Daredevil: Born Again
stays true to the spirit of its Netflix predecessor, managing to deliver a heart-pounding first season – opening with an unexpected tragedy and a startling change for Matt Murdock AKA Daredevil. The first episode harkens back to Frank Miller’s run on the Daredevil comic, showing a side of the hero that’s much, much darker. This is a big swing for Disney, allowing a comic book adaptation to foray into truly Mature rated entertainment – and yes, taking on the ‘Deadpool’ film series was also a risk for the company, but keep in mind, one has a massive global-following and deals mostly with shock-comedy alongside cartoonish splatter-gore, the other is a TV drama that reaches HBO & AMC levels of on-screen gritty, no-holds-barred action. This new continuation of ‘Daredevil’ is no different; pushing the envelope in every way imaginable.
Main Cast: Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Margarita Levieva, Deborah Ann Woll, Gennaya Walton, Elden Henson, Wilson Bethel, Michael Gandolfini & Jon Bernthal
Matthew Murdock (Charlie Cox) is a lawyer by day and vigilante by night; using martial arts and his unique form of hand-to-hand combat to right the wrongs of a city that breeds injustice. He’s a personification of the maxim: justice is blind – having lost the use of his vision at a young age. With heightened senses, a penchant for “what’s right”, and an unstoppable appetite for punishment, Matt Murdock attempts to stem the tide of criminality that threatens his city. During the run of the original series he underwent a transformation and we saw him, in a figurative sense, become the urban myth “The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen”. He is the monster that strikes from the shadows, a devil in his own right. This as a recurring theme was used to great effect – plus the character’s Irish-Catholic upbringing allowed for a story that contained biblical allegory and some (surface level) examination of spiritual topics. Ahh yes, deeper themes.
Thankfully past plotlines are not shoehorned in – but woven carefully into the narrative – forming a whole tapestry complete with: past villains being expanded upon, family members of known characters slotted into the mix, and unconnected characters finding a prominent place among this motley crew of politicians, criminals, law-abiding citizens, and masked vigilantes who all call Hell’s Kitchen home.
As an example, B.B. Urich (Gennaya Walton) carries on as a reporter in the tradition of her late father, Ben Urich, a former ally of Matt Murdock and a mainstay of the comic book source material. Joe Pantiolano played him in the 2008 adaptation starring Ben Affleck (nostalgia bait, forgive me) and Vondi Curtis-Hall built admirably upon that version in the 2015 Netflix iteration, outdoing it in some aspects. He became much-beloved by fans during the his tenure on the 2015 Netflix run. “BeeBee” (Gennaya Walton) is a smart addition as it helps to remind the viewers of a major plot point (Ben Urich’s demise) from the original series: or in lieu of that, it encourages them to go watch the show for the very first time. Either way it’s a win. A tertiary through-line in the form of a character works wonders!
Deborah Ann Woll also returns, providing a familiar face as Karen Page, a dual-love interest of Daredevil (Charlie Cox) & “The Punisher” (Jon Bernthal) as well as a once protege of Ben Urich – she helped in the past to bring down Wilson Fiskthe (D’onofrio) the man known as “The Kingpin”. Fisk is an iconic villain from the comics, the previous iteration, and now present in various Marvel streaming properties.
I would argue, Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’ was the first superhero television/streaming property that successfully veered away from melodrama: tackling serious subject matter, character drama, heady themes, and romance instead.
‘Agents of Shield’ (Marvel prod.) sort of tried but fizzled out due to its similarities in presentation to already existing “knockoff” series like ‘Mutant X’, ‘Dark Angel’* and ‘Sanctuary’ – among them the shared episodic format really proved to be a major drawback. The television landscape of the early aughts to mid-2010s was a crowded one, fraught with many a superhero and superhero adjacent property, some of which, had no rights to the IP that they were cribbing from – more often than not, producing mixed results from absence of creative vision. A lot of those old series (even the official ones) objectively speaking, seem very pale when compared to the fare available in 2025.
