There is a whole legion of devout “Daredevil” fans from the Netflix years who rejoiced when Marvel Television announced it was bringing back Charlie Cox as Matthew Murdock and the Man Without Fear, vigilante Daredevil and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin for the revitalized series, “Daredevil: Born Again.”
Perhaps some of us were less overjoyed or less enthusiastic (unpopular opinion alert). Because while “Daredevil,” the Netflix series, featured many strong elements and had much promise—the cast in particular—the show itself, in the aggregate, never excelled in the way it should have and even got a little too campy or cartoonish at times (relatively, but still). Way overlong (thirteen episodes that dragged out the narrative), prone to melodrama, and seemingly more interested in dazzling viewers with conspicuous, attention-desperate action oners rather than creating a meaningful story with authentic emotional stakes, “Daredevil” may have been beloved, but it was far from perfect.
Cox, who really had shone before on “Boardwalk Empire,” was great; D’Onofrio, usually solid, as Kingpin, was way too hammy with an overwrought, over-exaggerated voice, and you got the sense that excellent actors like him, Jon Bernthal and Deborah Ann Woll were simply doing their best with material that was underserving their talents. Not by a lot, mind you, but enough to make a good-to-decent show far from reaching its true potential.
But if “Daredevil” was sometimes a corny, overwrought soap opera —and it was, at least at its worst and at times—then Marvel makes the correct salve and transforms ‘Born Again’ into something much more muscular and bruising, the closest thing the studio has ever come to something resembling prestige TV.
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A character piece about two men, their demons, their masks and the collision course they’re on with one another, ‘Born Again’ is arguably Marvel’s finest TV hour and most wholly successful series to date. Also, much like “The Dark Knight,” a movie that’s really about the fight for the soul of Gotham City more than anything, ‘Born Again,’ similarly feels like a drama about the war for the hearts and minds of New York City being fought by two men grappling with the fallen angels within them.
Bringing in showrunner Dario Scardapane, who helped shape episodes of Netflix’s “The Punisher” series—the first half of that first season being the most emotionally searing thing Marvel ever did during their Netflix tenure— “Daredevil: Born Again,” retains all its significant elements, improves them, makes them shine, creates material worthy of these actors and does it in a way that creates visceral, damaging stakes—that feel emotionally big and potent, even without a punch to the face. The series also jettison’s pretty much anything corny from the Netflix days, D’Onofrio toned down with the voice and pained mien, but still as menacing as ever.
And yes, there’s an excellent hallway fight in the first episode, but you don’t even really notice its concentrated camera work because everything that came before it, the human emotional drama, is so compelling that you’re concerned about what the action is saying narratively and emotionally rather than what it’s trying to prove visually.
If “Daredevil” couldn’t figure out that formula and balance, “Born Again” does so in spades.
Beginning several years after the events of “Daredevil” and one year after Matt Murdock has retired as the masked vigilante, ‘Born Again’ is set alongside much spiritual darkness. The New York streets are grim again, people are losing hope, and in the cities’ need for a savior, it seemingly turns to Wilson Fisk, running for mayor, to solve all their problems despite his reputation as a criminal and thug who has abused his power, privilege and wealth for his own means (sounds familiar?)
But before this time jump, ‘Born Again’ offers context as to why Murdock hung up the cowl of devil horns: the psychotic Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter, aka Bullseye (Wilson Bethel), goes on a murderous rampage in Hell’s Kitchen. Without too many spoilers, shit truly goes down, loved ones are hurt, and Daredevil crosses a moral line he never thought he’d pass.
In the aftermath, his support system crumbles, Karen Page moves to San Francisco and gets out of the picture, and Murdock joins a new law firm co-run by Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James).
So, the series is essentially about two men living lies and trying to keep up the illusion of their lives, including the self-deception involved. Matt Murdock is pretending to be a lawyer, and not the vigilante Daredevil despite the trouble in the streets calling his name and Fisk is pretending to a mayor of change and not the murderous man known as the Kingpin. And, of course, both men eventually fail at upholding this falsehood and fall prey to their true nature.
In the meantime, as Murdock and Fisk continue their shame of identity role-playing, others take matters into their own hands, like the vigilante Hector Ayala, aka The White Tiger (Kamar de los Reyes), a man the blind lawyer has to eventually defend in court against crooked cops (if you’re ACAB, you’re going to love how much this show deservedly throws the corrupt NYPD under the bus).
Emerging as a much bigger player in the series is Vanessa Fisk (giving the excellent Ayelet Zurer a real opportunity to shine), who ran the Kingpin’s business during his absence (when he was shot by Echo in “Hawkeye” which meant months of convalescing that he chose to do in solitude). Her fraught dynamics with Wilson are absorbingly complicated, which leads them to the therapist Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva), a woman who is conveniently dating Matt Murdock.
So, as this revelation suggests, both men are wearing a mask and their true selves—Daredevil and the Kingpin are in hiding for now (not for nothing; this is similar to Christopher Nolan’s Batman, where Bruce Wayne is the façade).
The two men barely cross paths in the series, only one time really, and this momentous face-to-face is like Marvel’s version of Michael Mann’s “Heat” when Robert De Niro and Al Pacino go toe-to-toe with mutual admiration but also heated warnings about staying in their respective lanes or hellfire will reign down.
It certainly doesn’t hurt the show cinematically when sequences like this are shot by great directors like Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, thoughtful, savvy indie sci-fi/horror filmmakers who have gone on to direct “Loki” and “Moon Knight” and seem now firmly entrenched in the Marvel machine.
Yes, ‘Born Again’ features action, but it’s only deployed cautiously and sparingly (but yes, brutal, but not gratuitously, thankfully). But employed so carefully and not overdone, each action sequence is terrific and emotionally weighty given all the time given to excellent character drama and poignant stake elevation.
Only one episode of nine feels like a bit of filler, a bank heist episode featuring Ms. Marvel’s father, Yusuf Khan (Mohan Kapur), that’s still interesting but not as gripping as the rest and certainly doesn’t do much to advance the story or plot. But given how tight and necessary the rest of the series is, this mild escapade is forgiven.
‘Born Again’ infamously went through drama in the summer of 2023, overhauled creatively during the SAG and WGA strikes of that summer when Marvel had a chance to review the material, but the seams don’t show and feel only more potent because of it.
Moreover, what the original writers Matt Corman & Chris Ord brought to the series appears to be still pretty integral to the narrative backbone—they’re even credited with writing episode two—but bookending the series with legacy characters that were missing Karen Page, Foggy Nelson and Frank Castle (Bernthal) initially.
Fans hoping for much Karen Page, Foggy Nelson, and Frank Castle might be disappointed, but this is what’s admirable about the series. It’s not interested in fan service; it’s concerned with telling a good story, and you cannot argue with that.
‘Born Again’ is smart, well-crafted TV and ends perfectly; it has told a self-contained story that stands on its own, but it also leads the door to more (not for nothing, Marvel doesn’t really abuse its TVMA rating, but one of the final episodes features the most violent sequence Marvel has ever shot and it’s pretty gruesome).
In its finale, both men’s masks are off, essentially broken and in shambles. The only thing that will bring them catharsis or emancipation from their demons appears to be an impending face-off that’s sure to be bloody, brutal and full of primal vengeance. Moreover, it’s earned. You should be here for it, season two of ‘Born Again,’ that is, because ‘Daredevil’ season one gives you every captivating reason to watch this worthy resurrection. [B+/A-]
“Daredevil: Born Again” premieres March 4 on Disney+.
