Summary
- Marvel Studios was overconfident with the 18-episode order for Daredevil: Born Again.
- Behind-the-scenes issues led to a pivot in creative direction for the show.
- Splitting the original episode order into two seasons resulted in an unsatisfying season finale.
The first season of Daredevil: Born Again is 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 of Marvel Studios projects post-Avengers: Endgame, the continuation of Matt Murdock's story is lacking in quality due to production issues. That isn't to say Daredevil: Born Again is 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... But Daredevil: Born Again struggles to live up to the heights of Daredevil's first and third seasons.
Marvel: Best Daredevil Comics For Beginners, Ranked
Daredevil has enjoyed an iconic sixty-year history since his debut, providing numerous entry points for new readers to begin their comic book journey.
A years-long hiatus after Daredevil'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 Again picked 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 the creative direction of the series struggled through behind-the-scenes turmoil that has become all too common for Marvel Studios.
Marvel Studios Was Overconfident With Daredevil: Born Again From The Jump
Daredevil: Born Again officially began production in 2022, after Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye, 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 Again was 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's Daredevil series 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't confident in the production team's ability to deliver a quality product, right?
Behind-The-Scenes Issues Plagued The Production Of Daredevil: Born Again
By the time Hollywood went on hiatus in Fall 2023 due to labor disputes, six episodes of Daredevil: Born Again had 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, and the 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 that Born Again was 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 of Daredevil: Born Again has 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
Although Daredevil: Born Again managed 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, the Marvel fandom 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.
Ultimately, Daredevil: Born Again's first season feels like it ends in the middle of a story because it does. The ninth episode of the series wasn't meant to be a finale of any sort, and it hardly feels like one. Daredevil is putting together his "own army" of allies to take on Kingpin, including Cherry, Karen, Detective Angie Kim, and others. We can assume that Punisher will join said army and that Camila Rodriguez's Angela Del Toro will probably take up the mantle of White Tiger and sign up as well. Born Again's season finale is like The Empire Strikes Back without the reveal that Darth Vader is Luke's father or Han Solo being frozen in Carbonite. Ostensibly, Frank Castle being locked up in Fisk's private little prison is supposed to be something along those lines, but a post-credits scene shows him escaping confinement.
At the end of the day, the first season finale Daredevil: Born Again offered up is wholly unfulfilling. Alas, it shouldn't be surprising since it wasn't supposed to be a finale in the first place.
