Dario Scardapane and Sana Amanat on ‘Daredevil’ S2: Escalating the action and finding ‘New York moments’

Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again picks up from where Season 1 left off. The 13th television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe follows the blind lawyer and vigilante Daredevil/Matt Murdock, played by Charlie Cox, taking on the powerful crime lord and mayor, Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, played by Vincent D’Onofrio.

“Resistance is the through line of Season 2,” says showrunner Dario Scardapane on a video call from New York. “There is opposition to the idea that Fisk won at the end of Season 1. This season is the pushback against his administration. This is the story of Daredevil becoming a symbol for the Resistance. The idea of Daredevil ascending to almost symbolic status was always part of the conversation.”

“This season is about Fisk and Daredevil embracing their natures, which leads to a lot of extreme behavior,” executive producer Sana Amanat says with a laugh.

“We definitely started with ‘He’s going to be full-blown Daredevil; he is going to be full-blown Kingpin’,” Scardapane concurs.

Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox) in Marvel Television’s ‘Daredevil: Born Again’
| Photo Credit:
JoJo Whilden

New York, especially Hell’s Kitchen, was a living, breathing character in Season 1. “That’s always a part of the planning,” Scardapane says. “We know that whenever we’re going outside, we want to make it seem specific and not generic, and make you feel the neighborhoods. In this season, you want to feel the squeeze of Mayor Kingpin.”

The production used the invading vehicles of the Anti-Vigilante Task Force to up the ante, Scardapane says. “We did a lot with boarded-up windows. Independent documentary filmmakers Sean Dunne and Cass Marie Greener, who do our interstitials, went out and found what you would call ‘New York moments’.”

Amanat says that the twisted projection of the city, through propaganda, added another visual layer. “The reaction to that projection with the City without Fear reports was interesting to play with. It gave you a temperature of the city Kingpin was presenting, and the one that Daredevil was fighting for.”

“If something is happening in City Hall, we try to get the ripple effect out to the streets,” Scardapane chimes in.

Scardapane adds that the idea that Daredevil was going to rise to a status that required little more than just being the devil of Hell’s Kitchen or a vigilante, was an important part of Season 2. ”To have regular folks, a collective and a resistance relying on him was a new flavour. There is a point when a character says to him, ‘You’re no longer a hero, you’re a symbol’. That was pretty important to both of us.”

That, and good action, Amanat says with a laugh. “Yes, that was always a non-negotiable. We’re going to blow some stuff up,” Scardapane agrees laughing.

Wilson Fisk / Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) in Marvel Television’s ‘Daredevil: Born Again’
| Photo Credit:
Marvel Television

The action in Daredevil: Born Again is visceral. “Season 2 is an escalation,” Scardapane says. “We had Philip Silvera, our action director and stunt coordinator for three episodes in Season 1. We had him for the whole season in 2, so we were able to craft sequences and come up with ideas from the beginning. We had more time and planning this season.”

Amanat adds that the action sequences are different this time. “Somebody said, ‘They’re trying to pull off two or three action sequences every episode’,” Scardapane says. “Yes, 100%,” Amanat comments. “I told you that. Phil is doing two or three every block. It was tough this season.”

Daredevil: Born Again season 2 premieres on Jio Hotstar on March 25