Marvel TV chief Brad Winderbaum has excitingly revealed how Daredevil: Reborn draws inspiration from X-Men 97.
Speaking of episode two of the Official Marvel PodcastWinderbaum revealed how the studios Daredevil reboot is based on its successful animated cousin, which is also a recent revival of the beloved 1990s series X-Men: The Animated Seriess. In short: it all has to do with bringing back a popular series – Daredevilwhich originally aired on Netflix and gave a new twist to the Disney Plus successor.
Asked for an update on Daredevil: RebornWinderbaum said: “Daredevil (:Reborn) is incredible. It is similar in some ways to X-Men 97 because it revives something that fans love, but it takes it in a new direction. These characters have grown up (and) the universe is different than it was. Things have changed, society has changed, Matt (Murdock) and Wilson (Fisk) have changed, and their characters are going to collide in ways that we’ve never seen before. It’s not enough to just kill each other anymore; there’s a whole political game going on.”
Daredevil: Reborn will hit Disney Plus in March 2025 and, thankfully, will continue the story told in the Netflix TV Original before that series was canceled after three seasons. The decision to pick up events after the original show was also met with enthusiasm from loyal fans, in no small part because Daredevil: Reborn was in serious trouble after Marvel admitted that the original plan for the series had not lived up to expectations. Fortunately, Marvel’s hiring of a new lead writer and directors, plus the studio’s decision to tie it more closely to its Netflix predecessor, put it back into development on a more solid footing.
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Daredevil: Reborn was far from the only upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) TV show that Winderbaum updated us on. The comic-giant boss, who oversees the company’s live-action and animated TV productions, plus its streaming output, also provided updates on a host of animated projects, including X-Men 97 season two, Black Panther spin-off Eyes of Wakandathe last part of What if…?.
“We have big plans for season two,” he said of X-Men 97′s next chapter. “I’ve already seen all the animatics and we’re well on our way to creating something that will reach the heights of the first season. I know the first season is an emotional ride (and) that ride continues into a whole X-Men fashion in the second season.”
“What if…? “Season three feels like the completion of a trilogy,” Winderbaum continued. “It takes us to places you would never expect. It goes further than the first two seasons in its exploration of the multiverse, and it brings in characters who are very unexpected. And it has, I think, an extremely moving and satisfying culmination for Uatu the Watcher.”
As regards Eyes of WakandaWinderbaum teased, “More than any other show – we’re making an animation – Eyes of Wakanda ties right into the MCU. This is a story about the history of Wakandan. It’s produced by Ryan Coogler (and) directed by Todd Harris, one of our regular storyboard artists. I first met him when he designed the fight between Hulk and Thor in (Thor:) Ragnarok. It’s a great show, the action is insane and the story is fantastic. It’s about the history of Wakanda but also expands into the larger MCU in different time periods, so if you’re a fan of the movies, I think this show is going to be a real treat.”
And what about other upcoming Marvel Phase 5 shows on Disney Plus, aka one of the world’s best streaming services? Winderbaum was similarly effusive about the studio’s next live-action series Agatha Always Alreadywhich will be released in September, ahead of a long-awaited update to Marvel’s Spider-Man animated series, titled Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
“Agatha “It’s really fun, but it’s also really scary and it gets pretty dramatic,” he said. “She’s a great antihero and that show… it lures you in with the fun of Halloween and before you know it, you’re crying. I’ll put it that way. It’s also a Marvel brand of scary. It’s a Halloween show, there are deadly stakes in the series, it’s a fun ride, but it’s a dangerous one.”
“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man… this is Peter Parker in high school,” Winderbaum added. “There are twists and turns that are great, but the real strength is the ensemble (in) the neighborhood. The showrunner is Jeff Trammel, who made a show called Craig from the creeka children’s cartoon that was set in the interconnected backyards of this neighborhood for seasons and had a whole mythology that came out of it, and characters that you really grew to care about over the course of the series. He’s amplified that in such a big way by playing with characters like, not just Peter Parker, but Nico Minoru, Lonnie Lincoln – who’s my personal favorite – and Harry Osborn and others that really flesh out this teenage ensemble.”