Early last week, fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe breathed a collective sigh of relief after watching the first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again on Disney Plus. The new production, effectively a soft continuation of the 2015 Netflix Daredevil series, was announced nearly three years ago at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con, surprising nerds across the globe. I should know; I was one of them.
When I sat down with my daughter last week to binge the first two episodes (the second of which I will review later), I wasn’t sure what to expect. Though I was a massive fan of the Netflix series – and its spin-offs, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, The Punisher and, to a lesser extent, Iron Fist – I’d had my complaints. I found the show’s decision not to debut Daredevil’s ‘super suit’ in short order to be a letdown (a trend that, unfortunately, continues). I understood the producers’ and writers’ point-of-view that the show wanted to first focus on Matthew Murdock (the series protagonist played by Charlie Cox) and that the suit might be a distraction. Still, like many others, I felt somewhat cheated. After all, it was a series about Murdock AND his alter-ego, Daredevil, not just the very handsome, visually impaired lawyer. That said, despite whatever concerns I may have had about Born Again, I was determined to keep an open mind.
I cannot express how thankful I am for listening to my gut.
Episode one begins roughly five to six years after the conclusion of the Netflix series. Murdock (played by Charlie Cox) and associates Franklin “Foggy” Nelson (played by Elden Hensen, reprising his Daredevil character) and Karen Page (played by Deborah Ann Woll, reprising her Daredevil character) have started a law practice in Hell’s Kitchen, New York. As the trio celebrate a consequential event at a local pub, we get the sense that Murdock has long since hung up his cowl, choosing to leave his ‘vigilante’ life behind. All seems well until a foe from the group’s past returns, forcing the Devil to don his mask once more…at least for a few minutes.
From that point, the show jumps a year into the future, presumably to the present day (or as present-day as you can get in the MCU), where audiences witness Murdock and associates coping with the tragic events which transpired during the first ten minutes of the episode, only for their worlds to be thrown back into chaos as Wilson “The Kingpin” Fisk (played by Vincent D’Onofrio, reprising his Daredevil, Hawkeye and Echo character) makes his return to New York City, vowing to become its next mayor.
What works: Within the first 10 minutes of the first episode, Marvel sets the stage for what I can only describe as a brilliant rendition of the beloved hero and the world he inhabits. What stood out the most was how different the production was. Unlike other Disney Plus/Marvel original series like WandaVision, Moon Knight and Agatha All Along with their polished, cinematic quality editing and bright, over-saturated colours (qualities, for the record, I immensely appreciate), Born Again opts for a more down-to-earth, quasi-realistic style. The series doesn’t attempt to put a shiny coat of paint on locations like Hell’s Kitchen or Brooklyn. The streets, though full of life and hope, are dark, dank and dirty, befitting of a world where God’s favourite Devil stalks the rooftops of New York City in the dead of night.
What didn’t work: As I alluded to near the beginning of this review, one thing that irks me about past Marvel television productions—including those from Netflix—is the showrunners’ reluctance to debut the hero/villain ‘costumes’ until (arguably) far into the respective series.
While I understand the desire to focus on the ‘human’ alter-ego sides of these characters and the need to give them depth and strong backstories, many fans tune in to see the suits. There’s a reason why the vast majority of mainstream comic books focus on the super side of the superhumans: anyone can go out into the street and see someone in plain clothes virtually whenever they want, but the same can’t be said for superhumans and their costumes. True fans, the ones who tune in weekly right as the episode goes live, want the suits.
This isn’t to say that the more nuanced, personal, deeply human stories aren’t essential, because they are, but rather to express that with some of these series, there remains a very obvious imbalance between the super and the human. Delaying the costumes’ appearance seems unnecessary as there’s no surprise element to the reveal.
Verdict: I cannot express how much I enjoyed the first episode despite some of its pacing issues and the notable absence of the Daredevil character. While it may have been easier and less complicated for Marvel to completely start from scratch and ignore the history of these characters from the previous iteration, they made a wise choice by making Born Again more of a refresh than a reboot, demonstrating that they’re possibly, maybe paying attention to their fans feedback. Should the remaining episodes be as exciting as the first while still improving on the areas of opportunity, Born Again could be a massive Kingpin-sized success for Marvel and fans alike.
Daredevil: Born Again premiered with two episodes on March 4. New episodes go live on Disney Plus every Tuesday at 6 p.m. PST.