Daredevil: Born Again costume designer explains absence of "DD" symbol in season 1
Fans have waited a decade for the comic-accurate look...
Over the years, Daredevil has worn plenty of supersuits on screen – but only one has ever featured the character’s comic-accurate “DD” logo: before Ben Affleck became Batman, his middling 2003 take on Daredevil was zipped into a skintight leather number that bore the intertwined letters on its blood-red front.
But, when the baton – or should that be billy club? – was handed to Charlie Cox in 2015, Netflix gave audiences a more gritty, grounded version of the Marvel hero, one who wore black combat trousers and a scarf around his head. It wasn’t until the end of the first Netflix season that he even got a supersuit.
There were two additional seasons of the Netflix show, followed by Cox cameos in Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Echo, before a triumphant return in Daredevil: Born Again, currently streaming on Disney Plus. The suits during this time have ranged from the deep red of Daredevil’s Netflix days to a gold-trimmed take in She-Hulk.
And yet, every time the superhero has somersaulted back onto our screens, there’s been no “DD” logo on his chest.
“The ‘DD’ logo on Daredevil’s suit is a big thing for the character,” says Emily Gunshor, costume designer for Born Again, whose previous work includes DC’s Stargirl. “A lot of fans want to see the logo on his chest. But, for this season’s red suit, it was a specific story point and a very specific discussion that we were not going to put the ‘DD’ on his chest.
“There are discussions I can weigh in on and offer opinions on, but, ultimately, for these comic book projects, it goes to a higher level.”
The Born Again suits, however, are some of the superhero’s best.
Gunshor’s team worked with Ironhead Studio, a specialty costume shop in Los Angeles, to create Daredevil’s costumes for Born Again. They had five suits made for the nine-episode season – three for Cox, two for his stunt double. “We could have used a whole lot more,” laughs Gunshor. “But these things are expensive!”
The idea of other characters’ suits – Bullseye, White Tiger and Muse – was that they’re all a little more homespun.
“We made all three in-house, with the idea that they’re shopping at the superhero tactical store and then augmenting,” reveals Gunshor.
“Muse is one of my favourite characters, with a suit made out of canvas. But if you’ve ever painted on canvas, you’ll know it has zero stretch. So, to achieve the muscle fit and body contouring, we used a super-stretchy fabric that we painted and dyed to make look like canvas.”
To ensure there were no continuity errors in Daredevil’s suit, the team was forced to improvise, constantly swapping out various suit parts and panels after destructive fight scenes. They would also modify the suits using pieces of elastic, Gunshor reveals, if Cox found them to be uncomfortable in places, or slip when he moved.
“The objective for this Daredevil was to make a sleeker suit,” Gunshor explains. “Something more streamlined than he wore in She-Hulk and Echo. We wanted to maintain the shape of the face and horns, and the fabric was 3D-printed so we could change the pattern and texture of different pieces.”
Daredevil’s eyes, for example, were made “really, really red” for Born Again. The helmets featured magnetic eye sockets, and three types of lenses that clicked into place. For the most dangerous stunts, the entire eye section could be removed to increase the stunt performer’s peripheral vision. For minor stunts, clear lenses were used, which VFX coloured in post-production. For dramatic close-ups, vivid red lenses were used.
The team consulted many comic books to find this latest shade of “Daredevil red”, deciding to move away from the darker Netflix colour. “Our red is brighter,” says Gunshor. “We looked at lots of different shades from the comics. We didn’t want to go ‘Deadpool red’, but we still wanted the new suit to pop a little brighter.”
Born Again’s second season is currently filming – a task Gunshor says she was “definitely ready” for after overcoming the challenges of season 1 – and recent set photos of Cox in costume have emerged online, suggesting we could be about to see the small-screen debut of a certain “DD” logo.
But, as for what else is in store for Daredevil's return, that remains a typically tight-lipped, Marvel-guarded secret.
Daredevil: Born Again is available to stream on Disney Plus.
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