the ideas.
Right now, Goddard remains busy as creator of the ABC hit High Potential and is planning a Matrix reboot. While fans are happy for the Netflix Daredevil show, it’s still intriguing to imagine how a big-screen version of The Man Without Fear would have looked.