According to former Daredevil showrunner Steven S. DeKnight, Netflix did not give the original series the rating he wanted. Before Marvel's Man Without Fear returned to the MCU with the skull-cracking R-rated Daredevil: Born Again, he showcased his superhero-ing skillset on Netflix in three seasons of Marvel TV. This original take on the character was appropriately dark and gritty, but it could not go quite as far as the Disney+ revival.
While both Born Again and the original Daredevil are technically R-rated (or TV-MA) in the U.S., that does not mean they are identical in terms of the adult content they could each show. Netflix's Daredevil was initially restricted to a UK rating of 16+, while Born Again has been granted a full 18+ rating.
DeKnight addressed the difference in rating between his Daredevil show and the new Marvel Studios reboot during a recent conversation with The Direct. Speaking exclusively to The Direct's Russ Millheim on the red carpet of Spartacus: House of Ashur, DeKnight revealed that he would have liked to have gone further with Daredevil's rating, but Netflix pushed back on the idea.
When asked what he thought about the emergence of Daredevil: Born Again, Deknight posited, "I have really liked it," praising the likes of Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio:
The Direct: "Have you seen 'Daredevil: Born Again?' What are your thoughts?"
Steven S. DeKnight: "I have really liked it. Look, I admit I'm completely biased, because I love the actors. I mean, Charlie Cox is one of the just purest, sweetest human beings in the world, and Vincent D'Onofrio, the same way. I mean, those guys, I'd take a bullet for those guys. I loved the fact that ['Daredevil'] was being resurrected, and resurrected with a bigger budget than we had, that's for damn sure, let me tell you."
"I remember when Daredevil was in She-Hulk, and he was doing a lot of the acrobatics," the Daredevil showrunner added, "if I had the money, that's exactly what he would have [done]:"
DeKnight: "I remember when Daredevil was in 'She-Hulk,' and he was doing a lot of the acrobatics, and people were saying, 'Well, what do you think about those acrobatics?' And I told them on social media, 'Hey, if I had the money, that's exactly what he would have.' We didn't have the money to do that."
When prodded on if there was anything else he would have done that Born Again had, DeKnight replied, "I wanted to be more R-rated," admitting he had what he called the "PG-16 handcuffs on:"
The Direct: "Is there anything else that 'Daredevil: Born Again' has done that you were like, 'I would have done that'?"
DeKnight: "Yes. I wanted to be more R-rated. They were able to go there, whereas I had the PG-16 handcuffs on, where I could only go so far. And as you can see from ['Spartacus: House of Ashur'], I like to go pretty far. So, I really appreciated that Marvel and Disney+ was willing to go there. That honestly surprised me and delighted me."
The Direct: "How do we get you involved now, who do we have to call?"
DeKnight: "Cross my fingers. But I'm tied up in the 'Spartacus' world for quite some time."
These most recent comments are in direct conflict with DeKnight's past remarks about Born Again's full R-rating. In 2015, DeKnight told The Hollywood Reporter that he "didn’t want to take [Daredevil] to an R-rating."
All three seasons of the original Daredevil series are now available to stream on Disney+. As for Daredevil: Born Again, the new Marvel TV revival is set to debut its second season in March 2026. Both series focus on the continued adventures of Carlie Cox's Matt Murdock, a visually impaired New York lawyer who spends his nights as the masked vigilante Daredevil.
The Biggest Difference Between Daredevil & Daredevil: Born Again
Steven S. DeKnight is no stranger to all-out R-rated TV, but his work on Daredevil stopped just shy of going all the way with its more mature content.
Not to say the original Daredevil series was lacking when it came to brutal and bloody violence, expletive-laden language, and adult themes, but, as expressed by DeKnight in his 2015 Hollywood Reporter interview, it was always much more "suggestive" than explicitly shown on screen.
While Born Again shows every grisly detail of the intense violence featured in the series (just look at the brutality of a sequence like the death of Foggy Nelson), Daredevil was a little more subtle with its action, cutting away right before a bone broke or cleverly framing a shot to avoid showing someone getting impaled on a fence post.
Maybe, DeKnight, at the time, was okay with this decision, allowing the series to appeal to a broader smattering of people, but he has come to regret it, wishing he could have brought an authentically ruthless portrayal of Daredevil and his world.
Perhaps if DeKnight were to return, he would approach things differently, but with the creative team on Born Again receiving praise in the way they are and DeKnight working on the Spartacus franchise, it seems unlikely at this point.
