Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again and DC’s The Penguin Delay Production Due to Writers’ Strike

Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again Disney+ series and DC’s The Batman MAX spinoff series Penguin have both delayed production indefinitely, due to the ongoing Writers’ Strike in Hollywood. 

It’s not surprising to see Daredevil: Born Again shutting down production; just yesterday we reported that the show was getting hit with its second day of production delays after Teamster union groups (such as Teamster Local 817 and IATSE Locals 829 and 52)refused to cross picket lines by striking writers, outside major NYC studios like Silvercup East studios. The clear solidarity from the Teamsters made it seem inevitable that Daredevil: Born Again would continue to be plagued with an uncertain shooting schedule – not to mention all the creative backlash from continuing to film during the strike. 

Daredevil: Born Again brings back Charlie Cox, and Vincent D’Onofrio as Daredevil and Kingpin, with Arty Froushan playing Kingpin’s associate, Harry. The supporting cast includes Sandrine Holt (The Crossing) as the MCU Vanessa Fisk and Jon Bernthal, returning as Frank Castle/The Punisher from Netflix’s Daredevil and Marvel’s The Punisher. Rounding out the cast are Michael Gandolfini (The Many Saints of Newark), Margarita Levieva (The Deuce), Nikki M. James (Severance), and Michael Gaston (Prison Break) in undisclosed roles. Series directors include Micahel Cuesta (Dexter, Blue Bloods), Clark Johnson (Homicide: Life on the Street), and Jeffrey Nachmanoff (The Day After Tomorrow). Grainne Godfree and Jill Blankenship are writing the series, alongside Aisha Porter-Christie, David Feige, Devon Kliger, Thomas Wong, and Zachary Reiter.

Penguin was similarly hit with production delays: the show has been filming in Westchester, NY, and became the target of WGA East’s picketing campaign. Production was forced to shut down for a day back in mid-May, and now it seems that it is also going on hold until this situation is resolved for good. 

The cast of The Penguin includes Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin and Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni, as well as Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Deirdre O’Connell.

Daredevil: Born Again and Penguin now join a growing handful of other TV series on hold, including Netflix’s final season of Stranger Things; Apple TV+ series Severance (Season 2) and Sinking Spring; and Marvel’s Wonder Man series for Disney+. 

As the Writers’ Strike continues, it’s looking like there will have to be substantial changes to studios’ plans for the 2022-2023 TV seasons. More delays are expected to come.