‘Daredevil: Born Again – Episodes 1 & 2’ Review

Stars: Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Margarita Levieva, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Wilson Bethel, Nikki M. James, Michael Gandolfini, Ayelet Zurer, Kamar de los Reyes | Directed by Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Michael Cuesta

With the first two episodes now available to stream on DisneyPlus, Daredevil: Born Again is the long-awaited reboot-slash-continuation of the acclaimed Marvel superhero show that originally ran for three seasons on Netflix between 2015 and 2018. Despite a change of showrunner and a somewhat troubled gestation period, the new series sticks closely to the dark tone of the original show, and the first two episodes are extremely promising.

Longtime comics fans will be aware that the subtitle, “Born Again” refers to one of the most famous and well-regarded runs in the comics, by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. However, key events of that comic series were largely covered in the third season of the Netflix show, so the use of the title here is more about acknowledging the return of the character within the context of the season itself.

To that end, the series starts as you might expect, with friends and lawyer partners Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) and Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) all hanging out together in Hell’s Kitchen, New York. However, a shocking tragedy involving a vengeful Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) changes everything, causing Murdock to give up his costumed crimefighter identity as Daredevil, seemingly for good.

The series then picks up a year later, with Matt now working alongside former adversary -and former New York Assistsnt DA – Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James), while Karen has relocated to San Francisco. The pilot episode is largely about place setting, introducing a new love interest for Matt (Margarita Levieva as Heather Glenn) and establishing that former Kingpin of crime Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) is now the Mayor of New York, following a short-run campaign.

The second episode introduces a more specific plot-line, whereby Murdock takes on the case of Hector Ayala (Kamar de los Reyes, who sadly passed away in 2023), who’s accused of murdering a New York city cop, after intervening in what looked like a mugging on the subway and then getting framed for an accidental death. Murdock taking the case immediately puts him at odds with the New York city police department, and the case gets more complicated when Murdock discovers that Hector is actually the super-powered vigilante known as White Tiger.

Directed by horror-friendly duo Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson (who had previously worked on Marvel series Moon Knight and Loki), the first episode gets off to a cracking start, with an early action highlight in the shape of a brutal fight between Daredevil and Bullsye that’s filmed to make it look as if it all takes place in a single shot. That in itself is very much in line with what fans will be expecting from the show, as the Netflix version became famous for its single-shot fight sequences, and this is equally impressive, if not quite up there with the best of the Netflix fight scenes.

Similarly, having former mortal enemy Fisk as the legitimate Mayor of New York is a great development for the character, and the pilot episode has a nice sequence in which Murdock and Fisk sit down to lunch and effectively warn each other not to get out of line. That political element also allows for some covert real-world commentary, as its hard not to draw parallels between the way voters react to Fisk’s victory (let’s just say they are very much split) and the way real-life voters reacted to the election of the current President.

As with the previous live-action iteration of Daredevil, the series remains pleasingly faithful to the source material, providing additional pleasures for long-time Marvel comics devotees. For example, Heather Glenn was an early girlfriend for Matt Murdock in the 1970s comics, though she’s been given a new profession here, which has promising implications going forward. In addition, the White Tiger also has a lengthy comics history, while having Fisk as Mayor was a long-running storyline in more recent comics, and later episodes are set to introduce Muse, a serial killer character who was created in Daredevil comics.

The terrific central performances by Cox and D’Onofrio were a key part of the success of the original show, so it’s a treat to see the actors reunited again here, both of whom have promisingly complex arcs to play this season. On top of that, Levieva makes for a welcome new addition to the cast, sparking immediate chemistry with Cox, and there’s colourful support from the likes of Nikki M. James and Genneya Walton as BB Urich, a young journalist, introduced here as the niece of Ben Urich, a long-running character from both the comics and the previous series.

Generally speaking, new showrunner Dario Scardapane – in conjunction with Benson and Moorhead – has done an excellent job of recreating the look, feel and atmosphere of the Netflix version of the show. However, it remains to be seen if that element will sustain itself over the course of the season’s nine episodes, because there were significant reshoots, involving the scrapping of entire episodes, and by all accounts the current series represents the bolting together of the work of different showrunners, the others being Chris Ord and Matt Corman.

In short, there is cause for apprehension for Daredevil: Born Again going forward, but on the strength of the first two episodes, there’s a lot to be excited about, with promising storylines, kick-ass fight sequences and the lead actors on top form. It’s also, so far at least, previously free from incursions from the wider MCU, although that could change with the upcoming second season.

**** 4/5

Daredevil: Born Again is available to stream on Disney+ now.