In a turn of events that’s both surprising and not entirely unexpected, Netflix has renewed Marvel’s Daredevil for a second season, with the show returning in 2016. When Marvel TV first announced its plans to expand into the world of Netflix, the idea was that four individual shows—Daredevil, A.K.A. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist—would each air in succession before a team-up Defenders miniseries. With Daredevil now coming back next year, it appears the plan has been altered.

But when Daredevil Season 2 debuts, there’ll be a few changes. Spartacus alum Steven S. DeKnight stepped in to take over the series when creator Drew Goddard left to work on his Sinister Six movie at Sony, but Netflix says DeKnight will not be back as showrunner for the second season. Instead, Doug Petrie (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, American Horror Story) and Marco Ramirez (Sons of Anarchy, Da Vinci's Demons) will be acting as the new showrunners, with Netflix stressing that the two “worked closely” with DeKnight throughout the first season. Petrie wrote the Season 1 episodes "Stick", "The Ones We Leave Behind", and "The Path of Righteousness", and Ramirez wrote "Rabbit in a Snowstorm" and "Condemned".


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Image via Netflix

Goddard retains his “in name only” executive producer credit with Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb returning as executive producer, and Petire and Ramirez are being upped to EP’s while DeKnight’s name is nowhere to be found. It appears that the Season 1 showrunner is leaving the series for good, though no explanation is given for his departure [Update: A statement from DeKnight is now included at the bottom of this story.]

Response to the first season seems to be fairly positive to mixed. Having seen most of the episodes, I can confidently say it’s miles better than any other Marvel TV series thus far, and also probably the best looking thing Marvel has ever done (including in the film world). I’d also argue that it’s still not very good.

The storytelling is poorly executed, the violence is gratuitous, and there's far too little character development. Moreover, we wind up watching characters investigate a mystery that both the viewers and Daredevil have already answered by the end of the first couple episodes, making for a slogging subplot that drags on and on with no end in sight. While the performances are solid enough to keep things interesting some of the time, with Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Ayelet Zurer acting as the standouts, the show still felt boring far too often for my taste.


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Image via Netflix

It’ll be interesting to see where Marvel goes in Season 2, especially with yet another creative change behind the scenes. I’m also curious how this alters Marvel’s Netflix plans. A.K.A. Jessica Jones is well into production with a premiere date set for later this year, and Marvel just recently hired a showrunner for Luke Cage to presumably air in 2016. Does this delay Luke Cage? If A.K.A. Jessica Jones is also a hit, could we see a second season of that show before The Defenders? I guess we'll find out.

What do you think about this news, folks? Are you happy to return to the world of Daredevil? Sound off in the comments below.

Update: DeKnight provided a statement on his departure to Marvel:

"While previous commitments unfortunately prevent me from continuing on with 'Daredevil' into its second season, I could not be happier that Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez are carrying the torch. They were invaluable collaborators during our first season, and I for one can't wait to see what they do with the show moving forward."

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Image via Netflix