Welcome, everybody! Every week, I’ll release a review corresponding to the available episode(s) of the nine-episode season of “Daredevil: Born Again” (2025). A week after the last episode airs, there will be an overall review of the season with spoilers at the end. I’ve never done an episodic review before so thank you for coming along for my experiment!
After three seasons on Netflix, “Daredevil” is back, and he is on Disney+ for his fourth season for all intents and purposes but first of two seasons on Disney+. If you do not know who Daredevil is, he is a blind vigilante whose other senses were heightened after he lost his vision. By day, he is Attorney Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox). Five years after the events of Netflix’s series finale, Matt, Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), his best friend and law partner, and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), who is not a lawyer, are still together working at their law firm Murdock, Nelson and Page and hanging out after work at Josie’s bar with the cops and the DA. Vigilantes are a welcome presence, but Matt decides to retire his alter ego as Daredevil and stick to the law, which brings him closer to a whole new crew of people. Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin and Daredevil’s nemesis., is back and allegedly ready for a fresh, clean start, but his wife, Vanessa Marianna-Fisk (Ayelet Zurer), seems ambivalent at Fisk’s next move: to become Manhattan’s mayor. Can Matt and Fisk put their violent past behind them? Showrunner and episode writer Dario Scardapane from “The Punisher” television series, and codirectors Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson take the lead in episode one of “Daredevil: Born Again.”
Episode 1 of “Daredevil: Born Again,” which is fifty-eight minutes long and the longest episode of the season, establishes the atmosphere while simultaneously rebooting a television series. The goal is to bring back old fans and recruit new ones who do not want to do homework although “Hawkeye” and “Echo” seem like requirements. I never saw them but plan to…one day (stares wistfully out into the distance). It feels like a reboot without wiping the slate clean. It is in the same universe as the Netflix series, which means that the Netflix Marvel television series are officially canon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The events of this episode move quickly, and the old characters on the good and evil side are dispatched to the margins of the plot quickly so the meat of the show, Matt and Fisk’s relationship, can become the anchor. Matt is trying to have a real life, but like many of us, it is hard to drown out the alarming din of a criminal taking elected office. Fisk’s goal is to register all vigilantes though it is not his campaign slogan. Of course, no one believes that Matt and Fisk can become besties and go suit shopping together so it is more of a question when they will fight each other again, not if. I’ll wait until the second episode to dive into discussing the supporting characters.
The writing is always vague and heavy-handed, which is why perfect actors like D’Onofrio and Cox get paid the big bucks to sell absurd, over-the-top lines. For lawyers, the shakiest part of “Daredevil” has always been the law. It still makes no sense that Matt can afford a huge apartment and now has a posh bustling law firm. He never works. Matt does not go to his parish church, but talk about grace and redemption gets bandied around, and he is finding it challenging not to cross the homicidal line, which is the real reason that he quits as Daredevil.
The fight choreography is still excellent, but the codirectors, who were my favorite American directing duo (“Resolution,” “Spring,” “The Endless”) until recently (“Synchronic”), do not let it take center stage. Is it the watermark in the middle of my screen or the constantly moving camera failing to solely capture the deadly dance that makes it feel more like CGI than stunt work, especially when they keep a lot of the action off screen or obscured? As a huge hater of chaos cinema apart from a handful of films. if I wanted to be generous, they were going for being the Orson Welles or Robert Altman of Marvel television series by refraining from cutting except in the endless montages to capture the mood of a crowd. Prefer the Fred Astaire approach: show us everything! Also, if there is no stillness, it is harder to appreciate dynamism.
One choice that works is when they decide to visually depict Matt’s hearing powers once introduced then using the audio and diegetic sounds to put the viewer in Matt’s frame of mind even when he is not onscreen. It is a solid choice. Benson and Moorhead will be back in the director’s chair in the last two episodes so there will be more context to know whether they can meet the mark and acclimating was the issue. I haven’t checked out their work on other Disney+ series like “Loki” and “Moon Knight”, so I’m fairly open minded and rooting for them. “Daredevil” always had the best fight scenes so I’m hoping that they get showcased to the level that they deserve.
The Manhattan skyline is gorgeous as always so choosing to make Fisk associated with the rooftops and Murdock among the hurly burly in the street was a gorgeous choice. Fisk is drenched in white light, which feels like a callback to the white painting. Murdock, the real man of the people, is in yellows and reds, which echoes his vigilante costume choices. Unfortunately, the people can be stupid, and Fisk has become a populist.
It would take a level of disassociation from reality to not see the parallels between the mayoral election of a convicted criminal talking about the rule of law with the state of the nation under Presidon’t’s second term. It is alarming to think how much of the government protections will be destroyed from the inside, which will classify the good guys as outlaws, especially when Manhattan knows what Fisk has done before. The jubilant cheers for Fisk feel like people rooting for death. On one hand, I have not lived in New York for a long time, so this storyline feels like a stretch on the municipal level. On the other hand, Eric Adams is mayor. Is it a bad sign when you prefer Fisk over Presidon’t because he has better taste and is well spoken?
I’m looking forward to seeing how Vanessa reacts. Even though Fisk and Vanessa are still together, she does not seem to be in the spotlight with him and after having power, she may not enjoy taking a back seat. Matt does not have the equivalent of someone who knows him well while he was Daredevil and is watching his transition to affluence with skepticism, which may be the major mistake of sidelining the staple supporting characters without eliminating them entirely. He seems too divorced from his support system though the previews suggest that Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) will be back, but Matt needs real friends, and Frank is not that guy.
If you are into spectacle, “Daredevil: Born Again” is off to a solid start. If you are into the story, you may feel more enthusiastic about the potential and reserved about the actual result. Jury is out, but I’m looking forward to seeing Matt put back on his suit and see some stunning fight scenes, which is why I’m here. Fight, fight, fight! Just hold the camera steady.
