This review contains spoilers from episodes 1 and 2
Daredevil: Born Again – Main Characters
- Matt Murdock / Daredevil
Portrayed by Charlie Cox, Matt Murdock is a blind lawyer by day and masked vigilante by night who loses his sight as a child but gains heightened senses due to the accident, which he uses fight crime in Hell’s Kitchen, grappling with his sense of justice in both his professional and personal life. He has a personal code where he is not responsible for meating out justice but bringing wrongdoers to Justice. - Foggy Nelson
Matt’s best friend and law partner, played by Elden Henson. Foggy provides a grounded presence and often serves as the moral compass for Matt, trying to balance their legal work with their vigilante activities. - Karen Page
Portrayed by Deborah Ann Woll, Karen is a key member of the law firm Nelson, Murdock and Page along with a love interest for Matt. Her character often faces her own challenges, navigating the complexities of her past and her relationship with Matt. She is able to bring the humanity out of Matt and helps keep him from devolving into some other vigilantes like the Punisher who routinely kills those who would break the law. - Wilson Fisk / Kingpin
Vincent D’Onofrio returns as the formidable crime lord, Wilson Fisk. He serves as one of Daredevil’s main nemeses, representing corruption and overwhelming power in the underworld of Hell’s Kitchen. The character of KingPin has been featured in several MCU television shows including Echo, Hawkeye and the original Netflix Daredevil series. He has presented a constant across all of these series and is the perfect villain and antithesis to our heroes. - Bullseye
Played by Wilson Bethel, he is a psychopathic former FBI agent who is a highly skilled marksman capable of using almost any object as a lethal projectile including simple everyday items such as a paperclip. He previously masqueraded as Daredevil for Fisk in the Netflix story, before Fisk broke his back. - Heather Glenn
Portrayed by Margarita Levieva she is therapist and Matts current love interest> The two are thrown together on a blind meeting arranged by Kirsten McDuffie. In their first meeting they both seem to be dstined to go their separate ways but Matt is able to break the ice and they begin to become quite close. - Sheila Rivera
Portrayed by Deborah Ann Woll, Karen is a key member of the law firm and a love interest for Matt. Her character often faces her own challenges, navigating the complexities of her past and her relationship with Matt. - Kirsten McDuffie
Portrayed by Nikki M. James, she is a former assistant district attorney for the city of New York and Matt’s new partner at their law firm of Murdock and McDuffie. - BB Ulrich
Portrayed by Genneya Walton, she is a Journalist with her own trending podcast called BB Report who does man in the street interviews capturing the pulse of New Yorkers on the news of the day in New York city. She is the neice of Ben Ulrich who himself was a noted Journalist for the New York Bulletin who was murdered by Fisk because he did the unforgivable thing (at least to Fisk) by going to Fisk’s mother for an interview. - Cherry
Portrayed by Clark Johnson, he is a retired NYPD officer who is disillusioned after his many years of service because his role is being replaced by super powered vigilantes. He currently is a Private Eye in the employ of Murdock and McDuffie. - Daniel Blake
Portrayed by Michael Gandolfini, Daniel is Fisks protege and a member of his mayoral campaign. He is very low in the pecking order at the but quickly catches Fisk’s eye for he keen insights in how to market him and knowledge of social media as a campaigning tool. - Hector Ayala / White Tiger
Portrayed by Kamar de los Reyes, he is a new vigilante bursting onto the MCU stage. He has enhanced powers from a mystical amulet. He first appeared in New York when Daredevil left the crime fighting scene. He is defended in court at one point by Matt for an incident in the subway where Hector accidentally killed a crooked cop (unbeknownst to him) while helping a civilian being assaulted by the crooked cop and his partner. - Vanessa Marianna-Fisk
Portrayed by Ayelet Zurer She first catches Fisk’s eye in an art gallery where she was the curator. Vanessa becomes the central figure in Fisk’s life and helps him craft an outward image as a legitimate business man. She accepts his marriage proposal when the true side of Fisk’s business dealings are revealed. She then leaves the country when her fiance is beaten by Daredevil and is sent to prison only to return after Fisk strikes a deal with the FBI to exclude from prosecution in his criminal endeavors and marries him. She will later rebuild Fisks criminal enterprise, again making it look like a legitimate business which has led to some tension between the coupled. - Frank Castle / Punisher
Portrayed by Jon Bernthal, the Punisher is returning from the original series to team with Daredevil for the upcoming season. He seeks justice and atonement for the brutal murder of his family, he has no code of boundaries when exacting out his often brutal version of justice.
Daredevil: Born Again – Episode 1 & 2 Review
Episode 1: “Heaven’s Half Hour”
The season opener of Daredevil: Born Again sets a compelling foundation for the new narrative direction of the series. We are reintroduced to Matt Murdock, played superbly by Charlie Cox, as he navigates the complexities of his double life. The episode dives deep into his ongoing battle for justice, even as he grapples with personal demons and the consequences of his past decisions.
