Seven years after his successful three-season Netflix run, the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen makes his dramatically brutal return to the world of streaming and the Marvel Cinematic Universe canon in a big way (after a much-needed creative rework, that is) – this time on Disney+. Throughout its nine episode-long runtime, Daredevil: Born Again manages to cover an impressive amount of ground. Whether it be delivering on solid character development, diving into multiple memorable subplots, or even managing to seamlessly weave in other MCU elements into the narrative while lining up potential future story possibilities, it truly is a thrilling watch – and it managed to keep me hooked all the way through.

Without getting too spoilerific here, the initial plot set-up is the recipe for a perfect storm and had me wishing all episodes were dropped at once instead of on a weekly basis. Set six years after the third and final season of Netflix’s Daredevil, Born Again kicks off with one hell of an emotional bang, as a returning Bullseye/Benjamin Poindexter (Wilson Bethel) tragically strikes our hero where it hurts the most – setting a series of events into motion that sees Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) hang up the mask, possibly for good. Meanwhile, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) successfully manages to obtain the title of mayor of New York City, vowing to totally eradicate all vigilante action by any means necessary – as the streets are terrorized by the artistically-inclined serial killer, Muse.



All these major story beats are punctuated by a series of subplots varying in length and relevancy to the overarching narrative, fleshing out various aspects of the city, its residents, and the main cast – the two most notable of which involves the vigilante White Tiger/Hector Ayala (Kamar de los Reyes), his legal battles, and the outcome of his trial (which I will not discuss further for obvious reasons), and the ongoing Muse-related murders that begin to affect Matt on a more personal level. Throughout it all, we get to witness the Man without Fear’s inner turmoil as he struggles to come to grips with recent traumatic events, and with whether putting his alter-ego down for good is the right thing to do. Thankfully for us viewers, he makes the right call in the end.

All these major story beats are punctuated by a series of subplots varying in length and relevancy to the overarching narrative, fleshing out various aspects of the city, its residents, and the main cast.

Having said that, though, Murdock does spend the majority of his screen time in his lawyer get-up. This might sound disappointing for action junkies itching for constant superhero suit battles, or for those more accustomed to Avengers-level cinematic fight sequences, but it does ultimately serve a purpose – and when the personal and courtroom drama inevitably gives way to brutality, the payoff feels exquisite.



At the same time, Fisk’s ruthless aura of influence and intimidation, as well as his personal demons are given an equal amount of love (a massive improvement over his recent Echo appearance), with a handful of well-done overlapping scenes illustrating the two’s conflicting values and occasional parallels. And in case you’re wondering, you don’t need to have watched the prior Daredevil Netflix series to enjoy Born Again, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it adds a hell of a lot more impact and depth to specific scenes if you did.

Performances from both the main and side cast are great, as you’d expect, with honourable mention going out to Fisk’s mayoral campaign entourage – consisting of Zabryna Guevara, Arty Froushan, and Michael Gandolfini (playing campaign director Sheila Rivera, no-nonsense Buck Cashman, and lovably insufferable yes-man Daniel Blake respectively). There’s plenty of returning faces from the Marvel Netflix pantheon besides just Cox, Bethel, and D’Onofrio – including Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Henson as Franklin “Foggy” Nelson, Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Fisk, and Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher (who ends up playing a larger role than I initially anticipated).



There are a few surprise appearances by characters from the Disney+ side as well, like Tony Dalton as Jack Duquesne (first appearing in the 2021 Hawkeye series) and Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan (father of Kamala Khan and first appearing in the 2022 Ms. Marvel series).

You don’t need to have watched the prior Daredevil Netflix series to enjoy Born Again, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it adds a hell of a lot more impact and depth to specific scenes if you did.

Hunter Doohan also does a great job portraying the unhinged secondary antagonist Muse/Bastian Cooper (complete with mostly comic-accurate costume!), teetering between genuinely chilling and near-cartoonish levels of evil – even when unmasked. Both the killer and his gruesome graffiti are introduced surprisingly early on in the series, but it isn’t until a few episodes later that any kind of dots are connected, although it’s easy to see the eventual reveal coming a mile away.



Circling back around to the aforementioned brutality, the series takes an interesting approach to how it frames the more graphic moments mid-fight – favouring quick camera cuts instead of lingering on any broken limbs or the like, with a few bloody exceptions. In other situations, dramatic shadow and lighting placement is also employed, perhaps lending an intentionally artistic or dramatic flair to these shots. If you’re somebody like me, though, who prefers his on-screen violence on full display, or find rapid-fire camera angles disorientating and obnoxious, this might rub you the wrong way.

It’s an admittedly small personal gripe in the grand scheme of things, and it certainly doesn’t drag the overall quality of the show down an inch. In fact, it might be that in exercising restraint when it comes to not showing every gory detail up-close, the moments where we do see it all stand out all the more for it. But that’s a debate for another day.



Daredevil: Born Again handily raises the bar for future Marvel Television projects and sets some major pieces into play that I pray we see factor into the larger MCU landscape as time goes on. All nine episodes are a slow burn in the best possible way, peppered with just the right amount of intense action spots, and topped off with excellent performances across the board – culminating in a truly explosive cliffhanger finale that makes it clear that this is only the beginning of Daredevil’s latest chapter. And I’m absolutely going to be clawing at the walls in anticipation of where the second season takes us come next year.