TAGGED AS: Comic Book, Disney Plus, Marvel Television, streaming
Back in the pages of Marvel Comics, the Daredevil story “Born Again” was a monumental shift for the character. As devised and written by Frank Miller, with David Mazzucchelli on art (and Christie “Max” Scheele on colors), it saw Matt Murdoch’s life completely upended when Wilson Fisk learned the true identity of his primary adversary. But the ruins of his life fueled Matt and led to the character to new heights, and the story helped cement its author’s legendary status.
So, it is only fitting that Marvel Studios – now in control of Daredevil after shake-ups at Netflix and in the Marvel Television hierarchy – would use the title for their upcoming Disney+ series, Daredevil: Born Again. But will the series reflect its comic book counterpart or serve more as a marker of the character’s place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, much the same way Spider-Man: Homecoming flagged its title character’s absence up until that point? Let’s take a look at what we know about the program so far and see if we can’t judge if Born Again will do its own thing or, once again, turn the on-screen Matt Murdoch’s (Charlie Cox) life into chaos.
(Photo by Nicole Rivelli/©Netflix)
One interesting way Born Again will set itself apart from its namesake and the previous Netflix Daredevil series is the way it will use the material. When we spoke to Vincent D’Onofrio following his return as Fisk in Hawkeye a few years ago, he mentioned that he still assumes the events of the Netflix program occurred until he is told otherwise. We’re inclined to join him in that notion.
Indeed, Daredevil and its fellow Netflix shows – Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Punisher – were cancelled with such abruptness that they might as well have been Blipped when Thanos (Josh Brolin) snapped his fingers in Avengers: Infinity War. And, as it happens, one key aspect of Born Again will be Fisk’s shift into city politics by running for mayor after being away from his criminal empire for five or so years. Although it is still unclear if the Kingpin was Blipped or simply in prison following the events of Daredevil’s third season — last year’s Echo miniseries make us lean toward the latter — D’Onofrio suggested he played the part in Hawkeye as though he’d at least been away for the preceding half decade. While prison time is certainly in keeping with the Daredevil tone, there is a certain elegance to the character Blipping away from the Netflix corner of the MCU and returning in the slightly brighter, weirder version of it.
Likewise, we can’t help but wonder if Matt will also need to be “born again” following his own period of becoming dust. From his appearance on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, it is difficult to say if he disappeared. Echo leans toward the character not Blipping away, and a certain amount of maturity on his part in those appearances suggests he lived the five years Fisk lost in prison. In the recent trailer for Born Again, Matt even tells the Kingpin he gave up being a vigilante because “a line was crossed.” Presumably, this occurred after his yellow-suit sojourn in Southern California with She-Hulk Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany), but it also offers an intriguing question that could make use of the biggest MCU event to date.
(Photo by Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel)
Thankfully, Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) will return for Born Again, which means the show will feel a lot like Daredevil, something the January trailer made pains to express. Per various statements on the actors’ parts, they have all spent the last several years running Nelson, Murdock, and Page. Although, we still hope some MCU lore will be meaningful to the characters, especially as Fisk’s bid for mayor will force a truce of sorts between himself and his old rivals. Or, at least, Matt.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige originally said the show will be more episodic than their previous TV efforts. Unlike, say, WandaVision, it was planned not be one long story told across hour-long chunks. Instead, the concept was to leverage a growing desire for shows like Columbo, in which the protagonist solves a crime in the span of an episode and moves on to a new plot the next week. Of course, that was before a major behind-the-scenes shake-up (more on that below) saw some of the completed footage junked in favor of a vision more akin to the Netflix series. For one thing, the program will be more serialized than originally planned.
We can also safely say the show will not be as light-hearted as Matt’s time with She-Hulk. His world is always a few shades darker, and the trailer indicates it will be much darker than most of the Disney+ shows to date.
(Photo by Giovanni Rufino/Marvel)
Prior to production, some believed the series would place Matt in a new locale, like Southern California. Indeed, certain comic book stories have seen him pull up stakes for a change in climate. But once initial filming commenced in 2023, it was clear Matt had returned to New York City.
The nature of that New York will be different than the one we saw in Daredevil’s third season. Never fully recovered from the Battle of New York – or, “the Incident” as it was called within the series – both Hell’s Kitchen and all of Manhattan faced a long period of recovery that Fisk used to obtain more control of real estate and criminal networks. And then, in The Defenders, a major part of that rebuilding effort was destroyed. But the mainstream MCU New York seemingly bounced back much quicker with the devastation entirely a footnote in Hawkeye or the latter Spider-Man: No Way Home – what rebuilding we saw in those projects was blamed on the more recent Battle of Earth in Avengers: Endgame and the continuing shockwaves of people returning from the Blip.
Nevertheless, the political situation within the city (as teased in Echo) offers Fisk the chance to start a new life as, oddly, the town’s savior. But is New York really ready to vote the Kingpin in as mayor?
