According to Daredevil: Born Again's producers, some of Marvel's audience need to work on being less mean.
Marvel Television and Disney+'s Daredevil: Born Again is a full-fledged revival of the original Netflix Daredevil series that ran from 2015 to 2018. However, it is by no means the exact same show, with Born Again opting for a quicker pace and different storytelling structure than its first TV incarnation.
Daredevil Disney+ Creatives Talk Marvel Studios Fans
The April 7 episode of the #TalkDaredevil podcast featured two important people involved with Daredevil: Born Again as guests: showrunner Dario Scardapane and executive producer Sana Amanat. Eventually, the conversation turned to fan reaction regarding Born Again.
Amanat joined Marvel in 2009 on the publishing side. It was there that she co-created mega-fan favorite Kamala Khan. When Marvel Studios developed Ms. Marvel on Disney+, Amanat was brought aboard the show as an executive producer.
As one must keep in mind, Ol' Hornhead had an extremely ardent, built-in fanbase that originated along with the initial Daredevil Netflix show. As such, viewers who adored the original have been quite vocal going into Born Again, which is something that Amanat attested to:
"Because I've been at Marvel for so long, I've seen every reaction. I know how the fan community is, and, y'know, sometimes it can be very mean!"
This is far from the first time that Amanat has addressed fan criticism. In 2022, she called Kamala's controversial change in her superpowers "the right move" (read Sana Amanat's other comments on the matter here).
One thing is for sure: during Amanat's Marvel tenure, she has been involved in many projects and has likely witnessed the full breadth of the fandom's offerings.
As she made clear on the #TalkDaredevil podcast, the detractors of Daredevil: Born Again are firmly in the minority. Amanat also confirmed that the show's creative team is "listening" to what the audience says:
"For the most part, I have found it to be a really wonderful community where we get inspiration from them. I feel like there's a lot of great ideas too. We're listening."
Still, the producer quickly pointed out that what fans want might not always be best for the series as a whole, explaining that "it is absolutely a balance" to manage expectations and reality simultaneously:
"Y'know, there's some things we're like, 'Oh yeah, that is interesting!' And then of course there are others where we're like, 'No, there's a different direction' and like Dario said, hopefully you're gonna love it, y'know? Like, we have to challenge them... But it is absolutely a balance. We do want fans to be happy and excited because also, y'know, we're fans! And we want to be happy and excited. So we're always gonna come from that place. We'll just maybe have different tastes at times."
Could Marvel Fans Stand To Be Nicer?
At the end of the day, pleasing everyone is a virtual impossibility. Creating a product that every member of its customer base will be happy with is not practical or even feasible.
That being said, a small but vocal contingent of any large group of fans can be vicious with their criticisms and complaints. This excludes the individuals whose vitriol is politically motivated, as seen with the reception to The Marvels.
Still, many Marvel watchers provide valid criticisms. The issue, though, is that their words can sometimes be delivered with less tact and more anger than should exist for a television show or movie.
Now, these viewers don't need to adopt the practice of radical kindness. But they would do well to remember that people with feelings work on shows like Daredevil: Born Again and Ms. Marvel.
Kindness increasingly seems to be becoming a forgotten practice in today's world. While everyone is more or less entitled to their own opinions, this does not mean they must be expressed through harsh language and rage.
Matt Murdock may have severe, unresolved anger issues, but he doesn't let them interfere with his interactions with his friends and clients. Instead, Matt channels his temper through his vigilante work as Daredevil, which offers him an outlet.
Perhaps Daredevil fans should try to take a page out of Matt's book, only without the frequent and intense physical violence (read more about how Born Again stepped up its violence on Disney+).
Daredevil: Born Again is available to watch exclusively on Disney+. The season finale arrives on Tuesday, April 15, at 9 p.m. ET.