The cinematography strikes a perfect balance between gritty realism and stylized action sequences, reminiscent of previous seasons while also introducing new visual elements. The supporting cast, including the return of formidable characters, adds depth and intrigue. The pacing is well-structured, effectively building suspense that leaves viewers eager for the next chapter.
Through a careful blend of character development and action, “Night of the Devil” establishes a potent narrative foundation for the new season, reaffirming Matt Murdock’s place as both a symbol of hope and a haunted figure in the dark alleys of Hell’s Kitchen.
Plot
It is 1 year before the main time line where most of the series will be focused and several years after the original series on Netflix. Our three heroes are celebrating their success at a local bar and the creation of their new law firm. Matt is flirting with Karen as they tease a possible relationship but both move back fearing the damage it will do to their new business and friendship. They do catch Foggy talking with McDuffie and trying to put the moves on her. This interrupted by a phone call to Foggy from client who he has hidden at his home for his safety saying someone was coming for him. The trio try to calm the client saying his fears are unfounded but noises in the background make them suspicious with Matt running off to become Daredevil to investigate. Matt arrives at the Foggy’s place and realizes it was a trap and the intended victim is actually Foggy.
Matt rushes back to save Foggy but the assailant is there before him and shoots Foggy through the heart. He then advances on Karen but Daredevil arrives and thwarts his effort to murder Karen. We then see that the assailant is Daredevils old foe Bullseye. The two begin a brutal battle which rolls throughout the bar without anyone inside being safe. As patrons scramble outside to safety, several of them are killed by Bullseye. Daredevil is hit many times by knives thrown by Bullseye that look often fatal but Daredevil continues the fight while Karen holds their friend in her lap trying to keep him alive.
These fight scenes are top quality and worthy of any cinematic special effcts leaving one on the edge of their seats with plenty of blood and brutality even for the non-feint of hearted. The fight travels up several flights of stairs and at one point it looks like Bullseye has gotten the better of our hero as Bullseye enters onto the rooftop but he comes swinging around the corner as we have all envisoned in his comic book form striking an iconic Daredevil pose. As the two continue to fight we can hear Foggys weakening heartbeat through the ears of Daredevil. Suddenly we see a view of Foggy on the blood soaked pavement and the heartbeat stops. At this moment Draedevil reaches a tipping point and abandons his moral code, reigning down a hail of fists onto Bullseye then proceeds to throw him off the roof, intending to seek justice for Foggy and kills him. Cherry enters the roof in time to witness the ending scene and see daredevil anmask and toos his mask to the street.
We then fast forward to 1 year after Foggy’s death. Matt has moved on from the lawfirm he started with Karen and Foggy and moved out of Hells Kitchen to form a new firm with Kirsten McDuffie. He lives in a new trendy apartment and has given up the mantle of Daredevil since he no longer trusts himself to do the right thing after throwing Bullseye from the roof with the intent to exact justice. He has also had no contact with Karen because of the events of that evening during that time.
Matt is preparing to attend Bullseye sentencing hearing to provide a gut wrenching victim impact statement, reliving the trauma of the evening all over again. He is definitely a somewaht and broken human being dealing with depression and guilt. After the sentencing Matt runs into Page who now is living in San Francisco and herself is dealing with the pain and intense loss she feels for Foggy and the abandonment of her former lover and how easily he tossed away the Daredevil personna leaving many without a hero to protect them.
We are then re-introduced to the Kingpin who crashes a meeting of his former crime organization the Five Families now headed by his wife Vanessa. Under her leadership the gang has flourished and grown beyond where Kingpin had left it. His appearance immediately shows the respect and fear he has causing the meeting to break up without a single word being uttered by him. He informs Vanessa he is turning his life around and wants to run for mayor of New York city and needs her help. There is a very noticeable tension between the two from years of no real communication from Fisk and Vanessa, she is not pleased but agrees to help him.
Fisk announces his candidacy with a very theatrical flare, saying he detest the chaos and rampant crime happening in the city he loves. His campaign manager asks him to tone down his message a bit but the polls show that his words are resonating with a majority of New Yorkers, with many willing to forgive his past. This is backed up by a young campaign. worker named Daniel Blake who coins the phrase “Fisk can fix it”, Fisk takes an instant liking to the young man, bringing him under his wing as his protege. We are then showed some man in the street interviews by BB Ulrich who runs a popular podcast showing how the people are open to Fisk’s message, especially since being abandoned by their hero and protector Daredevil.
Fisk’s rise in popularity and power concerns Murdock, who seeks him out after a campaign event. They sit down for a nostalgic but slightly threatening chat at a diner, where they reminisce about their history, the changes that have overwhelmed the city, and Fisk’s political aspirations.
