SPOILER WARNINGS AHEAD!
Hearts were broken in 2018 when Netflix’s “Daredevil” was cancelled after three successful seasons. It was upsetting to imagine that fan-favorite Matt Murdock (Daredevil) and his ever-intriguing villain Wilson Fisk would never grace the TV screen again. Therefore, when in 2022, it was announced that the fan-favorite show was returning under the guise of “Daredevil: Born Again,” many people (including myself) were thrilled.
Unfortunately, “Born Again” seems to be a product of whatever nefarious schemes were being concocted behind the scenes. In summary, the original directing team, consisting of Michael Cuesta, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and David Boyd, had a vision for the show. Besides Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk, there would be no returning side-characters from the original series. Foggy Nelson (an important side-character) would perish ambiguously off-screen, and Karen Page (the love-interest) would seemingly disappear. Vanessa: Fisk’s wife, and Bullseye, both iconic villains in their own right, were not set to return either. Their direction for the show had weekly plotlines, with very little of an overarching storyline. After these directors finished the season, they were abruptly fired and replaced by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. They had a very different vision of the show – new characters and old working in tandem. They also wanted much more of a coherent season plotline and less of the weekly specials. However, they could not scrap the previous episodes, and thus had to languish through arduous re-shoots.
“Born Again” at its best feels like a solid continuation of the brilliant previous show. At its worst, however, it is a cobbled mess with different visions of “Daredevil” contrasting.
Let’s start with its best moments. The concept of Murdock giving up the Daredevil mask is an interesting one, although it does seem slightly repetitive. After all, in Netflix’s “Defenders,” Murdock gave up the mask as well. However, what I do love about how this angle was handled is that the show framed it as an addiction. Murdock loves violence and pain. It was intriguing to see him trying to fully embrace his lawyer identity as he realizes that it’s not enough for him. Though it was extremely highlighted in the penultimate episode, I would’ve appreciated seeing Murdock feel more of that fakeness.
I have very mixed feelings about the new side-characters, however. The most important ones were Heather Glenn (the love interest), Kirsten McDuffie (the law partner), and Cherry (the retired police officer). What frustrates me most about these characters is that they’re not bad. The problem is that they’re simply existing. For example, Heather had several very interesting plot lines; however, none of them gave any insight into her character. She was the target of the serial killer Muse’s attacks… but the fans want to know how she feels about that? She was Fisk and Vanessa’s marriage counselor… Does she have any opinions about it? All the side-characters feel like cardboard boxes that sometimes stumble into filling a plot hole.
The “villains” were also startlingly inconsistent. Although Bullseye is a very important character in episode one, he seemingly disappears until the penultimate episode. The Punisher had a very similar problem; despite being referenced throughout the season, he only appeared in two episodes. Even Muse, a character whom the show spent the entire season hyping up, was a disappointment. The characters pretended like he was some huge threat, yet we only saw a total of three evil scenes which he was in. And one of those, he was killed in. That being said, it’s important to note that Wilson Fisk (played by Vincent D’Onofrio) was incredible. D’Onofrio was brilliant, once again capturing the complexity that makes Kingpin such an intriguing character.
Ironically, the plot of “Born Again” perfectly parallels whatever happened with the directors. As Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk played tug-of-war with the city of New York, the directors fought behind the scenes. I rue the potential of this show, as it genuinely had interesting story beats. Nevertheless, I’m excited for “Born Again” season two, and hopefully, they can stay with just one directing team this time.
