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Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 Review: For all the Daredevil fans out there – I mean, those who watched the Netflix series, whose first and third seasons are arguably some of the best examples of cinematic storytelling on the small screen – let’s start with some good news first. Daredevil: Born Again is an extension of the show that once streamed on Netflix. It not only brings back the actors playing the characters we know and love but also continues the tone and even the story. ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Episodes 1 and 2: Here’s When and Where To Watch Charlie Cox-Starrer’s First Season Online – Streaming Details Inside.
So, for those who haven’t bothered to watch the previous Netflix Marvel shows – and that doesn’t restrict itself to just Daredevil – you may have a lot of catching up to do. In fact, like any MCU project, to get the complete experience, make sure you don’t miss out on the Disney+ shows like Ms Marvel, Hawkeye, and Echo while you’re at it. Strange are the times we live in, where we need to cram so much homework just to enjoy something fun to the fullest.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 1 Review – The Plot
But even if Daredevil: Born Again wants to continue on the same path laid by the previous seasons, it starts off by shaking things up in the opening sequence itself. Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) go out for drinks at their favourite bar when an old enemy strikes. We get our iconic unbroken fight sequence that begins on the street and moves to the terrace as Daredevil and his foe go all out, attacking each other through smoke and debris, while a character’s life slowly ebbs away.
A Still From ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 1
This is truly a strong start for the show, bringing in aspects you loved about the previous seasons – Matt’s dynamics with his friends, the iconic unbroken corridor fight, hand-to-hand combat – and then shaking them up roughly to deliver a hard-hitting climax. When I say hard-hitting, I mean more in terms of shock value – a death occurs, but the emotional impact of that death was lost on me. Maybe it wasn’t meant for me, even though I’d known the character for years. It’s meant to show that Daredevil: Born Again isn’t afraid to kill off a major (supporting) character and that Matt Murdock needed an excuse to step away from his costume, or maybe that character wasn’t supposed to have a place in the new run of the show.
Watch the Trailer of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 1:
The next time we meet him, Matt is focused more on his legal profession and has locked away his horned devil persona. His associates are no longer with him after that incident – a decision that doesn’t bode well for the show, as Matt’s interactions with their supposed replacements lack the same zing. Even the show realises this, but by the time it does something about it, we’re already looking at the future of Daredevil: Born Again.
So, Matt has a new associate in Kirsten (Nikki M James) and a new girlfriend Heather (Margarita Levieva), who’s a therapist. But as you know with superheroes who try to hide their alter egos from their loved ones, that doesn’t bode well for the relationship. Of course, Matt can’t keep his dark side hidden too long, especially when Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) is back on the scene. There’s a change in ambitions for him, though – Fisk doesn’t just want to be the Kingpin; he wants to be Mayor Fisk. And it doesn’t take long for him to achieve that.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 1 Review – Blind to Consistency
Instead of bringing back Drew Goddard – the OG creator of the Daredevil series – Marvel hired Dario Scardapane, the writer of the less impressive but second-best Netflix Marvel show, The Punisher, to oversee Daredevil: Born Again, while Moon Knight and Loki’s Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead serve as lead directors. There were enough creative overhauls during the production of the series, and that’s felt throughout the show (at one point, it was supposed to be an 18-episode run), with its ups and downs.
Daredevil: Born Again starts off really well, with that thrilling opening sequence – though not thrilling enough to ignore the clunky mechanics when Daredevil goes swinging across the city. The first few episodes are quite good in their setups – Matt picking up his life and career after the tragedy, and Wilson being a mayor but finding himself bogged down in cumbersome PR activities, have their enjoyable moments. Matt’s defence of Hector Ayala (the late Kamar de los Reyes, who passed away in 2023), also known as the vigilante White Tiger, in court impresses, showing Matt’s manipulative side as a lawyer. Of course, the best sequences come when the show pits a couple of the principal characters together in one scene and lets their performances dominate.
