Seven years after Netflix canceled Marvel’s Daredevil, it remains one of the best comic book TV series ever. Fans have seen Matt Murdock since then, with Charlie Cox reprising his role in Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk and Echo, with the most recent example in the new Disney Plus series Daredevil: Born Again. The show feels like welcoming back a dear old friend who left town for a while — a friend with super senses who administers lethal beatdowns with his bare hands.
If you’re wondering whether the new reboot lives up to the hype, let me reassure you. Daredevil: Born Again retains the same bite, viciousness and brilliance of the original and earns every bit of that TV-MA rating. The show packs in the shocks, drama, graphic, bloody brutality and a dose of introspection. Performances from Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin are as superb as ever. Bones crack in your ear, blood spurts on your screen, and there is palpable suffering, both emotional and physical. Daredevil is back in excellent form.
Debuting Tuesday night on Disney Plus, the series sees Cox return as attorney Matt Murdock, who fights for everyman but is conflicted about his identity as Daredevil, while Wilson Fisk seeks to change his Kingpin persona. With New York City as the backdrop — and a major character itself — crime, moral ambiguity, politics and manipulation all play roles in this story about what makes someone a hero or villain. Both Murdock and Fisk believe they know the answer and want to convince everyone of their side.
When Daredevil: Born Again kicks off, a tragic event sets the wheels in motion, unlocking a rage in Murdock he’d rather quell, but it’s lurking beneath his “mask.” The timeline jumps forward one year, with Fisk in the running for mayor and Murdock having his own ambitions. In the opening scene of episode 1, it feels like opening your eyes to the city and is a reminder of why people loved the world of Daredevil in the first place. The first episode — which features the diner scene shown in trailers — plays out with a visual ode to the comic book of the same name and reaffirms how Murdock is grounded in his sense of faith and justice.
Charlie Cox as Daredevil/Matt Murdock, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page and Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson in Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again.
Bad guys are everywhere in NYC, from the streets to the police force to the halls of the city’s highest political office. The first iteration of Daredevil explored Hell’s Kitchen and the hero’s origin, walking us through the story as a slow-burn tinged in red, intense fight scenes and contemplative dialogue. Its crimson, drippy opening credit sequence served as a metaphor about how bloody things could get in pursuit of good (or bad).
In the opening credits for Born Again, the stone veneer signals that this time around, Daredevil has hardened and the blind scales of justice shift into gray areas. Those gray areas may involve righteous rage from a vigilante, barbarous acts committed by evil villains or something in between. Daredevil: Born Again is not only about the fight for what’s right against darkness but also for one’s soul and the soul of the city.
Even among the darkness, there’s a bright spot for Murdock with his new love interest, Heather (played by Margarita Levieva). As a therapist, her insights about human behavior challenge Murdock ‘s perception of himself. Though it’s not all rosy for the pair, their chemistry is undeniable and presents a side of Daredevil/Murdock that viewers need to see.
What happened to Fisk in Echo is still impacting him as Daredevil: Born Again starts. His appetite for success is big, warranting the layered journey that unfolds for this character. Sometimes, that white suit gets a little dirty, but such circumstances beg Fisk and the viewers to ask why.
Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil.
Throughout the series, there are shadowy subplots and waves of characters, both old and new. Those appearances include the rowdy rebel Frank Castle/Punisher (outstandingly played by Jon Bernthal), Karen Page, Ben Poindexter/Bullseye, White Tiger, Muse, Vanessa Fisk, Michael Gandolfini as Daniel and the niece of the late Ben Urich (the reporter who met an untimely demise in Netflix’s Daredevil). Callbacks to the original show are weaved in but don’t saturate the story as gratuitous fan service. Instead, the references to the original help tie Born Again’s story events and character decisions together. Dread, cleverness, hope, power and deception drive every element of these episodes forward.
The series’ pacing is designed to play into Murdock and Fisk’s parallel story arcs, creating conditions for tensions to build between heroes and villains, lovers and in the city itself. It sometimes feels chaotic but serves a greater purpose for the two leads. Heady fight scenes between Daredevil and Poindexter, Daredevil and a serial killer, and Punisher versus anybody ensure that you don’t want to take a bathroom break. Perhaps many of you may want to stream Disney Plus without ads to avoid disrupting the jaw-dropping action and emotional streaks. It gets heavy.
Comic book fans are familiar with Daredevil and Fisk and their ongoing, co-dependent relationship that spotlights their similarities and differences. They both possess a duality contrasting their vulnerable human sides with their dark and savage natures. In some instances, one side dominates more than the other, but in Daredevil: Born Again, the contrast is not limited to these two. Experiencing the rebirth of this series is well worth stepping into the darkness.
