I'm full of admiration for Netflix's DAREDEVIL, as you can tell by reading my four-star review of season 1. It was a no-brainer they'd renew it for a second season, but now we have confirmation it'll debut in 2016. However, there's worrisome news: showrunner Steven S. DeKnight, who took over from Drew Goddard during production (who left to develop Marvel movies), is stepping down. His replacement is Doug Petrie, who helped produce and write the first season, but is best-known for running seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Petrie will be partnered by Marco Ramirez (Sons of Anarchy).
It's a shame there's a very early change like this, and it's not clear exactly why DeKnight didn't want to stay on. Maybe he's done everything he wanted to do in this world, or just found the process too backbreaking? Petrie and Ramirez are interesting replacements—the former bringing a lot of genre chops, the latter some down-and-dirty expertise. Hopefully they'll work together well, and produce a worthy follow-up. Or even improve on the formula.
In related news, ABC are so happy with the response to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D newcomers Bobby Morse (Adrianne Palicki) and Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) that they're being lined-up for a new spin-off. Great news for those who appreciate seeing Palicki kick-ass, and Blood make sardonic quips. I'm already imagining a sort of Marvel version of Mr & Mrs Smith—or Hart to Hart, if you're old enough to remember.
More interesting, perhaps, is news that 12 Days a Slave producer John Ridley has been hired to reinvent a Marvel property. Nothing is official yet, but there are strong and plausible rumours this is Ms. Marvel—a comic that concerns Kamala Khan, a Muslim teenager from New Jersey who can shapeshift and rapidly heal because she has "inhuman genes" (something important to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D right now, and the upcoming Marvel film Inhumans).
I'm inclined to believe that rumour, and it would certainly mean Marvel are doing a lot to redress complaints about a lack of women and ethnic diversity in their cinematic universe—what with Black Panther and a female Captain Marvel also coming down the pipe.
Any thoughts on the above?