(Photo by Marvel Television)
Naturally enough, Cox and D’Onofrio return to reprise their roles after re-establishing them in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Hawkeye, She-Hulk, and Echo. Appearing briefly at 2022’s D23 Expo to tease the series, Cox said it was “really emotional to have been doing this for a while and yet start again.” He reiterated the sentiment at the 2024 D23, where he was joined by all of his returning co-stars, which include D’Onofrio, Woll, Henson, and Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, aka the Punisher.
We still like pondering about the Blip, and we’re going to presume Frank turned to dust, since that would really make him mad (and reset his status quo from where things left off in The Punisher’s second season). Something else for him to be mad about: The series will apparently feature New York policemen wearing his skull logo.
Foggy and Karen’s Blip status is also unknown, but the characters were nearly Blipped in real life, as they were not originally part of Born Again. Thankfully, they are back, as set photos and the actors’ appearance at D23 last year confirmed.
(Photo by Giovanni Rufino/Marvel)
Additionally, Wilson Bethel will also return as Benjamin Poindexter – a version of Bullseye better know as “Dex” at this point – the part he played in Daredevil’s third season. Meanwhile, Mohan Kapur will make an appearance as Yusuf Khan, his character from Ms. Marvel.
Ayelet Zurer will also return as Vanessa, Fisk’s wife. Briefly replaced by Sandrine Holt during initial filming, Zurer returned to the role after the major change in Born Again’s creative direction. But will her character really be willing to give Fisk another chance? Maybe winning the mayoral election will change her perception of him.
Other actors reportedly set to appear in the series include Michael Gandolfini as Daniel Blade, Nikki M. James as Kirsten McDuffie, Zabryna Guevara as Sheila Rivera, Genneya Walton as BB Urich — a name that should ring familiar to fans of the Netflix series — Arty Froushan as Buck Cashman, Clark Johnson as Cherry, Jeremy Earl as NYPD Anti-Vigilante Officer Cole North, and Margarita Levieva as Matt’s new love interest, Heather Glenn. Also, the late Kamar de los Reyes takes on the role of Hector Ayala, aka White Tiger. That name has passed to other characters in the comics, so some are speculating the second White Tiger will also appear. Additionally, a character known as Muse was seemingly glimpsed in the trailer and spotted on location.
(Photo by METROPOLIS/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images)
Matt Corman and Chris Ord originally served as executive producers and head writers, with Feige, Louis D’Esposito, and Chris Gary also serving as EPs. But highlighting the way Born Again will be different, Marvel Studios brought on Arrowverse veterans Grainne Godfree and Jill Blankenship in the lead-up to the initial production. Serving as writers on the series, they no doubt intended to amp up the episodic nature of Born Again. At that time, the writing team also included Aisha Porter-Christie, David Feige, Devon Kliger, Thomas Wong, and Zachary Reiter, while Michael Cuesta (Kill the Messenger, American Assassin) served as director of the first episode.
But the series went on pause as the 2023 Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes commenced. During that time, Marvel viewed the extant footage and rethought the entire series. Once the strikes concluded, the company revealed Corman, Ord, the writing team, and the directors had all been let go.
In their place came The Punisher veteran Dario Scardapane as showrunner with Moon Knight veterans Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead as lead directors. Reportedly, Scardapane refocused the program to more directly emulate the Netflix Daredevil while still using much of the footage shot prior to the shutdown. The reporting at the time also suggested the Corman and Ord version was more akin to She-Hulk, although it is still unclear if that was in tone or just the episodic format. Cuesta and fellow directors Jeffrey Nachmanoff and David Boyd are still credited for the episodes they filmed prior to the shutdown, while Feige, D’Esposito, and Gary remain as executive producers. Corman and Ord will also still receive a “created by” credit alongside Scardapane. Brad Winderbaum, named head of the re-formed Marvel Television last year, joins the team as an EP, as does Kamala Khan co-creator Sana Amanat.
Additional crew include Rudd Simmons as producer, Heather Bellson and Jesse Wigutow as additional writers – the original writing team will reportedly still receive credit for the episodes they worked on – production designer Michael Shaw, costume designer Emily Gunshor, and Philip Silvera, who returns from Daredevil as a stunt coordinator and adds second unit director to his responsibilities. The Newton Brothers take on musical duties while Hillary Fyfe Spera and Pedro Gómez Millán serve as the series’ directors of photography.
(Photo by Giovanni Rufino/Marvel)
Daredevil: Born Again debuts on Disney+ on March 4. Like most debuts on the platform, we expect to get two episodes in the first week, with a single installment in each of the subsequent seven weeks. But unlike most Disney+ shows, we know a second season is already on the way, though it is unknown if the program will continue after season 2 or wrap up this latest tale of the Man Without Fear. Filming on the second season is expected to begin this year.
Daredevil: Born Again: Season 1 (2025) premieres March 4, 2025 on Disney+.