A Still From ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 1
The first of such scenes is when Matt and Wilson meet for the first time at a café before the latter’s election campaign, which reminded me of the scene with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in Michael Mann’s Heat. It starts off friendly, but things quickly sour for the classic enemies, showcasing how Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio are such perfect castings for their characters that it’s hard to blame Marvel for not trying to replace them in a reboot. Never mind that they tried hard to reboot everything else around them before backing out and bringing stuff back from the OG series – and that shows.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 1 Review – Unimpressive New Characters and Clunky Middle Episodes
You can feel how the absence of Karen Page and Foggy Nelson impacts most of the episodes, particularly when Matt is in need of teamwork. The new set of characters are played by good actors, but they lack the dynamic that makes them interesting. This includes Heather, Kirsten, and Matt’s new PI, Cherry (Clark Johnson), who knows of his double identity. Particularly, Matt’s relationship with Heather feels like a product of unimaginative writing – you can see from the beginning that it may not have a future, and the forced dramatic conflicts are designed to ensure it goes that way. The least intrusive to the plotting are Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini), a Fisk fanboy who is part of his internal team, and BB Urich (Genneya Walton), the niece of the late Ben Urich, who is a journalist herself. They get a few scenes but hardly feel remarkable in the grand scheme.
A Still From ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 1
In trying to set up these characters and multiple plot threads, the middle episodes of Daredevil: Born Again begin to feel like a slog and a couple of them feel like fillers (like the bank episode). This also applies to the whole track with a serial killer named Muse, whose graffiti art across the city uses the blood of his victims, and who is later revealed to be played by an actor already known for a similar role in another hit series. These subplots keep eating into the good stuff, like Matt keeping tabs on Wilson’s mayoral activities or simply donning the Daredevil costume.
I’m not saying these episodes don’t have their shining moments – my favourite scene has Matt meet his old frenemy Frank Castle, aka The Punisher (Jon Bernthal). Bernthal has a knack for owning a show, even in a cameo (see also The Bear), and Charlie Cox absolutely sells Matt’s emotional state in that moment. There’s a scene where Matt’s re-embrace of his dark side is paralleled by Wilson breaking out his rough side. Wilson’s political reign also finds real-world parallels to the Trump presidential reign (twice, at that), while showing the dark implications of giving the police force unchecked power.
A Still From ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 1
But then we also see scenes of Wilson having marriage therapy sessions with his wife, Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer), who handled his business in his absence, and that takes up quite a lot of screen time. Echo Review: Alaqua Cox’s MCU Series Doesn’t Revive Marvel’s Dwindling Luck At Disney+!
Also, save for the fight in the opening scene, the action choreography of Daredevil: Born Again is surprisingly okay-ish, despite some bone-breaking and head-crushing moments – these scenes used to be highlights in the OG Daredevil run. And while we’re talking about the original series, it put a couple of sneaky nods to the MCU’s existence but still managed to stand on its own as a standalone series, as did its companion shows like Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and The Punisher. That’s why Alfre Woodard, who played Mariah Stokes-Dillard in Luke Cage, could play a different character in Captain America: Civil War, or Mahershala Ali, who played Cottonmouth in the same series, can play Blade in the upcoming reboot (if and when that happens).
Daredevil: Born Again goes in a different direction. With Matt Murdock already appearing in previous MCU projects in cameos like Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk, and Echo (and Fisk in Hawkeye and Echo), Daredevil: Born Again has no qualms about flaunting its MCU connections. The events of Hawkeye and Echo are referenced, Yusuf Khan (Mohan Kapur) from Ms Marvel, and The Swordsman (Tony Dalton) from Hawkeye make a return here. Skrulls (Secret Invasion) are mentioned. While it’s cool to show off these connections, it also makes you wonder where the heck Spider-Man is when a serial killer is roaming around in his favourite city or when New York is burning thanks to Fisk’s lack of control over crime. Particularly when there is a focus on Fisk trying to bring a control on masked vigilantism and Spider-Man, well, is the most egregious example of that.
A Still From ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 1
Thankfully, for all its flaws, Daredevil: Born Again kinda makes up for it in the last couple of episodes of the season, with a sharper focus on the main storyline and an exciting setup for the next season, while also bringing back a couple of fan-favourite characters into the mix. I really hope the next season keeps away the clunky stuff from the first season or at least reworks it into something more exciting, as we look into what happens when a megalomaniac with a self-proclaimed interest in his city is all set to turn democracy into dictatorship. Americans, you’re watching this, right?
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 1 Review – Final Thoughts
Daredevil: Born Again starts strong, stumbles in the middle, and narrowly sticks the landing. It strives to balance its gritty Netflix roots with its MCU ties, but the result is uneven. The absence of Foggy and Karen is glaring, and new characters lack the chemistry to fill their shoes. Still, Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio shine, anchoring the show with performances compelling enough to almost overlook its flaws. The final episodes tease a sharper, more thrilling direction for Season 2, offering hope that the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen can reclaim his former glory – if it trims the clutter and embraces what made the original so special.
(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 16, 2025 11:46 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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