Daredevil: Born Again Rating Is A Big First For Marvel

Every Marvel fan who worried that a Disney+ "Daredevil" series would never be able to compete with the reams of violence, gore, and sex depicted liberally throughout the Netflix show, fear no more. The trailer recently dropped for Matt Murdock's (Charlie Cox) crime-fighting vigilante would've seemed to put any such concerns to rest, but we now have it on good authority that not even the family-friendly confines of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will tone down the grittiness of our favorite street-level superhero. Thanks to some eagle-eyed observers from the UK who spotted the official rating on Disney+ (via ComicBookMovie), it appears that "Daredevil: Born Again" will actually represent the highest age rating of any Marvel Studios project to date.

"Daredevil: Born Again" has reportedly earned a rating of 18+ in the UK, which means it's intended only for adults and roughly translates to a typical TV-MA/R rating for those of us who reside Stateside. So, what does that mean for the actual content of the upcoming season? For anyone craving another bloody decapitation-by-car-door sequence like the one that introduced us to Wilson Fisk's (Vincent D'Onofrio) mean streak, well, maybe consider how having that sort of craving is more than a little concerning. For the rest of us well-adjusted fans out there, we can safely expect action sequences as intense and brutal as any before. All indications are that the Devil of Hell's Kitchen will once again live up to his moniker.

The creative team behind "Daredevil: Born Again" might be picking and choosing which aspects of MCU continuity to acknowledge, but the show's 18+ rating certainly suggests all sorts of hard-hitting action to come. Memorably, all three seasons of the now-cancelled Netflix "Daredevil" series added a healthy dose of blood and violence to the franchise, which had exclusively remained in the realm of PG-13 to that point. Today's reveal would seem to indicate a return to the property's roots, adding a sense of tonal cohesiveness to help bridge the gap between the Netflix era of "Daredevil" and the Marvel Studios show (which now retroactively exist within the same continuity).

But how does "Daredevil: Born Again" compare to previous Marvel Studios productions, you ask? Well, the 18+ rating actually blows the prior Netflix shows out of the water, with titles such as "Jessica Jones," "Luke Cage," and "The Defenders" earning mere 15+ ratings. ("Moon Knight," despite all sorts of marketing about its dark tone, only mustered a 12+ rating, amusingly enough.) On the cinematic side of things, the R-rated "Deadpool" movies similarly garnered a 15+ rating for our friends across the pond. As far as 18+ ratings go, "Daredevil: Born Again" is only matched by the likes of the prior iteration of "Daredevil" for Netflix (and, even then, only season 2), the debut season of "Iron Fist," and both seasons of "The Punisher" (via Forbes). Considering that new "Daredevil: Born Again" showrunner Dario Scardapane was originally involved with Netflix's "The Punisher" series, that only bolsters the idea that the Man Without Fear will be back and darker than ever before.

"Daredevil: Born Again" premieres March 4, 2025, on Disney+ streaming.