The former crime boss confirms that he had no part in Nelson’s death while questioning Murdock on his vigilante status. Together, they make an alarming deal – Fisk promises to maintain his integrity and never return to his old criminal ways, while Murdock swears never to serve as a vigilante again.
The episode ends with Fisk winning the election and hundreds of New Yorkers gathering in the streets to celebrate a new leader. At this time, Murdock is on a date with therapist Heather Glenn, with whom he shares a romantic kiss before taking in the political turmoil he expects will follow. The final scene is a cinematic shot of the vigilante standing in red, hellish light, looking up to the sky, and Fisk basking in angelic white, peering down at his new territory. This conclusion leaves us with a sense of uncertainty about Murdock’s future and the potential chaos that Fisk’s leadership may bring.
Episode 1 Conclusion
I would give this episode an 9/10 hurling us on a rollercoaster ride of emotions running the gamut from joy and happiness to abject fear, depression and heartbreak. Gone was the Netflix show we first loved, the new cast members and the removal of the grittiness of Hells Kitchen made it appear that this might be a show we could not stand behind or connect to. But strong cinematic photography, the interplay between fisk and Murdock and the feel that this is more like a Marvel movie have opened up new and intriguing possibilities. By the end of this episode I have to say I couldn’t wait for the episodes and seeing where we would be taken.
Episode 2: “Optics”
The second episode ramps up the intensity, expanding on the moral dilemmas faced by Murdock after setting the stage and tone in episode1. The conflict between his role as a lawyer and vigilante is explored further, highlighting the challenges of maintaining his sense of justice in a flawed legal system. The introduction of new adversaries raises the stakes dramatically, and the dynamic between Murdock and his nemeses is palpable.
Dialogue remains sharp, with clever exchanges that develop character relationships organically. The exploration of themes such as redemption and sacrifice begins to take center stage, promising a rich narrative journey ahead. Action sequences are both engaging and thoughtfully choreographed, showcasing the high stakes of Murdock’s crusade against crime.
Plot
It is now New Years eve and Mayor Fisk is addressingthe people of New York on the big screens in Times Square. He is sharing his plan about a new age of law and order within the city without vigilates like Spiderman, Punisher and Daredevil, a plan where he banishes the heroes from the streets. There is definitely a split among the people between those who believe in his message and those who don’t trust the man behind the curtain. Fisk then sees Vanessa off to the side and we next see them on the roof and alone. Vanessa is discussing her support for his new position and asks Fisk to not seek revenge on someone (a possible lover).
His plan is reiterated throughout the episode along with the peoples sentiments using BB Ulrich’s man in the street interviews showing how many New Yorkers had lost faith in their heroes, seeing a rise in crime and violence in their streets thus looking for a better way. This losss of trust and especially the disappearance of Daredevil have led them to trusting the hope presented by Fisk which after watching him in all the previous series was quite heartbreaking, at least for me.
Even with strong support from the people, we are seeing some resistance to the reign of Mayor Fisk as he is setting into his new role behind the mayoral desk. he is given a list of city commissioners by Sheila Rivera, all of whom don’t like him because of his colorful past. He slips back a little into his Kingpin persona waxing on about his to monologue about his abusive and controlling father who only respected Mayor LaGuardia. Sheila puts him back on track reminding him how important it is that he make piece with the commissioners, especially the police commissioner and district attorney. She also notes that the people are wondering why they never see Vanessa with him and supporting his life changes.
Daniel Blake is seen with BB Ulrich and arranges a meeting with Fisk so she can do an interview with him for her podcast. She is ushered into the mayors office who brings his attention to Fisk and the affects of his missing wife Vanessa. She gives him some viewpoints on peoples views and Fisk is very supportive of her reporting, thanking her for her coverage. All of this is quite ironic since BB’s uncle Ben Ulrich was the reporter who helped expose the Kingpin and was later murdered by him for it.
While appearing to be daunting, the problems with his commissioners seems to not faze Fisk who while traveling to a meeting is with his staff is caught in a traffic jam caused by a large sinkhole that has opened in the middle of the street. He leaves the vehicle and see the trouble and notices a work crew just standing around waiting on proper permits and orders from the city’s management. In typical Fisk fashion he provides all the orders and commands they will need to fill and fix the sinkhole immediately. the people immediately cheer his prompt and decisive action.
Fisk arrives at the funeral for a deceased police officer to meet with Police Commissioner Gallo, who has been ducking a meeting with the mayor. Gallo proceeds to antagonize the mayor saying he will use every power at his disposal to remove him from office, even making a point to call him Kingpin. We see a shift from the eagerness to help in the previous scene to anger and a shift back to his old gangster ways.
