Daredevil: Born Again Resurrects (and Improves On) Netflix’s Marvel Universe: Review

Those who watched all three seasons of the series Daredevil, which premiered on Netflix in 2015, will need to brace themselves for some deja vu. The new Disney+/Marvel series Daredevil: Born Again, first and foremost, delivers on one expectation many had when the project was originally announced: It is very much Season 4 of Netflix’s Daredevil, bringing back Charlie Cox as the Man Without Fear as well as nemesis Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) for more gritty super-powered storytelling.

It’s actually a pretty remarkable achievement, even considering that showrunner Dario Scardapane was an EP on both seasons of Netflix’s The Punisher: Beyond fundamentals like casting, there’s a consistency of tone and style throughout that evokes what made those Netflix-based series (including Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and even Iron Fist) such an exciting addition to the Marvel universe — while also being even more adult- than what came before. The Netflix series was rated TV-14, but this is decidedly TV-MA: There are multiple F-bombs scattered throughout the season, along with plenty of blood, gruesome moments of violence, and even — gasp! — a little sex. (All hail Matt Murdock, possessor of the MCU’s one confirmed libido.)

Born Again picks up where the original show ended in 2018, with blind superhero/lawyer Matt Murdock (Cox) sharing a storefront law practice in Hell’s Kitchen with his best pals Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll). Within the first fifteen minutes, though, there’s a change in the status quo and a year-long time jump, one that finds Matt working at his own, more prestigious, law firm — but more isolated that he’s been in the past. He’s also fully retired from the role of vigilante, determined to work inside the limits of the law.

Like every reluctant superhero before him, of course, there’s a ticking clock on when he’ll mask up again, but another point in Born Again’s favor is the way it does explore Matt’s reluctance to revisit that part of himself without rushing towards the inevitable. Nine episodes, many of which stretch to 45 minutes or so, make Born Again Season 1 one of the longer MCU series to date (at least since the original Netflix days, where nearly every season was 13 hour-long episodes). Yet that length affords the show enough real estate to explore just what it might look like, if it were 30 years ago, and Daredevil was a network procedural about a blind lawyer who argued cases by day and fought crime at night.

(Every week, ’90s!Matt could have used his unique talents to solve a new mystery or bring a bad guy to justice! This version of Daredevil probably would have gotten canceled after the first season, but the good news is that a season of 1990s television was around 22 episodes. Yes, Born Again has already been renewed for a second season, but that will only bring its total number of episodes to 17.)

These mid-season installments — Matt Murdock defends another vigilante in court! Matt Murdock gets involved with a bank robbery! — aren’t truly stand-alone episodes in the long run; by the end of the season, they’ve largely been woven into the overarching plot. But individually, they’re still quite entertaining.

Daredevil: Born Again (Disney+

So much of Born Again’s success rides on its star, who gets the chance to play the character not solely as a brooding, emotionally unavailable stick in the mud. Even while dealing with some emotionally heavy stuff, we get to see Matt Murdock really live his life here — flirt with a woman, negotiate with a prosecutor, bond with an old friend — in ways that unlock Charlie Cox’s remarkable charisma, on a level beyond what the original Daredevil was able to manage.

Of course, Matt’s major arc is coming to terms with who he is — a vigilante, who can’t help but take action when the world needs it — a journey which Born Again repeatedly compares to that of Kingpin/Wilson Fisk, who also begins the season doing what he can to deny his true nature, and be a better man. That’s complicated by the fact that Wilson’s beloved Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) has been running his crime empire in his absence.

Since Daredevil: Born Again is officially not just a Marvel series, but an MCU series (a distinction that used to be more important ten years ago — if that doesn’t make any sense to you, don’t worry about it), it does connect with other projects: Not just the original Daredevil, but The Punisher as well as the Disney+ series Hawkeye.

Daredevil: Born Again (Disney+)

For once, these tie-ins don’t feel overly gratuitous, and it’s honestly less required reading than most Marvel projects: While Kingpin’s Born Again storyline was initially set up in the post-credits scene for 2024’s Echo, it’s not essential to watch that series, at least. And much to this She-Hulk fan’s disappointment, Matt’s time in Los Angeles doesn’t get a significant mention, either — though it’s an understandable choice, given the vast tonal difference between the Tatiana Maslany-starring comedy and this grimmer entry.

It’s not overwhelmingly grim, to be clear, even when some scenes threaten to parallel (intentionally or by accident) current events. And in terms of look and feel, the first episode features some bold style choices that show real innovation on a visual level. Not enough directors take the opportunity to play with aspect ratios, but it can be such an effective on-screen element when used properly, and pilot directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Moon Knight, Loki) implement it so well that it’s a shame we don’t see more of it.

Born Again’s most important achievement is the canny way it continues everything that worked about the original Daredevil series, with some notable improvements across the board elsewhere. Remember, the original Daredevil didn’t actually deliver Matt in the Daredevil suit until the end of Episode 13 (a classic Surf Dracula situation). And he didn’t get to say the F-word once.

The first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again are streaming now on Disney+. New episodes will premiere weekly on Tuesdays. Check out the trailer below.