Daredevil: Born Again compared to acclaimed X-Men ’97 revival: ‘Society’s changed’

Upcoming Marvel series Daredevil: Born Again has been compared to queer fan-favourite revival X-Men ’97, and we couldn’t be more ready.

Released as a continuation to the classic 90s TV shiw X-Men: The Animated Series, Marvel Animation’s X-Men ’97 quickly became a favourite with LGBTQ+ fans upon release earlier this year.

Featuring several canonically queer characters, references to real-world events that rocked the LGBTQ+ community, and even including a confession of love from the non-binary shapeshifter Morph to Wolverine, it was clear that X-Men ’97 had moved with the times.

That’s why it’s so exciting that the reboot of Netflix’s Daredevil series starring Charlie Cox (now called Daredevil: Born Again) has been thematically compared to the series featuring Marvel’s band of mutants.

Speaking on The Official Marvel Podcast, Marvel Studios’ Head of Streaming, Television and Animation Brad Winderbaum has revealed that the series will take the Man Without Fear in a new direction – and likened it to the critically acclaimed X-Men ’97.

“Daredevil is incredible. It’s similar in some ways to X-Men ’97, because it’s reviving something that the fans love, but it is taking it in a new direction,” he explained on Wednesday’s (July 3) episode of the podcast.

“These characters have matured. The universe is different than it was. Things have changed. Society’s changed.” 

Winderbaum continued by teasing that as well as classic Daredevil baddie Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) making a return, their civilian aliases Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk will be locked at a professional-level battle, too.

“Matt and Wilson have changed, and their characters are gonna collide in ways we’ve never seen before,” he said. “It’s no longer enough to try and murder each other, there’s a whole game of politics at play.” 

As well as playing the blind lawyer/superhero in this new series, and between 2015 and 2018, Cox also portrayed the character briefly in Tom Holland’s last web-spinner appearance, Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Marvel’s next outing will be Deadpool & Wolverine, which stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman face off against Emma Corrin’s mysterious baddie Cassandra Nova.

Daredevil: Born Again is set to drop on Disney+ next March.