Disney+ Gets R-Rated On Daredevil: Born Again Is A Watershed

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 20 seconds ago

For studio executives and fans, there are high hopes for that Daredevil: Born Again will be the Marvel blockbuster that Disney+ desperately needs. There are many reasons to hope the show succeeds, including the return of the key actors who made the original Netflix show a fan favorite. For me, though, that’s the biggest reason to be hopeful Daredevil: Born Again is rated TV-MA, representing Disney’s late desire to diversify its MCU content.

Daredevil Needs To Be Dark

Part of what the Netflix did Daredevil showing how much of a hit it is that he wasn’t afraid to go extremely dark as needed. We had bloody scenes like Kingpin murdering a flank with a car door and Punisher murdering almost everyone who comes to him in Ryker’s Island. When Daredevil: Born Again was first announced, fans were worried that Disney takes a lighter, more kid-friendly approach to this brutal franchise. The TV-MA rating means it can be brutal as before, but the main reason I’m hyped is that Disney, for the first time in a long time, is willing to create different shows for different types of audiences.

Long before Daredevil: Born Again was in production and before Disney+ even existed, House of Mouse released Marvel content through various platforms aimed at very specific audiences. Younger fans got similar shows Cloak and Tears on Freeform and Runaways forward Hulu while older fans get more movie-like content on ABC through similar series Agents of SHIELD a Agent Carter. Netflix became the de facto home of mature Marvel content, delivering shows like Daredevil a Jessica Jones frankly, it wasn’t easy to show anywhere outside of streaming.

However, when Disney+ came along, all of the shows were aimed at the same middle-of-the-road audience as Agents of SHIELD aimed at. That’s not inherently a bad thing. Agents of SHIELD It was a very solid show in its own right, and early Disney+ shows like WandaVision a Loki proving that the studio still has great stories to tell. However, mature content was clearly not a focus after Disney uploaded an episode that was “accidentally” censored The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and subsequently gave his entire Netflix MCU legacy a content warning.

The New Age Disney / Marvel TV-MA

Now, Daredevil: Born Again getting a TV-MA rating is proof that Disney is ready to move on to creating more mature content. Sure, the An echo there was also a miniseries at TV-MA, but that felt more like a marketing angle for a show that flew under most people’s radar. Born Againhowever, is the most anticipated Disney+ show by Marvel fans, and letting such a popular character have more R-rated adventures means the streamer is finally ready to create more mature shows for more mature audiences .

If Daredevil: Born Again proves to be popular on Disney +, we may get more TV-MA Marvel content. For example, if Punisher got his own revival series, Frank Castle would definitely need this more mature score to properly punish his enemies. Other familiar characters like Elektra and even Ghost Rider It would benefit from having individual series that are not limited by the need to make programs that are family friendly. Also, considering it looks like we might never get that Blade movie, this show might be reborn as Disney+ with all the magic and violence of the original Wesley Snipes movies.

Admittedly, this may all be putting the cart before the horse (or should that be the hero’s porch?). Daredevil: Born Again It could very well flop on Disney+, especially after the show had to fire its current writers and directors to creatively revamp the entire series. Still, hope springs eternal, and we can only hope that House of Mouse embraces more of the storytelling variety that has always made Marvel great. Otherwise, the Netflix the Marvel era may be remembered as the last time this franchise was willing to swing for the streaming fences.