Once upon a time, in 2015, the Marvel Netflix universe began, adjacent to the burgeoning Marvel Cinematic Universe, but not too tied to it beyond vague references to the Battle of New York (as seen in 2012’s The Avengers). Its inaugural series was Daredevil, the story of Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer whose heightened senses made him a little too observant by day and the prolific vigilante Daredevil by night. Led by a charismatic cast and sharp, witty writing, Daredevil was violent, gritty, and fun. Save for a crossover with other Marvel Netflix heroes in 2017’s The Defenders, Daredevil was self-contained for its three excellent seasons.
And then came a cameo on Spider-Man: No Way Home. And an episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Now that Netflix has ceded all Marvel content to Disney+, Daredevil returns with Daredevil: Born Again, a show that wants to be Daredevil: Season 4 just as much as it wants to be Daredevil: Stop Thinking of It As Season 4, It’s a Totally New Show.
Welcome back to Hell’s Kitchen…wait, maybe not.
Born Again revisits Matt, still reigning vigilante of New York City. His law practice, run with friends Foggy (Elden Henson) and Karen (Deborah Ann Woll), is thriving. Life is good, and then, in vague and unspoilery terms, life is very, very bad. Matt’s personal life is destroyed, and he feels he can no longer be Daredevil. He sheds the superhero persona and ignores his own trauma. He leaves neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen for other parts of Manhattan to start anew.
Elsewhere in New York, Matt’s longtime nemesis Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) is out of prison and running for mayor, swearing he’s reformed from his life of crime. Like all good heroes and their villains, it doesn’t take long for Matt and Fisk to meet again. Cox and D’Onofrio slip back into their hero/villain dynamic like no time has passed; their performances remain a highlight of the series. Their restrained, fraught reunion is one of the best scenes in Born Again.
When it comes to the action, Born Again succeeds in both reinventing and returning to what made the original Daredevil great. Series newcomers Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson (known for trippy indies like Synchronic) open the series with an explosive, thrilling one-shot sequence between Daredevil and ruthless sniper Bullseye (Wilson Bethel). The original series was known for its brutal violence. Born Again‘s intense opening episodes tease even more ahead.
A tale of two Born Agains.
It’s worth noting that Born Again was extensively redeveloped midway through filming. Following the 2023 SAG and WGA strikes, episodes were reshot, characters were added (Henson and Woll, longtime fan favorites, were not originally slated to appear in Born Again,) and new creatives were added, including Moorhead and Benson. The impact of conflicting creative visions is jarringly clear. Other than Matt and Fisk, returning characters from the original leave as quickly as they came.
New supporting characters (Nikki M. James, Clark Johnson) exist to fill the void left by those who came before. Matt falls for therapist Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva) before the audience has spent any meaningful amount of time with her. Their relationship feels unearned despite an obvious desire to make us root for them.
Even the plot seems confused. The premiere takes no prisoners: no character or location is safe from destruction. Upending Matt’s world should be devastating, with the aftershock impacting everything moving forward. Instead, it comes off as tragic at best and inconvenient at worst, perhaps because the opener involves characters who weren’t part of the original Born Again plot. If there’s an overall arc to Born Again, it doesn’t seem to have emerged by the end of episode two. At least we have great action and the return of Fisk to bring us back to basics.
The Marvel Television Universe, born again.
By trying to make Daredevil: Born Again brand-new and revive the mood of the original, we’re left with a mishmash of sidelined favorite characters and new characters who aren’t given a chance to leave an impression.
Perhaps it’s unfair to compare Born Again to its exceptional predecessor. The original Daredevil combined superhero action with thoughtful meditation on Matt’s spirituality (he’s Catholic whose faith influences his sense of justice.) Here, Matt has abandoned faith and vigilantism out of grief, and we hardly have a chance to explore it. The Marvel Netflix Universe, may it rest in peace, explored new themes and long-form emotional depths the movies hadn’t quite touched.
By making television series inextricably linked to the MCU, Marvel risks sacrificing impact for the thrill of interconnected lore. Even as a retired superhero, Matt still hopes to save New York City from injustice. But can he save Born Again from being more than another cog in the Marvel machine?
Daredevil: Born Again Episodes 1–2 are available now on Disney+.
Images courtesy of Disney+.
REVIEW RATING
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Daredevil: Born Again Episodes 1–2 - 6/10
6/10
Claire was once asked in elementary school why her go-to question was always, “Watch anything good lately?” It’s still her go-to question, because she loves hearing what other people are passionate about. She often sacrifices sleep in the hopes that she will one day clear her to-watch and to-read lists (a futile effort so far).
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