Marvel Already Has The Perfect Release Trick For Daredevil's MCU Reboot

Marvel already has the perfect release trick for Daredevil: Born Again to split up its long season and 18 episodes. Before Marvel Studios moved into the streaming wars, Marvel TV was busy making shows for ABC, Netflix, Hulu, and Freeform. WandaVision and other Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ shows have taken the approach to make roughly 6 hours of content, whether that means 6 one-hour long episodes or close to 9 half-hour episodes. It was very different from Marvel TV's prior shows, which often would be either 13 or 22 episodes per season. Daredevil: Born Again is poised to bring Marvel closer to Marvel TV's older ways, though.

The announcement of Daredevil: Born Again at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 came with the surprising news that it would be 18-episode first season. Kevin Feige confirmed this news himself, which will make Daredevil's MCU reboot the longest show Marvel Studios has made to date. With potentially close to 18 hours of Daredevil content ahead, the news raised a lot of questions about how Marvel Studios will handle the series. The MCU Disney+ shows have often been criticized for needing more time, but Daredevil: Born Again's 18 episodes could also mean a return to criticisms that the older shows had too much filler to delay the big finale.

If Marvel Studios is smart, Daredevil: Born Again's release plan will copy what Marvel TV did with Agents of SHIELD season 4. Instead of stretching a single story arc over the course of a 22-episode season, the writers began looking at the ABC Marvel show as a set of three "pods" that each had a unique focus. Agents of SHIELD season 4's pods focused on Ghost Rider, then LMDS, and finally the Agents of Hydra simulation. Each pod had a distinct story and was mostly released within a tight window, with necessary gaps ABC needed put in between pods. Daredevil: Born Again can do the same thing by using three pods to tell three different Daredevil stories that eventually all connect while also giving Disney+ and Marvel a way around needing to release new episodes of the Daredevil reboot for 18 straight weeks.

Will Marvel Split Up Daredevil: Born Again’s Episode Releases?

Marvel has not announced if it will split up Daredevil: Born Again's episodes. The official MCU Phase 5 slate does not include any other Disney+ shows in 2024, but that is likely to change. It could be that Marvel Studios is trying to figure out what to do with Daredevil: Born Again's release plan. By not splitting up the show, a new episode of the reboot will arrive on Disney+ once a week for four and a half months. Since MCU viewers are currently accustomed to shows running for less than two months, doubling that would not only test if streaming services can support that long of a weekly episodic release but also mean holding off on other Marvel shows or major Disney+ originals.

Looking at Agents of SHIELD season 4 again, the show took a month off between the Ghost Rider and LMD pods, while another five weeks were left between the LMD and Agents of Hydra pods. Even doing something like this for Daredevil: Born Again could be smart. The first six-episode pod could wrap up before Captain America: New World Order's release in May 2024, while the second pod could fill the 12-week gap before Thunderbolts' release in July. Marvel could then release Daredevil: Born Again final episodes throughout August/September or push it later if another MCU Disney+ show needs to come out before Fantastic 4.