Add that to the fact that television was changing: newer premium TV channels were heightening viewers expectations in perceived quality of writing, special effects, and acting: realistic dialogue & serialized storytelling became the norm, episodic structure and melodrama was left behind, television-acting transitioned from theatrical or soap opera-esque to naturalistic and more believable; really suspension of disbelief became the name-of-the-game. ‘The Wire’ began this trend, ‘The Sopranos’ cemented it, and ‘Breaking Bad’ made it the norm.
HBO (Home Box Office) started as a channel that only aired sports, then moved onto airing movies similar to the Super Channel (or other early premium networks) before finally making the jump to producing high-end, expensive to prod. TV dramas – with an intent to deliver the same craft in filmmaking available on your television set as you would expect from a blockbuster R-rated film.
“It all started in the 90s when HBO found success with their original programming: Tales from the Crypt, Tracey Takes On…, and The Larry Sanders Show. The network, though not as popular as ABC, NBC, or CBS, was able to gain cult status, as well as some nominations and wins from the Primetime Emmys and Golden Globes. And because it was subscription-based, it didn’t have to air traditional commercials, which meant that since they didn’t have to adhere to pressure from sponsors to clean up content, they were able to create original programming that pushed boundaries. Producers, writers, and directors could take more risks and include more graphic content, including nudity, profanity, and strong violence—you know, stuff you’d see in an R-rated movie” [1] -V. Renèe of NoFilmSchool.com
The original run of Daredevil (on Netflix) was an instant hit, a cynosure, loved in part for its unapologetic use of gratuitous violence while attempting to deliver a vision that earnestly recreated any (and all) adult themes associated with the IP.
There’s even an infamous scene from the previous run involving Wilson Fisk that gets a reference in ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ ep. 1 – when a character off-handedly mentions “I think he crushed a guy’s head with a car door” while referencing the imminent return of “Kingpin” to NYC.
The scene from the 2015 run was known for its brutality: a very hot talking-point in online spaces back in the day. It’s nice when a show doesn’t stray too far from its source material, y’know?
Indeed, the whole show was quite the viral hit when it premiered on Netflix back in 2015 – which seems almost a lifetime ago in these “post-covid pandemic” years.
- Objective Fact:
a decade is a jarringly long hiatus for a streaming series.
- Objective Fact:
Daredevil Born: Again was definitely worth the wait.
- Objective Fact:
The series finale far surpasses the original iteration in its use of graphic violence. Specifically the finale’s climactic scene that homages the one I mentioned earlier. Again it feat. Vincent D’onoffrio as Fisk – in a brand new Goliath-esque fit of rage. It’s shocking to say the very least.
Addendum: On Disney+ committing to the darker aspects of the source material: It’s not a leap to assume that the Disney Corp. wanted to dissuade any potential online commenters from claiming “the Disney+ version was a soft-reboot that ‘nerfed’ any of the show’s harsher concepts”. Also it might’ve potentially been seen as a trade-off to keep fans happy, the announcement of “Daredevil” as a crossover character in some of the less mature series featured on their app was not generally speaking, well-received – specifically ‘She-hulk’ & ‘Hawkeye’. Fans were initially very concerned about the use of the intellectual property; especially when it came to the character’s introduction into shows that skewed towards younger demographics. “Watering down of IP” (or some variation thereof) is a phrase that gets slung around fairly often by the more fervent members of fanboy culture: and never in a positive way.
I will probably write more on this show in the near-future, and I definitely plan to expand on the acting.
But simply put, all the cast, including the ones I did not get to touch on — clearly outdid themselves.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ is the purest form of entertainment.
Rating: 9/10
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Sources:
[1]How HBO Went from a Scrappy Cable Network to Changing TV Forever
By: V Renée
Sep 19, 2016
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PS: Yes, Jon Bernthal as “The Punisher” is everything it’s cracked up to be.
*’Dark Angel’ was the best of the three series I mentioned in comparison to new Marvel fare. Jessica Alba helped the show transcend its limitations and it was known favourably for casting a strong female lead in an action role when that was not common practise. I’m a fan, watched a lot of it when it aired. It’s not a perfect show — but may have paved the way for later entries into the genre.