Daredevil: Born Again Series Premiere Review

Warning: this review contains full spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again episodes 1 and 2!

Marvel Television’s two-part premiere for Daredevil: Born Again starts with an all-time great superhero brawl, as if to assure fans that, yes, Daredevil is back just like you remember. The resurrected series is a worthy continuation of the Netflix show and picks up where season 3 left off, essentially making this retitled series a de facto season 4. No time is wasted as Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock is dealt a traumatic blow and faced with the unexpected return of his greatest nemesis, Wilson Fisk, once again played in bone-chilling fashion by Vincent D’onofrio. Though Born Again lacks some of the nuance of the original, and its story seems to be retreading some familiar ground, its new twist on the Murdock/Fisk rivalry makes it very much a devil of a good time.

Things start on a relatively happy note for Murdock as he enjoys drinks with longtime friends Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, once again played by Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll, respectively. It’s a law of nature that Matt Murdock cannot have sustained happiness, and it’s not long before all hell breaks loose thanks to a returned Benjamin Poindexter. This is Poindexter as we know him in the comics: Bullseye, the sociopathic costumed assassin who kills with whatever object is within reach. Watching him go toe-to-toe with Daredevil in a knock-down, drag-out fight employing razor-sharp knives and weaponized billiard balls feels like seeing a comic book come to life. That it’s all a seamless, one-shot sequence that tracks their movements through a bar and into the apartment building above makes it even more impressive.

It’s beyond sad watching Murdock lose his best friend Foggy after all they’ve been through. And it’s truly surprising to see Murdock try to kill Bullseye given how he let Fisk live at the end of season 3. But if anything was going to push him to break his most important vow, it would be Foggy’s death. The tragedy sees Murdock abandon the mantle of Daredevil and fully commit to being a benevolent lawyer who doesn’t go around punching criminals at night, which makes things all the more difficult when Fisk returns not as the Kingpin of crime but as something far more dangerous: a politician.

It’s this new dynamic of attorney Murdock versus Mayor Fisk that makes Born Again feel so exciting and unpredictable. The way the first episode closes with these two unstoppable forces on an inevitable collision course? Epic! Normally we have to wait a while before Murdock and Fisk share the screen, but I’m glad we get right to the good stuff this time around. Watching these two longtime enemies have a “civil” conversation at a diner is a real treat. The tension is so high there may as well be a stick of lit dynamite on the table. Miraculously, they don’t come to blows, and instead try to see the best in one another… while also laying down some not-so-veiled threats. There might have been a time when a convicted felon winning a prominent political office would seem unrealistic – but in 2025, it feels ripped from today’s headlines. That said, the show sidesteps any specific real-world politics and instead focuses on exploring themes of empowering bullies and the responsibility one has to stand up to them.

While the story of public defender Murdock taking on Mayor Fisk is fresh and juicy, other elements of the story feel a bit stale. Didn’t we already do a story about Murdock wanting to give up being Daredevil in season 3 of the Netflix show? The one that’s partially based on the comic arc that gives Born Again its subtitle? The details of the situation are different here, but some of the bigger ideas being explored feel like a rehash. Maybe they should have called it Daredevil: Born Again Again.

There’s a real sense of satisfaction when Born Again makes it known that it’s a genuine part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the years since we last saw this version of Daredevil, he’s shown up in Spider-Man: No Way Home and on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Echo (where Fisk also appeared, following up D’onofrio’s encore of the character on Hawkeye). Now, Born Again even has Mayor Fisk making a reference to Spider-Man, something we thought was impossible only a few years ago. This may seem like a small thing to the casual viewer, but to longtime Marvel fans, it just feels good to see the Marvel Universe made whole. Curiously, even though dealing with New York City’s vigilante problem is the main plank of Mayor Fisk’s platform, there’s no mention of the United Nations superhero regulation laws (a.k.a. the Sokovia Accords). Murdock did mention that the laws were repealed during his guest role on the She-Hulk series, but still, one would think Fisk would use the accords as a precedent to establish his version of law and order.

The second episode of Born Again introduces us to a new vigilante called White Tiger (played by Kamar de los Reyes) who began operating in the time since Murdock retired his Daredevil persona. (The episode is dedicated to Reyes, who sadly passed away in 2023.) The story of Hector Ayala in the comic books is a complex one, and the show is so far doing a good job adapting his tragic case of wrongful imprisonment. And hearing Murdock chastise Ayala for going out at night looking for trouble as a vigilante is real rich. Whether he realizes it or not, handling this case is forcing Murdock to confront some things about himself, and it coats every exchange with an extra layer of meaning.

Things come to a head when a pair of corrupt cops try to execute Murdock. Cox does a phenomenal job playing the escalation of this dire situation: You can see how much it genuinely pains Murdock knowing he’s being forced to break his peaceful streak, and when he does, he absolutely explodes on those two poor guys and rips them to shreds with a horrifying savagery. That primal scream at the end? I felt that. This scene once again reinforces Marvel’s pledge to keep the show just as mature and violent as it was before, and boy will that bloody arm-break be keeping me up at night.

While the main thread about Murdock and Fisk is strong and compelling, there is a noticeable lack of interesting supporting characters so far – not a Wesley or Agent Nadeem in sight. It’s hard to feel invested in Murdock’s detective friend or his new lawyer partner, who seem to exist merely to provide bits of exposition. Poindexter made for such a fascinating character study in season 3, yet here he’s been reduced to a one-dimensional baddie – and that’s a bit of a letdown.

There are still plenty of episodes to go for all that to be remedied, of course. A couple new faces do show some promise, such as Murdock’s new romantic interest (who happens to be Fisk’s marriage therapist) and a young video journalist (who interviews Fisk not knowing he killed her uncle with his bare hands), so we’ll have to wait and see how their stories develop. Regardless, Born Again feels properly nestled within the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe while still maintaining Daredevil’s mature tone and fantastic lead performances – and at the onset, getting that right is what matters most.

Other Thoughts

• It’s a tad hard to see because of the darkness of the opening fight scene, but Bullseye’s blue costume has black rings around the neck and shoulders, giving him his signature “target” look from the comics.
• Reportedly, Foggy and Karen weren’t going to be part of Born Again – they were added after a creative overhaul. I gotta admit that this makes me feel bad for Elden Henson. He gets left out of the show, then they decide to bring him back just to kill his character off. Rough!
• Kingpin is one of Spider-Man’s greatest enemies in the comics, so I hope Fisk mentioning Spidey eventually leads to them squaring off on-screen one day.
• Did you catch the Punisher tattoo on the cop’s forearm? Given that there are people in real life who also appropriate his symbol for the wrong reasons, I sincerely hope Frank Castle gets a chance to address it – just like he did in the comics – once he shows up on Born Again.