“Daredevil: Born Again” stars reveal how Disney+ revival will connect to original Netflix seasons (exclusive)

"There are storylines that reach back to the original series," Vincent D'Onofrio tells "Entertainment Weekly."

The Man Without Fear is not a man without history, as the Daredevil: Born Again cast promises the Disney+ revival will connect back to the original Netflix show.

When Charlie Cox, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jon Bernthal, Deborah Ann Woll, and Elden Henson stopped by Entertainment Weekly's video suite during D23 2024, they revealed that they shot scenes that directly call back to the three seasons of Daredevil made in 2015-2018 and originally produced for Netflix.

Related: Daredevil: Born Again set photos show Charlie Cox’s hero reuniting with Foggy, Karen

"The first day on set with Deborah, myself, and Elden was really special because the scene that was written was like a scene where we were reminiscing over old times and all the things we’ve done," Cox says in the video above. "And it just so happened that we shot that very early on and we hadn’t seen each other for years. I mean, maybe not years, but we certainly hadn’t been together, the three of us, for a long time. So there was really, literally, no acting required. The conversation we were having in the green room was the same conversation we were having in the scene, pretty much."

D'Onofrio says that when he "saw a clip of the three of them walking down the street talking together," he "couldn’t tell if it was actually from a scene in the show or it was just them walking to set."

Cox adds that they actually brought in props from the previous Daredevil series to use in the Disney+ revival.

Related: Daredevil: Born Again ditches head writers and directors as Marvel rethinks show

"Deborah and I had a scene where we find an old box — am I allowed to say that? I think I can say that," he says. "We had a scene where we were looking through a box and we find stuff from the past, and it was real stuff from the past. It was stuff from the old [show]. It was like a photo frame we used on a set eight years ago and we were looking at it together — well, I wasn’t looking at it. But we were reminiscing over it, and it was sweet. It was kind of a little bit of life imitating art."

Woll agrees, adding, "Definitely a lot of no-acting-required moments. Real nostalgic."

It’s been nearly six years since Netflix’s original Daredevil television series ended in 2018, but Cox's blind crimefighter Matt Murdock will return for the grittier Disney+ show along with his friends/coworkers Karen Page (Woll) and Franklin "Foggy" Nelson (Henson), as well as antihero Frank Castle a.k.a. the Punisher (Bernthal) and supervillain Kingpin a.k.a Wilson Fisk (D'Onofrio). Cox has already reprised his role as Daredevil in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, while D'Onofrio has already returned as Fisk in Hawkeye and Echo.

Related: Bloodied Jon Bernthal returns as Punisher in new Daredevil: Born Again set photos

D'Onofrio jokes to EW that the fact that all five of these actors are "in the same room at the same time" in the new Disney+ series is enough of a connection to the original Netflix run, but then he gets serious about how the revival will call back to the previous show. "There are storylines that reach back to the original series," he says. "Where our characters are coming from, where we are, and where we’re going, some of those threads lead back."

Cox loves having "a shared character history" between the series because "it gives such texture."

"But at the same time, it can be an enemy, because that is the stuff that’s left behind you as you go forward and then you’re tied to it," he adds. "I felt like the writers and [showrunner] Dario [Scardapane] did a really amazing job at finding a way for us to have our history, to have our connections, but not dwelling on it so much that you are tied to it the whole time."

Related: Charlie Cox says Disney+ Daredevil series will be 'dark but it probably won't be as gory'

D'Onofrio says that while their characters have this shared history, they have since separated, and teases "a collision" is coming.

Cox explains that they're hoping to "attract a new audience [by] being on Disney+," so they didn't want to "alienate" new viewers by being a direct continuation of a show that perhaps not everyone has seen, while still serving fans who have been there since the beginning. "It’s a really tough job so I’m so impressed with what the writers managed to do by allowing us to keep that history but also present it in a way where it isn’t alienating," he adds.

The cast agrees that previous Daredevil fans and new viewers alike will be able to watch the revival with equal enjoyment. "We’d also like to encourage people to go back and watch the original three seasons," Cox says while the rest of the stars laugh.

"They’re pretty good," Woll adds.

Related: Daredevil: Born Again takes the superhero in a 'new direction,' Marvel head of television says

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But when it comes to discussing how the characters will be different from the last time they were seen onscreen, the actors get hesitant in fear of spoilers.

"That’s a tough one because there’s only certain things we can talk about," D'Onofrio says. "I really don’t know what I can say about that other than time has gone by and they’ve tried to adjust themselves in some way. They’ve made adjustments and that may or may not work out for them."

Bernthal says that any "enormous leaps" taken with Frank or any other character isn't done without explanation — "And not in a spoon-fed, candy-ass way," he adds. "If there were things that were much different, that they wouldn’t just be different and you were sort of forced to accept that. It was done for a reason and very intentional. It wasn’t just huge jumps. I do continue to be blown away by how respectful this group [is] and how much these folks who lead this show demand that we’re respectful to the fans."

Woll again promises that "our history stands" in regard to the previous three seasons. "What the characters went through still exists, that’s still part of who they are, it’s just that now we’re catching up with them at a different point in their lives," she says.

Daredevil: Born Again is set to premiere March 2025 on Disney+.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.