By George & Josh Bate
The following is a NON-SPOILER review of all 9 episodes of Daredevil: Born Again Season 1
At D23 2022, upcoming projects in the Star Wars and Marvel franchises, in addition to other Disney titles, were announced and presented to a massive crowd of fans. Projects discussed included The Mandalorian, Avatar: The Way of Water, Loki, and Andor and yet (at least to our eyes and ears) no project received such rousing and overwhelmingly enthusiastic reception as Daredevil: Born Again. Amongst these behemoth Disney releases, it was the revival of the Marvel vigilante series and the arrival of stars Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio on stage that created the most noise, emphasizing just how eagerly so many fans clamored for a return to the world of Daredevil. The approximately two and a half years since D23 2022 have only seen anticipation heighten for what has been promoted as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most violent and dark series to date. Now, after such great anticipation, Daredevil is reborn on Disney+ in a bold, brutal, and disturbingly timely 9 episode series that, while hindered by some bland new characters and the absence of several of the original show’s critical elements, is a massive win for Marvel Studios and Marvel Television.
Daredevil: Born Again picks up some time after the events of Season 3 and spirits are high at the law firm of Nelson, Murdock, and Page. After a sudden and traumatizing event though, the life of Matt Murdock (played by Charlie Cox) is turned upside down as he is forced to confront his inner demons and overcome unimaginable pain. Meanwhile, Wilson Fisk (played by Vincent D’Onofrio) has seemingly put a life of crime behind him and set his sights on the office of Mayor of New York City, something Matt is understandably wary of given their history.
In assessing all 9 episodes of Daredevil: Born Again, the first season of the new Disney+ series can be best characterized as hovering somewhere in the middle of Season 4 and a soft reboot of Daredevil. The bookends of Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 feel very much like a direct continuation of Season 3, while the middle bulk of the season plays more like an episodic legal procedural with few explicit connections to the original series. While there is certainly a throughline running across the 9 episodes related to Fisk’s newfound political career, the season purposefully opts against a central focus for its lead character, instead showing lawyer-turned-vigilante Matt Murdock involved in fairly distinct blocks of story that are only tenuously connected to one another. Given this, there is more variability in quality between episodes in Born Again than the original run of the series, with installments ranging from superb (e.g., the final two episodes) to mediocre (e.g., a midseason bank robbery episode). This change in storytelling structure also creates more jagged plotting, especially in the season’s early episodes. However, the story comes more together in the final three episodes or so, which are, by far, the best of the 9 episode first season.
Consistent throughout the season though is the rivalry between Matt and Fisk, buzzing in the background of the show like bee sounds in Benjamin Poindexter’s head from Daredevil Season 3. Born Again sees these characters in very difficult places than where they left off in Season 3, which immediately sets the stage for a decidedly different dynamic between these characters than we are used to. There is a DeNiro-Pacino from Michael Mann’s Heat tension to their dynamic, the two first encountering each other in the show during a tense exchange over morning coffee. How they interact is also reminiscent of ways in which James Bond and Bond villains tantalizingly play off one another. Akin to how Bond and his adversaries often have interactions that are, on the surface, cordial, but harbor more insidious undertones beneath the surface, Matt and Fisk possess a rivalry informed by their extensive history with one another, while remaining perfectly civil to the uninformed eye. Like the original run of the show, Matt and Fisk’s on-screen time together is limited, but, when the two juggernauts do collide, the tension is high, the writing is sharp, and the performances are top-notch.
D’Onofrio’s Fisk features heavily in Born Again, playing a more prominent on-screen role than he has ever done during the course of this series. At first, there are some difficulties reconciling the current version of this character to the character from the previous three seasons, in large part as it requires some suspension of disbelief to buy into the idea that the same mastermind criminal who bombed blocks of New York City, collaborated with members of The Hand, and staged an elaborate overtaking of the FBI is now Mayor of New York City. Although, depicting such a troubled figure’s ascension to a position of official power is likely the point from the writers. The parallels between Fisk’s journey and the current tumultuous political situation in the U.S. are strong and add a disturbing and unexpected timeliness to Born Again. There is a morbid sense of humor here as various moments of the show elicit questions like, “How the hell did this guy become Mayor? How the hell is he still Mayor?” and are soon followed with an inevitable comparison of this fictional New York City’s politics to the absurd and, at times, jaw-dropping qualities of our real life political landscape today. The show’s writing team deserve to be commended for taking Fisk’s character in a bold new direction and having the willingness to transcend the MCU with poignant political parallels.
