‘Daredevil: Born Again’ is Marvel TV’s Masterpiece [Review]

Daredevil: Born Again comes out swinging in the premiere episode which is now streaming on Disney+. A wicked launch to the new series, a show which acts with “reverence for the past, yet hope for the future,” sees the story toe a line of acting like a Season 4 to its predecessor and a Season 1 for those joining the saga with Born Again. In fact, it’s that very line of dialogue spoken in Born Again’s opening act that sums up the burden the series faces. Daredevil ran for three very-beloved seasons on Netflix before the character was warmly welcomed by Marvel Studios and the new age of the Marvel Television banner with shows living on Disney+. Yes, despite an age of revivals and reboots rarely living up to expectations, Daredevil: Born Again turns out to be a Marvel TV masterpiece.

This article contains spoilers for the first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again.

To open its first episode, Daredevil: Born Again makes one thing clear: it’s not here to do what you think you want it to do. Foggy Nelson is killed off. When Season 3 of Daredevil ended, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), and Foggy Nelson had decided to ride off into the New York City sunset together as they started their new law firm endeavor with all three of their names written on a napkin. Now, those names hang from the side of a building… but not for much longer. The emotional stakes are slammed into the episode, immediately ripping Daredevil’s moral codes from him and setting the stage for a gut-wrenching new adventure.

Then, again… maybe Daredevil: Born Again is here to do what fans want from it. Foggy getting shot is followed by an action sequence filmed and edited to emulate the famous one-shot takes of Daredevil before Before Again. In this case, the sequence lasts just more than four minutes before the camera cuts away to another location, setting itself audibly to the backdrop of Foggy’s fading heartbeat to add an impressive sense of urgency and devastating level of emotion. It’s one of a few tricks the filmmaking team of Daredevil: Born Again creatively inserted into the series to showcase Murdock’s sensory abilities, an innovative approach that kicked off earlier when the aspect ratio and wide lenses immersed viewers in Matt Murdock listening in on a phone call outside of Josie’s bar.

One year later… Karen Page has moved to San Francisco. Foggy Nelson is dead. Daredevil is all but retired as Matt allows the rules of law and the justice system to take their course. The stage is set.

Not only does the show move at a tremendously impressive pace, settling the score with Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) quite quickly as he is sent to prison for his actions in killing Foggy (a callback to the earlier series with the character uttering, “Hi, Karen,” as he approached her, letting audiences in on the fact that he knows this group and has attempted to murder Karen in the past), but it does so with purpose.

Rather than making audiences wait to see Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk cross paths, Born Again brings them together for a tense and impressively written bit of dialogue in a diner in its very first episode. The conversation puts both characters on display, with their words acting as a verbal Venn diagram to show us that while they are largely different in their moral composition, their masked lives come with a bit of interesting overlap which is a delicious ride as a viewer.

By the end of the two-episode premiere, Matt Murdock is surrounded by interesting new characters. Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James) is a shot of life into the show as Matt’s new legal partner and Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva) quickly earns the title of Matt Murdock’s new love interest. Both are wonderful additions to the cast, bringing intriguing new storylines to the series in roles that may have otherwise been held by Karen and Foggy and great performances and presences.

Wilson Fisk is the Mayor of New York. Matt Murdock is on the ground level, wrestling his devilish side away. One is ruling the world. One is trying to climb his way back up after a tragedy kicked him down. It makes for an incredible journey throughout the first season.

In fact, one of the best things Daredevil: Born Again does is act as a first season. Marvel’s TV shows on Disney+ have mostly served as one-off stories, telling character arcs and abbreviated tales over the course of a few episodes. Daredevil: Born Again stays true to the Daredevil roots, not only in continuing storylines and character journeys from the original series but in its formatting. It is episodic. It is seasonal. When Season 1 wraps, a Season 2 is not only immediately warranted but hugely wanted.

In the middle of its first season run, Born Again does lose its footing a bit with episodes and storylines which feel like a disappointing change of pace compared to the episodes on either side of them. There is a tonal shift around Episode 5 which feels jarring before the series truly returns to form in Episode 7. The bookends of the series, though, push through the mid-season lull in tremendous fashion.

Daredevil: Born Again opens strongly and ends stronger. The mid-season lull and a few moments of visual effects lacking true immersion are a very strong show’s weak points. While much of the action is tremendous, there seems to be an issue with seamlessly showing Daredevil soar across building tops in sequences that often appear to use visual effects and following them with Cox’s true version of the character landing on steps or a rooftop. There are a few jarring transitions but overall the gritty development of the MCU’s New York City is a mostly well-done effort.

Daredevil: Born Again is simply among Marvel TV’s best entries. It’s a shot of dark life into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, truly breathing new life into the franchise’s television efforts and making it feel… born again.

Daredevil: Born Again airs on Disney+

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