Before Daredevil starred in his own Netflix series, there were real plans back in the early 1980s to have him star in a kid-friendly cartoon. However, the Saturday morning animated show never came to fruition thanks to one iconic cover by Frank Miller.
When it comes to character-defining runs on a particular comic book hero, there aren't much better than Miller's Daredevil: Born Again. The run completely deconstructed Daredevil as a character and introduced a noir sensibility and a much darker tone to the long-running Marvel hero. The run is responsible for introducing numerous themes, characters, and elements that still exist in Daredevil comics today. However, Miller's run wasn't exactly for kids. The mature series had some gruesome moments. One cover in particular by Miller and Klaus Janson was responsible for axing a cartoon starring the Devil of Hell's Kitchen.
Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort replied to a post by The Spinner Rack on Twitter, where he said he purchased the four comics in the post that came out on March 23, 1982. One of those comics was Daredevil #184, which featured the titular character wielding a gun with the caption "no more mister nice guy." According to Brevoort, the cover by Miller and Janson killed a Marvel cartoon show starring the Daredevil and a new super-dog character called Lightning.
Brevoort shared two presentation boards done by John Romita Sr. that showed what the series could have looked like. In the images, Daredevil and Lightning team-up to fight crime. It would have been a series for kids that starred Daredevil and his trusted pup. In retrospect, Daredevil would be an odd choice to star in a kid's cartoon, but remember, this was during Miller's run defined him as a grittier, street-level hero.
It's not the least bit shocking that TV executives saw the cover and decided to bail on the series. The cover is menacing and perfectly encapsulated the darker vibe of Miller's series. However, when you're trying to appeal to families with young children to watch a series and one of the most recent associations of the character is a violent comic book cover, it's going to be an issue. It's really a shame a Daredevil cartoon series never happened because it would have been fantastic to see it juxtaposed against Miller's work in the same era. It's also a bummer Matt never got a four-legged super-dog partner. However, it's not too late to introduce Lightning in the comics.