While Born Again retains its predecessor’s caliber of character work with Wilson Fisk, the new show suffers from an absence of some of the original show’s critical elements. Most glaring of these absences is the key supporting players, who are replaced by largely uninteresting and underdeveloped characters. Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page and Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson both return, although they are woefully underused and essentially replaced by new characters lacking their charm, heart, chemistry, and stories. Stepping into the roles of lawyer colleague/friend for Foggy and investigator/friend for Karen are Kirsten McDuffie (played by Nikki M. James) and Cherry (played by Clark Johnson). Although no fault of James and Johnson, McDuffie and Cherry are extremely underdeveloped characters, whose heavy presence in the show is a constant reminder of better characters who served these exact same roles in the past. This is a problem across the board, however, as essentially every role from the original show (outside of Matt and Fisk) is now filled by a new and, unfortunately, less interesting character. BB Urich (played by Genneya Walton) steps into the shoes of the journalist investigating everything, a role excellently brought to life by Vondie Curtis-Hall as Ben Urich in the original show. The role of Kingpin’s closest ally, filled by James Wesley (played by Toby Leonard Moore) in Season 1, is now shared by Arty Froushan as Buck and Michael Gandolfini as Daniel, who, collectively, add little to the show and have an impact that pales in comparison to Wesley’s. Then there’s Heather Glenn (played by Margarita Levieva) stepping into the role of Matt’s love interest, but with decidedly less chemistry with Matt and not much of an arc of her own when compared to previous love interest’s like Elektra from Season 2. As we never get to know much of any of these new characters (who, again, feel more like replacements for roles fulfilled by other characters in the original show), they ultimately range from bland to annoying and do very little to elevate the show with underdeveloped, or entirely absent, arcs.
Arguably the sole exception to this trend of underdeveloped and uninterested new characters is Hector Ayala (aka the vigilante White Tiger), played by the late Kamar de los Reyes. Ayala plays a relatively small role in Born Again, but has a massive emotional impact, in large part due to a phenomenal performance from de los Reyes. The Puerto Rican actor, who unfortunately died of cancer in 2023, commands the screen in some of the season’s heaviest-hitting scenes with an emotionally riveting arc. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for serial killer Muse, who, despite a great set-up and intriguing backstory, is sadly underdeveloped and unused.
Other elements from the original Daredevil are absent here. Anyone familiar with the comics will know how critical Matt’s Catholic faith is to his character, something that is explored in depth in the original show. Unfortunately, religious themes and how they relate to Matt’s character are nowhere to be found in Born Again. The same can be said for the original show’s emphasis on unraveling conspiracies. Although this changes somewhat in the final few episodes, Born Again largely doesn’t delve into the kind of conspiracies and mysteries that the previous three seasons did. As an isolated season, these wouldn’t necessarily be issues. However, in seeing how crucial religion and conspiracy/mystery were to Seasons 1-3, their absence stands out here.
Playing a more prominent role in Born Again though are courtroom and legal scenes, of which the new show has plenty. The original run of the series seldom actually showed Matt being a lawyer, with scenes of him practicing the law decreasing season-by-season. Born Again reverses this trend by often situating Matt in the courtroom, having him defend clients, and discuss legal proceedings with colleagues. Amongst other things, one of the most intriguing parts of Daredevil / Matt Murdock as a character is his profession as a lawyer, an element that is interestingly explored in the new show.
The man behind the mask – Charlie Cox – deserves incredible plaudits for his work as Matt Murdock / Daredevil in Born Again. Cox is the anchor of the show, keeping it afloat even when the plotting becomes a little disjointed and the new characters do little to inspire interest. Cox plays a more humorous, light-hearted version of Matt for the middle bulk of the show, and does so while never coming across as unnatural or making the audience think this is a different version of the character he’s played before. Make no mistake though – Cox is still given a lot of heavy material to work with here, and brings this material to life with a craft, vulnerability, and authenticity few actors can match. His performance in Born Again affirms that Charlie Cox was perfect casting and born to play Daredevil, much like how Hugh Jackman and Robert Downey Jr. perfectly capture Wolverine and Iron Man respectively and make it difficult to envision any other actor playing the role.
