Following Daredevil: Born Again‘s major opening death, the time seems well and truly right for the other Defenders heroes to return in the MCU series. The MCU timeline and its relation to Netflix’s Marvel shows has been a historically complicated one, with them appearing to exist in an awkward kind of quasi-canon relationship to the MCU for quite some time. After a series of real-life twists, Charlie Cox’s Daredevil was confirmed to be part of the MCU thanks to his appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, teeing up for even bigger things.
Daredevil: Born Again episode 1 & 2 help further reinforce the bonds between the Netflix Defenders shows and Marvel’s flagship on-screen world, as the MCU show builds on the prior seasons of Daredevil and explores what happened in Matt Murdock’s life after the ending of Daredevil season 3. However, this look into Matt’s life has taken a tragic turn already, and in doing so has teed up a scenario in which it feels like the hero and his series would benefit from his other vigilante comrades appearing alongside him on-screen now more than ever.
Daredevil: Born Again Episode 1 Killed Off Foggy & Appears To have Taken Karen Out Of The Equation For Now
According to those involved in creating Daredevil: Born Again, the initial plans for the show would have seen it not include Matt Murdock’s two closest friends and allies – Foggy Nelson and Karen Page – with Foggy even set to have died off-screen before the events of the series. While the decision was made to tweak things so both Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll would reprise their respective roles as Foggy and Karen in the series, the show still opens with Nelson’s brutal murder, having been shot to death by Bullseye in seeming retribution for the crew’s efforts to stop him in Daredevil season 3.
While this doesn’t kill off Karen, the story quickly shows that it built a wedge between her and Matt despite the prior building of a romantic relationship between the two, with the show’s timejump leading to the reveal that they’ve hardly spoken since Foggy’s passing when they meet again at Bullseye’s court case. Indeed, Karen is revealed to have moved to San Francisco, and doesn’t show any real signs she’s set to continue any kind of relationship with Matt, be that romantic or otherwise.
Though it seems entirely possible this will turn around at some point in the show – partially because Deborah Ann Woll is confirmed to be a part of the Daredevil: Born Again season 2 cast, and partially because Karen had prior conflicts with Murdock in the original Daredevil but still ended up reconnecting with him – this certainly appears to suggest that for the time being, Daredevil will be in many ways more alone than he’s ever been before. As such, it makes sense now more than ever to bring some other familiar faces into the fray.
Daredevil Is A Great Lone Hero, But Needs Other Characters To Bounce Off
Daredevil works immensely well as a lone hero going up against the odds to try and do the right thing even when all seems lost. That said, the original Daredevil also underlines that the hero is at his best with other characters to bounce off, be that through interactions with allies like Karen and Foggy or villains like Kingpin.
While Kingpin is still clearly a focal fixture of Daredevil: Born Again, having the show solely center on him and Daredevil’s rivalry risks undermining some of the tension by not adding any other figures or factors into their conflict. This can go some way to explain the successful arcs of characters like Bullseye, Madam Gao, Elektra, and even The Punisher in the Netflix show, as they added complexity to the world and to the overarching power balance between hero and villain.
The Punisher is confirmed to reappear at some point in Daredevil: Born Again‘s story, and Bullseye also looks set to appear again in the series, albeit behind bars for the foreseeable future. Though these characters should help in this regard, the series’ story sets up a natural way to balance the proverbial scales in light of Karen and Foggy both now appearing to be absent from the next chapters of the story – and in a way that would be essentially surefire hit with fans of the original Netflix Marvel shows.
Daredevil: Born Again’s Storyline Means Bringing The Defenders Back Would Make Perfect Sense
Daredevil: Born Again‘s story sees Wilson Fisk become mayor of New York City and almost immediately begin looking at ways to deal with the vigilantes that live and operate there – something that is sure to mainly affect Daredevil, but that also has wider ramifications. One of the most obvious of these is that other heroes who are in New York will also face the brunt of this, which includes the likes of other New York-based heroes introduced in the Netflix Defenders series, like Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Colleen Wing, and Danny Rand, should he also end up having returned.
As such, with there being a void in terms of allies Matt can talk and turn to – and a story that inherently affects heroes who he’s already met and has compelling dynamics with – it seems there’s never been a better time to bring these characters into the limelight once more. Not only could this answer plenty of questions about what happened to these characters in the considerable stretch of time since we last saw them on-screen now the Netflix shows are more transparently MCU canon, it also opens even more potential for unique story avenues and fights for the series.
Daredevil: Born Again episode 3 is set to release on March 11, 2025.
With at least another season on the way, Daredevil: Born Again has a lot of time to explore these avenues, ensuring the Daredevil successor is able to tap into a bit of the original’s magic when it comes to making side characters feel three-dimensional and engaging. Using even more of the iconic heroes that made the Netflix shows so successful seems a pertinent move for the MCU, especially with one of Daredevil‘s biggest and best characters now dead, and another seemingly reeling from the loss so intensely that she’s seemingly going to be many miles away for some time.
Daredevil: Born Again
9/10
- Release Date
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March 4, 2025
- Showrunner
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Chris Ord
- Directors
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Michael Cuesta, Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Jeffrey Nachmanoff
- Writers
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Chris Ord