Part reboot and part continuation, Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio breathe new life into their take on the Marvel superhero and villain.
Plot: Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer with heightened abilities is fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk pursues his own political endeavors in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course.
Review: Just under ten years ago, Marvel brought its first street-level hero to Netflix with Daredevil. While the series would be followed by Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and a crossover event in Defenders, the Charlie Cox-led Daredevil was the best series of the bunch. After three seasons, Daredevil ended its Netflix run, and the cast said goodbye to the denizens of Hell’s Kitchen. But, when Marvel Studios reacquired the full rights to the characters, we saw Cox show up in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law while Vincent D’Onofrio returned as Wilson Fisk in the Disney+ series Hawkeye and Echo. With the long-awaited new season of Daredevil debuting on Disney+, fans are likely wondering if this is truly a reboot or a true continuation of the three-season run on Netflix. The answer is a little bit of both. What is clear is that Daredevil: Born Again is a welcome return for this version of the characters in a grittier and more brutal take on the Marvel Cinematic Universe than we have ever seen before.
Premiering with two episodes before shifting to a weekly rollout, different than the binge-release format the original series had on Netflix, Daredevil: Born Again comprises nine episodes, all of which were made available for this review. The series picks up an indeterminate time after the conclusion of the original Daredevil as Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) celebrate the retirement of their cop friend Cherry (Clark Johnson) at the local pub, Josie’s. When Ben Poindexter (Wilson Bethel) arrives and mayhem ensues, Murdock crosses a line where he redefines his identity. Fast-forwarding a year later, Matt works as an attorney but no longer operates as a vigilante. With a new partner at his firm, Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James), and a new love interest in Dr. Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva), Matt still struggles with the demons from his past, especially when he confronts Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) who is running for Mayor of New York City.
The premiere chapter of the series serves as a bridge between Daredevil and Born Again. It limits the connections between the series without mentioning the other Defenders or Elektra. Matt Murdock’s new focus involves taking cases that matter, including the defense of Hector Ayala (the late Kamar de los Reyes), also known as the vigilante White Tiger. Across the series, Murdock takes a handful of cases that tangentially connect to Wilson Fisk and which also draw in some other familiar MCU supporting characters like Hawkeye‘s Jack Duquense (Tony Dalton) and Ms. Marvel’s Yusuf Khan (Mohan Kapur). But Daredevil Born Again tries to keep the focus on the tenuous state of New York under the leadership of Fisk. Vincent D’Onofrio’s character has slimmed down a bit but is just as formidable as ever, countering the lighter touch in Hawkeye and Echo. Here, Fisk’s rise to power is balanced by his efforts to strengthen his marriage to Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer), who handled his criminal empire during his absence. The series spends almost an equal amount of time with Matt Murdock as with Wilson Fisk, showing both men trying to leave their past behind them only for it to come back with a vengeance.
For most of Daredevil: Born Again‘s first season, neither Matt Murdock nor Wilson Fisk embodies their alter ego. At first, I wondered if the series would repeat how Matt abandoned his hero persona in the first three seasons only to come to terms with it again. But, there is a deliberate reason this series approaches both characters the way they do. With the second season already announced, fans should anticipate that this nine-episode run feels more like the first half of the story rather than a self-contained season. There are a lot of characters, notably those played by Genneya Watson, Michael Gandolfini, and Arty Froushan, who factor heavily into the story being set up to lead into the second season. The presence of Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle and the mysterious visage of the serial killer Muse add to the scale of this season compared to the Netflix series. These elements work to varying degrees, with some feeling wasted and others paying off by the season finale. There is little I can divulge without spoiling what fans are in store for, but the series as a whole works once you finish the entire nine-episode arc. While Daredevil season three adapted the comic book storyline known as “Born Again,” the subtitle perfectly fits how this series revisits and resets the rivalry between the hero and villain.
The fact that Daredevil: Born Again was revamped during production to shy away from the legal procedural and episodic angle does not show in the finished product. This feels like a cohesive story that pays homage to the first three seasons while softly resetting for what comes next. Showrunner Dario Scardapane (The Punisher), who took over head writing duties from Christopher Ord and Matthew Corman, brought in Moon Knight and Loki directors Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson to lead the revamped directing staff that also includes Michael Cuesta, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and David Boyd. The creative team has embraced the freedom of making this as brutal and dark of a series as we have seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the violence and profanity making anything on the Netflix series look like child’s play. The violence is brutal but not gratuitous, and the gritty and bloody storyline fits the stakes the characters are facing. I questioned how the events in this version of New York could have happened without Spider-Man or Captain America getting involved. Still, I am glad that Daredevil Born Again does not force-feed us cameos or connections to the rest of the MCU. As compared to the other Marvel Studios series on Disney+, Daredevil Born Again is the most well-balanced, with the run working from start to finish, for the most part.
Once you have all finished the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, I have no doubt that you will be anxious to see where the story goes next. A mid-credit scene at the end of the season finale will give you a taste, but I think you will also enjoy it more than I have. Binging the nine episodes did not leave much room to enjoy the week-to-week tension that will build for you as you learn about the twists and turns the story will take, but it may also magnify some of the season’s shortcomings. Whether they be subplots that build up but do not quite pay off or the way the series transitions from the prior seasons to Born Again, there will be some contentious conversations from legacy Daredevil fans and newcomers. Personally, I enjoyed seeing Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio back and as good as they have ever been. Just be prepared that this series does not pull any punches and may have some of the most violent deaths outside of Deadpool & Wolverine. The Man Without Fear is back, and I cannot wait for season two.
Daredevil Born Again premieres with two episodes on March 4 at 9 pm EST on Disney+.