Similarly excelling is Jon Bernthal, who returns as Frank Castle / The Punisher. Bernthal’s first appearance mid-season serves as a massive dose of adrenaline to the proceedings and addresses head-on the unimaginable trauma Matt has gone through after several episodes where it goes largely unaddressed. Bernthal retains the animalistic rage of Castle that he brought to Daredevil Season 2 and the two seasons of The Punisher, while also demanding profound empathy as he conveys a man so deeply troubled by his own trauma. There’s an emotional heaviness to his character, but also a sense of excitement that comes through as Castle and Matt have a great back-and-forth in the season. It was recently announced that Bernthal will star in and co-write a Marvel Television special about The Punisher (akin to Werewolf By Night or The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special) and, after watching Born Again, we guarantee anticipation for this special will be through the roof.
As revealed in promotional material for the show, there’s also a side plot in the show about New York City cops who adopt The Punisher’s logo as their own. While this is a really interesting idea (one that parallels the real life usage of The Punisher logo by cops), it doesn’t really go anywhere in Born Again, although we’re holding out hope that an idea as intriguing as this is explored more in future Punisher stories.
There are a few seemingly small, yet ultimately impactful, filmmaking elements of Daredevil: Born Again that drag down the proceedings. The first of these is the show’s excessive use of generic, stock footage-esque between-scene establishing or transition shots. Seemingly between every scene are slightly out-of-focus shots of people walking on the streets of New York City, likely intended to add some groundedness to the show and divide scenes. Unfortunately, these brief transitions look too distinct from the aesthetic of the rest of the show and are as bland as they are annoyingly repetitive. Similarly tapping into the groundedness of this world, white also unfortunately missing the mark, are fairly frequent installments of a new show intended to depict New Yorkers’ opinions of Fisk and the other politics of the show. These scenes, which are tied to the character BB Urich and are part of her online show, seemingly use non-trained actors, a novel inclusion into a Marvel project. However, they add little to the show and are far overused. Speaking of overused, the final filmmaking element worth commenting on is Born Again’s cinematography, which is heavily reliant on bright outside light flooding into interior sets through windows. Exterior shots look great, but anything set indoors is hindered by poor lighting, relying on bright light coming through windows to light dark interior sets. More generally, Born Again lacks the visual craft of cinematography that the original three seasons bolstered.
Also unlike Seasons 1-3 of Daredevil, all of which end rather definitively with closure to the main plot, Born Again ends more on a cliffhanger and feels more like Part 1 of a two-part story. In doing so, the second half of the Season 1 finale leaves a number of things unresolved and feels like it’s missing some big conclusion we’ve come to expect from this show. That being said, the final moments of the last episode are excellent, perfectly capturing the tone of the original show, and the spirit of Daredevil, while making a Season 2 move near the top of our list of most anticipated MCU projects.
VERDICT: 7/10
Bold, brutal, and disturbingly timely, Daredevil: Born Again brings back the man without fear for a season largely worthy of the three that came before it. With bookends of the season that feel like Season 4 and a middle bulk of episodes that play more like a soft reboot, Born Again adopts a more episodic structure than its predecessors, one that leads the show to having greater variability between the quality of its installments. Consistent throughout the show is an excellent Heat-esque DeNiro-Pacino rivalry between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk and commanding performances from the actors that bring these characters to life – Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio. Parallels between Fisk’s newfound political career and the tumultuous state of modern politics in real-life standout and leave a lasting impact. Several critical elements of the original show, including its religious themes and conspiracy plotlines, are unfortunately absent, although Born Again admirably takes risks with its storytelling and retains the gritty groundedness of Seasons 1-3. Largely bland new characters (with the exception of White Tiger, whose arc is one of the season’s most emotional) and disappointingly small roles of several fan favorites detract from what is otherwise a thoroughly riveting and engaging nine-episode season. Greater prominence of legal scenes, in addition to a perfect return of Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle / The Punisher, converge on a brilliant final two episodes that truly capture the tone and spirit of the original show. Daredevil: Born Again is the Marvel Cinematic Universe at its darkest and most grounded and, while, the first season stumbles with its new characters and lack of other key elements of the original show, it nonetheless triumphs and firmly proves that the blind lawyer-turned-vigilante is one of the sprawling franchise’s most compelling characters.