Gallo later comes into the mayors office with his resignation saying that most of the Police foce will walk out with him. Fisk threatens him with a picture showing his illegitimate child in Philadelphis. He forces gallo to take the resignation back reminding him he will not grant for increased Police academy class sizes or higher wages. We also are shown a shot of bruises and cuts on Fisk’s knuckles showing a further possible degradation into his old ways and showing that the Kingpin is definitely back.
We then see Vanessa and Fisk in couples therapy trying to work on their marriage with the help of Matt’s new love interest Heather Glenn. It is mentioned that Vanessa loved Fisk but through his many troubles had shut her out and basically abandoned her, hinting that Vanessa may have taken a lover during that time. We are left to suppose that the injuries to Fisk’s hands may have been from him exacting revenge on this lover.
Meanwhile back during the New Years festivities and over 100 blocks away Hector Ayala enters the subway carrying a bouquet of flowers where he two men harassing another man. Ayala is torn between being a good samaritan and walking away but the good in him wins out and he steps in to intervene. During his fight with the two men he tells the victim to flee. The fight is quite dramatic and Hector has the better of the two when one man is accidentally tossed in from of the oncoming train. The other man then identifies himself as a cop. he is arrested for the murder of the other cop who denies any wrongdoing and blames the assault on Hector.
At the police station Matt is discussing another client with someone and with his highly attuned hearing overhears the police extracting a false confession from Hector saying he attacked the two officers unprovoked. Matt enters the interrogation room and announces himself as Hector’s attorney. Hector professes his innocence and Matt is able to discern that Hector is both telling the truth and hiding something. He tells Cherry and Kirsten that he is taking the case pro-bono which is against both their wishes but he proceeds to court to represent Hector at his bail hearing where dozens of cops show up in support of their fellow officer, intimidating the judge into denying bail.
Matt asks Cherry, the firms private investigator and form cop, to find the victim so he can come forward and corroborate Hector’s story or he has no chance of winning. Cherry goes to Hectors wife Soledad to try and get some more details on Hector. While snooping around the home Cherry finds Hector’s White Tiger costume and magical amulet. We are then shown a photo of Hector’s daughter Ava who at some point may become the White Tiger in her fathers place.
Murdock is very irate over this news which proves his theory that Hector was both telling the truth and lying. He visits Hector at Rikers and confronts him with the information uncovered by Cherry that could prove very bad for their case. The White Tiger rattles the former vigilante, saying, “Someone’s gotta protect the streets. People are going missing. No one seems to care. It’s not like Daredevil’s around anymore.” This former and current vigilante dynamic will be fascinating as the season progresses.
Still annoyed by his clients double life Mat has a meeting with the prosecutor and the judge in Hector’s case to discuss not allowing the fact that Hector is secretly the White Tiger which could prejudice a jury’s decision. Matt wins the decision to the consternation of both the judge and prosecutor.
Later, after having a discussion with Cherry about how this case hits close to home and Matt decides to take thing into his own hands and goes to the apartment of our missing victim Nick Torres, He attempts to talk Torres into coming forward but hears people coming up the stairs so he send Torres out the fire escape telling him how to find Cherry who will protect him while Matt stays to distract the cops.
The two cops proceed to beat up Matt in a particularly gruesome battle as Matt fights to control his inner devil but once a gun is pulled Daredevil is forced to return to his past life easily defeating his attackers with a chaotic brutality harkening back to our fist scenes in episode 1. We close the episode with Matt picking up his broken glasses and letting out a primal scream trying to regain control of his emotions.
Episode 2 Conclusion
Although lacking in a lot of strong action scenes we are treated to seeing both of our heroes struggling to keep their word and not become the people they once were, with little success. I would have to rate this episode another 9/10 and has solidly put me on a path to wanting more of our new vision for our hero and bad seed. Entwining Kingpin with Matt’s new girlfriend will present some very interesting scenarios as she works to help Kingpin’s marriage and Matt attempts to take him down. In the end we are shown a tatto on one of Matt’s attackers wrist that resembles the skull symbol of the Punisher so what is the connection between these corrupt cops and the Punisher, only time will tell us but I’m sure it is the connection that will bring Daredevil into contact with Punisher down the road.
Episodes 1 and 2 Conclusion
Overall, the first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again successfully re-establish the show’s gritty tone while setting the stage for character growth and provocative storytelling. With strong performances and a compelling plot, the series appears poised for an exciting season ahead. Fans and newcomers alike will find plenty to appreciate in this latest chapter of Hell’s Kitchen’s protector.
We are also continuously shown things like mentioning Spiderman the blip and the Captain America musical to name a few to pull the Netflix Marvel TV universe into the Marvel universe as a whole and leaving the idea of Daredevil and others as a one off in this universe behind allowing our heroes to show up in Doomsday and Secret Wars.
