According to a recent report from Deadline, Michael Gandolfini is set to appear in the upcoming Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again in a major role. Gandolfini is most notable for playing a younger version of Tony Soprano in The Sopranos spin-off series The Many Saints of Newark. The Born Again series is rumored to begin production February of next year in New York City, and Michael Gandolfini is one of the first castings to be revealed to audiences for the series outside of Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio reprising their roles.
Details about the series and Michael Gandolfini’s role are being kept a secret, but Deadline speculates the actor could be playing “an ambitious guy from Staten Island.” Though Vincent D’Onofrio has recently made big promises about the series and the opportunity for him to dig even deeper into his character. With this information, it’s more than probable that Gandolfini is playing more than just some guy from Staten Island.
Who Could Michael Gandolfini Be Playing?
With the array of comic book characters this series could pull from, the rumor mill of who Gandolfini could be playing is wide. But some roles just seem to make more sense than others. With the expectation of the series diving deeper into Wilson Fisk’s psychology and past, it is more than plausible that we could see him show up as a young Kingpin. This seems like the easy conclusion as Michael Gandolfini has followed in the footsteps of his father in playing a young Tony Soprano, and could bring a similarly incredible performance to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The original Netflix Daredevil series included flashbacks to Matt Murdock’s and Wilson Fisk’s past, so with the reprisal could look to embrace the storytelling advantages of incorporating backstory through flashbacks.
If playing a young Kingpin through flashbacks isn’t a big enough selling point, it’s also easy to imagine Gandolfini taking on the role as one of Wilson Fisk’s sons. Already being introduced to Fisk’s love Vanessa in the original series, it’s not hard to imagine that Fisk could be a father. Going along with the title of Born Again, he could be playing Richard Fisk, the son that Wilson assumes is dead but comes back in a new identity to dethrone his father. Both roles could be great vehicles to deliver stories that dig deeper into Wilson’s psyche.
Who Is in Daredevil: Born Again?
The Daredevil: Born Again series is expected to premiere in the Spring of 2024 and pick up directly after the events of the upcoming Echo series. The first season is set to take place over 18 episodes, the largest season of any Disney+ Marvel series thus far. Being brought to life by the creators of Covert Affairs, Matt Corman and Chris Ord, the series is expected to get back to its darker roots and support a TV-MA rating. This much anticipated series has Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio returning in their roles as Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, respectively, but others from the original series have yet to be confirmed.
With very few castings made for the series, Michael Gandolfini’s confirmation is a big update for two reasons: first, his casting leads to speculation over who he'll be playing, that could, in the end, help fans parse out what the series will entail. Second, fans could see this once casting as the beginning of many others to be revealed. Whether Gandolfini is a young Fisk, his son that he once expected to be dead, or a new hotshot from Staten Island, either way, fans won’t know what role he's been cast in until production for the series grows closer. With Daredevil: Born Again being a highly anticipated series, it could continue to raise Gandolfini’s already rising star.
Daredevil: Born Again is expected to be available to stream on Disney+ Spring of 2024.