Daredevil: Born Again is Marvel’s last chance to save its disastrous streaming run

managed to find its footing; it was gritty, modest in its ambitions, and beloved by fans.

, a tried-and-true formula with a built-in fanbase, can’t do it, then I’m not sure anything will.

(2017), which brought together all the series leads into one crossover miniseries.

? This was just another night of network television.

Disney, though, had higher ambitions. When the company decided to launch its own streamer, Disney+, in late 2019, it fixed upon a starkly different approach to Marvel’s TV slate. By this point, the MCU had distended beyond its wildest ambitions. It was now more than 20 films deep into its theatrical franchise, and more popular than ever. Just as their movies had monopolised the industry, so too, they thought, would their new streaming series. A whole roster of shows were announced, featuring high-profile actors from the movies, bigger, cinematic budgets and production values. And they were going to be released in formidable quantities.

among them.

, they’re yet to convince the bulk of the TV-viewing public. Where once Marvel’s TV shows were sort of like nerdy younger siblings to the core cinematic franchise, or perhaps a shabby but endearing uncle, now the Disney+ relations descend upon gatherings as a swarm of gauche and ill-adjusted cousins, dressed like spivs and poisonous to the vibe. And, what’s more, they won’t stop procreating.

.

.

will fall into the same pit of forgotten content that’s claimed the rest of Marvel’s streaming efforts. Crucially, though, they’re going to tune in and find out. If the MCU is striving to be born again, to wash away its sins, there may never be a better chance. Can I get a ‘hallelujah’?

‘Daredevil: Born Again’ is available to stream on Disney+ now

The Independent has always had a global perspective. Built on a firm foundation of superb international reporting and analysis, The Independent now enjoys a reach that was inconceivable when it was launched as an upstart player in the British news industry. For the first time since the end of the Second World War, and across the world, pluralism, reason, a progressive and humanitarian agenda, and internationalism – Independent values – are under threat. Yet we, The Independent, continue to grow.