Daredevil: Born Again Set Photo Confirms Marvel Replaced A Character - Again
During the midst of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, Marvel Studios made the unprecedented move of firing the "Daredevil: Born Again" team after disastrous results and essentially started from scratch. Now, new set photos, including confirmation that Jon Bernthal's Punisher will factor into the upcoming show, promise a far more auspicious continuation for the Man Without Fear. That includes the return of an actor previously believed to have been recast.
More changes thanks to the retooling of Daredevil: Born Again: Ayelet Zurer will now reprise her role as Vanessa Fisk pic.twitter.com/7lbwhTSPuv
— Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK) April 7, 2024
Photographer Steve Sands posted a picture on Instagram Stories of Ayelet Zurer shooting a scene alongside Vincent D'Onofrio; the two will reprise their roles of Vanessa and Wilson Fisk, respectively. While the photo was deleted 24 hours later, Hollywood insider Daniel Richtman posted the picture to X (formerly known as Twitter) so that everyone else could see it.
The Hollywood Reporter wrote in March 2023 that Sandrine Holt would be portraying Vanessa on "Daredevil: Born Again," which disappointed some fans hoping to see much of the original cast back in action. Around the same time, there were reports that Matt Murdock's (Charlie Cox) close friends Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) and Foggy (Elden Henson) wouldn't return in any capacity, but then, it was confirmed the two of them would be back after the massive overhaul. It would appear that Marvel finally figured out what fans truly wanted in the rebooted Daredevil series — the actors they have come to love in these roles.
The gang's all here for Daredevil: Born Again
Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, is one of the most captivating villains among all Marvel Studios projects, and a large part of that comes down to his relationship with Vanessa. The two played off one another magnificently on the Netflix "Daredevil" show, but it disappointed many when it was announced Ayelet Zurer wouldn't be back for "Born Again." When the recasting initially came to light, Zurer wrote on Instagram Stories (that's since been deleted), "Sad to not take part. But I will always be Vincent D'Onofrio's biggest fan."
The photo shows D'Onofrio with his self-proclaimed biggest fan, and audiences couldn't be more excited. Getting Zurer back for "Daredevil: Born Again," in addition to many other actors from the Netflix saga, has made viewers realize that Marvel is setting up the new show to be a huge event. For example, @theR5archives wrote on X, "You have to give Marvel credit for this, they really got everybody back together. This means that they think 'Daredevil: Born Again' will be a success since they also brought back the original screenwriters."
Marvel has had a rough time these past couple of years, culminating in "The Marvels" bombing at the box office. The studio likely knows it needs to win back fans concerned about overall quality across so many projects, and seeing how the Netflix Marvel shows were (generally) well-received, getting a bunch of people from that side of the franchise back for "Daredevil: Born Again" is a solid move. The series still has no release date at this time, but check back for more information as it becomes available.