“Daredevil” Season one showrunner Steven DeKnight isn't returning for Season 2 – much to the chagrin of fans. DeKnight was already slated to write and direct a feature film and his schedule would not allow him to move forward with the Netflix series.
DeKnight made an appearance at today's TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour to field questions about the first season and assure reporters that Matt Murdock is in capable hands with Season 2 co-showrunners Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez.
“The Walking Dead” star Jon Bernthal is set to join the “Daredevil” cast as The Punisher for the second season and DeKnight — a long-time Punisher fan — says he was heartbroken to discover that he would not be able to bring that character to life.
When asked if The Punisher”s introduction might reach the levels of violence that the 2008 Lexi Alexander-directed film “Punisher: War Zone” did, DeKnight laughed and said, “I don't know. That was pretty violent.”
Then reflecting on the idea that “Daredevil” is a spectacularly violent show DeKnight added, “I don't think ‘Daredevil” is as violent as something like ‘The Walking Dead”, which is a show I love. For example, if a man were to get his head crushed in a car door on ‘The Walking Dead” you would see it. We didn't want to go that far.”
The stunts were one of the most significant elements of the series” first season, however. DeKnight, who has been vocal about Hollywood's frequent failure to include genre fare in Emmy or Oscar considerations, said that the only Emmy snub that shocked him was for
stunts (Outstanding Stunt Coordination).
“After that hallway fight scene that set the Internet on fire… It's insane,” the showrunner said.
DeKnight is more than open to returning to Marvel should his schedule allow. Earlier today, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said that it was certainly within the realm of possibility to see Punisher spin-off into his own series or for any of these Netflix characters to
join the the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Certainly, those are both outcomes that DeKnight would be delighted to see. In fact, he hoped to see Daredevil included in the upcoming “Captain America: Civil War”, but the timing simply didn't work out on this one.
When asked about the project he was contracted to work on that took him away from “Daredevil” (for now) DeKnight would only say mysteriously, “I'm sworn to secrecy.”