Marvel producer says test audiences loved scrapped Daredevil: Born Again episodes, but "a lot" of their material made it into the final show anyway

The creative team behind Daredevil: Born Again admits that test audiences did, in fact, like those scrapped Daredevil: Born Again episodes – but a lot of that material made its way into the final version of the new Disney Plus show.

"They did quite well because [audiences] loved the characters," executive producer Brad Winderbaum explained to Entertainment Weekly. "They loved Vincent and Charlie, so there was a lot of goodwill there."

You might remember that Born Again was quite far into its first season before Marvel did a complete overhaul and replaced the writers and directors. The new series was initially conceived as an 18-episode legal procedural with a version of Matt Murdock who spent more time as a lawyer than as Daredevil before Kevin Feige reportedly swooped in.

"The things that were working, and the things that always worked, [were] Matt Murdock and his relationship with his friends, the dichotomy of being a hero and a lawyer, the pressures of a person in your life like Kingpin — all of those were there," showrunner Dario Scardapane explained. "It was really a matter of adding to and giving context. There were a couple of storylines that just needed to be there, and it wasn't even with our main characters."

Born Again sees the return of several characters from the Netflix series Foggy (Elden Henson) and Karen (Deborah Ann Woll), as well as Wilson Bethel's Bullseye, and, of course, Vincent D'onofrio's Wilson Fisk.

Daredevil: Born Again is set to premiere on March 4 with a nine-episode run, with the remaining nine being saved for a season 2. For more, check out our list of the best new TV shows coming your way in 2024 and beyond, or check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows you need to know about.