Summary
The first season ofDaredevil: Born Againis officially in the books. Unfortunately for fans, nothing much was wrapped up by the time the season finale rolled credits. Following a problematic trend that has plagued the vast majority ofMarvel Studiosprojects post-Avengers: Endgame, the continuation of Matt Murdock’s story islacking in quality due to production issues. That isn’t to sayDaredevil: Born Againis a terrible show or anything close to it.
It is still a delight to watch Matthew Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio bring Daredevil and Kingpin to life in such vivid color. Fans have been understandably excited to see the return of Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page, Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, and Wilson Bethel’s Bullseye throughout the season’s run. There have been some genuinely exciting moments of cinematography and fight choreography during the nine episodes… butDaredevil: Born Againstruggles to live up to the heights ofDaredevil’s first and third seasons.
A years-long hiatusafterDaredevil’s third season in 2018 and a change in creative leads were always going to work against a fourth season/continuation of Murdock’s tale. Marvel’s production slate is in a different place than it was when Charlie Cox and crew were showing up on Netflix due to the existence of Disney+. With Marvel Television now directly under the control of Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige,Daredevil: Born Againpicked up the benefits and flaws of working under the traditional Marvel model. The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen is now a firm part of the wider MCU, but thecreative direction of the seriesstruggled through behind-the-scenes turmoil that has become all too common for Marvel Studios.
Marvel Studios Was Overconfident WithDaredevil: Born AgainFrom The Jump
Daredevil: Born Againofficially began production in 2022, after Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio appeared inSpider-Man: No Way HomeandHawkeye, respectively. Putting the two beloved actors in those projects served as a test balloon to see if audiences would be excited about their possible involvement in the future of the MCU. Suffice it to say, fans were all in on the return of Daredevil and Kingpin. During the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con,Daredevil: Born Againwas announced to have an 18-episode first season that was more of a reset for the characters than a continuation of the previous show.
Considering each season of Netflix’sDaredevilseries only had 13 episodes, and each Marvel Studios-produced television series up to that point housed somewhere between six and nine episodes, an 18-episode order seemed highly suspect at the time.Marvel wouldn’t commit to such a long season if they weren’tconfident in the production team’s abilityto deliver a quality product, right?
Behind-The-Scenes Issues Plagued The Production OfDaredevil: Born Again
By the time Hollywood went on hiatus in Fall 2023 due to labor disputes, six episodes ofDaredevil: Born Againhad been mostly shot. Marvel Studios reviewed all the footage and came to the conclusion that the show simply wasn’t what they were hoping for. So, what do you do when you’ve shot a third of a season? Do you start over completely from scratch, or do you pivot and still use the footage you’ve already shot? Well, by this moment in time, Marvel Studios no longer had a blank check from Disney to do whatever they wanted, andthe decision was made to creatively overhaul the show while using what had already been filmed.
The creative leads were swapped out, and Marvel decided to backtrack on the idea thatBorn Againwas going to be a reset for Daredevil and Kingpin as opposed to a continuation of their stories from the original series. Since the new direction was going to be carrying on storylines from the original three seasons,Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, and Wilson Bethel were brought back to reprise their roles. Ayelet Zurer was also brought back as Vanessa Fisk despite the role initially being recast.
To be fair to Marvel, the overhaul ofDaredevil: Born Againhas worked out pretty well. Fans and critics seem happy enough with the show, and the ratings have been pretty solid. All in all, whatever spooked Marvel into retooling the show seems to have been a net positive… except for one decision.
Splitting The 18-Episode Order Into Two Different Seasons Has Created An Unsatisfying Season Finale
AlthoughDaredevil: Born Againmanaged to stitch together two different creative visions into a mostly satisfying season of television,the decision to split the original 18-episode season into two separate ones leaves the fans hanging in almost every respect. Instead of getting closure on any of the show’s main throughlines, theMarvelfandom at large has to sit and twiddle their collective thumbs until the show’s return sometime in 2026. Genneya Walton’s BB Urich was hardly in the finale at all after her true intentions were revealed in the previous episode. Bullseye only features in any meaningful manner during a flashback sequence that highlights how he was able to assassinate Foggy Nelson in the first place. We don’t know where Matt and Kirsten’s law firm stands in relation to his return as Daredevil.
At the end of the day, the first season finaleDaredevil: Born Againoffered up is wholly unfulfilling. Alas, it shouldn’t be surprising since it wasn’t supposed to be a finale in the first place.
