Daredevil was one of Netflix’s crown jewels, however, it was the series’ cancellation that opened the doors for Matt Murdock to join his Marvel peers in the MCU. With Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio already reprising their beloved roles, there’s still one lingering question though, is Daredevil: Born Again a reboot or a continuation?
After all, Daredevil was Netflix’s sole uncontested Marvel hit, with only Jessica Jones and The Punisher coming somewhere close to the popularity of the man without fear, and since the reasons that prompted the company to cancel its entire Defenders lineup had more to do with Disney Plus’ creation, it’s plausible that Kevin Feige and company would want to continue those stories. With the MCU’s Daredevil slated for spring 2024, it’s worth examining where Matt Murdock had left off, just in case.
What Happened In Daredevil Season 3?
Daredevil’s first season took care of establishing Matt’s origin story, as well as his rivalry with Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin, and the core cast that made up his world; for season two, showrunners brought in Elektra and The Punisher, both of whom were a hit with audiences, despite the not so loved plot involving The Hand. Once season three came around, characters like Karen and Foggy were ready to aid their friend rise back up to reassume his superhero identity.
Throughout those three seasons, including his appearance in The Defenders, Netflix’s Daredevil built a solid character arc for Matt Murdock from beginning to end, including some massive revelations about his past in season three like the real identity of his mother, Grace. At the same time, Matt is faced with the loss of several pivotal figures in life, mainly father Lantom towards the end of the show, and even Stick in The Defenders team-up.
By the time Daredevil’s third season came around, Matt had to face several challenges from a personal level too as he starts off basically a broken man, now more cynical and almost resigned to accept the Punisher’s ways may be wiser than he first thought. To make matters even worse, it’s in season three that he faces Benjamin Poindexter, the show’s version of Bullseye, who usurps his identity for much of the final season.
Overall, season three plays off like something that could have indeed been the end of Daredevil’s time at Netflix, especially since the entire 13 episodes provide the feeling that they’re leading up to yet another bloody clash between Matt and Kingpin, as Fisk orchestrates his release from prison.
The final battle between the two captures how Daredevil used its Mature rating to its best extent, and while its last few images show Poindexter could return, Kingpin being sent to prison and Matt looking forward to a brighter future working with Foggy and Karen is the perfect payoff.
Is Daredevil: Born Again A Continuation?
After Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye brought back Cox and D’Onofrio, Marvel fans picked up that both men were playing their respective characters in a very similar manner to their Netflix incarnations. This was confirmed by both actors, making many wonder how much the MCU would borrow from Netflix’s series.
Nevertheless, considering all the worldbuilding Netflix’s Daredevil did, including their own version of The Punisher, continuing that same story in the MCU would be restrictive for this new era. As Cox has stated in recent interviews, Daredevil: Born Again “is a Season 1, it is not Season 4, so it is a whole new thing,” and the idea of a reboot that’s definitely driven home by its title.
On that matter, Cox has added that “based on the title 'Born Again,' I think that the sense is it is a new beginning” one that will explore new stories and ideas, that Marvel Studios might not be able to tap into if the Disney Plus show picked up right were Netflix’s Daredevil left off. Regardless of that, Cox has partially walked back on those words, as his most recent comments express that "I don’t think it’s a different character [...] Maybe a different period of his life. I don’t think my interpretation will change – they hired the same actor. We’re saying this is a whole new… era, or variant? I haven’t read the scripts, so I don’t know..."
It does bear saying, keeping alive that same Daredevil world adds complications when trying to connect it with the bigger MCU, and would also call to bring back more actors, hence why the reboot route Cox first suggested makes more sense. As of now, Daredevil: Born Again has neither recast nor asked any more actors from the Netflix series to reprise their respective roles, mainly Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson. Even someone like Jon Bernthal is convinced The Punisher is better left off with an R-rating, as opposed to the MCU’s PG-13 age bracket.
Daredevil’s cameos in She-Hulk and his likely appearance in Echo, as well as that of the Kingpin are all signals that these are the characters Cox and D’Onofrio will interact with, and there’s plenty more to go around too, such as Marvel's own Blade. Simply put, Netflix’s Daredevil universe had grown far too much by season three to be able to follow that continuity in the MCU without robbing the new series of several storylines.
As Disney Plus’ sole 18-episode series, Daredevil: Born Again needs to be a reboot and not a continuation of Netflix’s works to make sure Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio’s characters get proper exposition, the contrary could undermine their potential in the MCU, and judging from the information currently available, that appears to be the more likely scenario.
Daredevil: Born Again is currently scheduled to premiere on Disney Plus in Spring 2024.