Product Info

Studio

Marvel Studios

Genre

Action, Adventure, Drama

Rated

TV-MA

Release Date (NA)

Mar 4, 2025

Purchase From

Ten years ago, Daredevil began as the first of a slate of mostly well-received Marvel shows on Netflix, but it was forced to end after three seasons of drama and hard-hitting action. Afterward, the character showed up in various forms in Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk, and more recently Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. On March 4, 2025, the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen returns in his own new series, Daredevil: Born Again. However, with Disney picking up the series, does the new set of episodes continue its strong foothold, or does it fall into despair? Fans of the Daredevil series should be excited to watch this one.

Leaving the Past Behind

Daredevil: Born Again contains nine episodes, each aired separately and at least forty minutes long. The series picks up after the events of the third season of Daredevil, which was originally released on Netflix back in October 2018. That was a long time ago (pre-pandemic!), so viewers may be rusty on the story details. Therefore, it’s highly recommended to watch recap videos online for a refresher.

Newcomers, on the other hand, may find it hard to fully grasp the series without at least watching the three previous seasons. Recap videos will help to an extent. The third season is where you’ll want to pay the most attention, though. If you have more time to spare, The Punisher and The Defenders would also be good to watch before diving into Born Again.

When it comes to all the events that happened and the background of each character, it’s a lot to take in, but being aware of the characters from that third season of Daredevil plays a big part of the new series.

Red and White

© MARVEL 2024.

Many of the original actors from the series reprise their roles. There are two characters that the series mostly follows and they are central to everything going on. Matt Murdock (aka Daredevil) is a blind lawyer with heightened abilities who is fighting for justice. The other is Wilson Fisk (aka The Kingpin), a former mob boss with his own political endeavors in New York City. Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio, respectively, continue to play these characters to perfection. 

The first episode hits the ground running with a twist of events for both Murdock and Fisk. Murdock gets the raw end of the deal as Fisk is now the mayor of New York. As such, both characters put the past behind them: Murdock stops being Daredevil and Fisk steps away from underground criminal operations to focus on his image as mayor.

The two do have an encounter early on, warning that if one returns to their old ways, the other will come back to stop it. As the series progresses, the audience sees how both characters struggle to adjust to their new life and slowly revert back to who they were before. The two feed off each other based on their actions in New York. Murdock as a lawyer gets attention from Fisk as Murdock defends a vigilante from being framed as a cop killer. On the other side, Murdock watches how Fisk, informed by his days as a criminal, pushes against the justice system and acts above the law.

Each episode, while building up a tension between Daredevil and Kingpin, isn’t just about the two against each other. There’s an episode about a bank robbery where Murdock purposely stays in and outwits the criminals. In another, a murderer collects blood from innocent citizens to paint murals all over New York, and both Murdock and Fisk look to stop the fugitive with their own power. There’s enough drama and action in each episode to glue the audience to their screens for all forty minutes.

Great Support

© MARVEL 2024.

Cox and D’Onofrio aren’t the only familiar faces. Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood, Escape Room) and Elden Henson (The Mighty Ducks, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay) return as Karen Page and lawyer Franklin “Foggy” Nelson, but the series focuses more on the new supporting characters. Margarita Levieva (The Lincoln Lawyer, Adventureland) plays Heather Glenn, Murdock’s new love interest. Her character is also a therapist in Born Again, and Levieva handles both sides, the serious and the amorous, very well.

Another newcomer to the series is Michael Gandolfini (The Many Saints of Newark, The Deuce) as Daniel Blade, a new, original character who does not exist in the Marvel comics. He’s a supporter of Mayor Fisk. At first, he’s just a rookie who respects Fisk, tries to suck up to him, and admits mistakes, but it’s these aspects that draw Fisk to give Blade more opportunities. As the season progresses, he has a bigger role. It’ll be curious how this character will play out in the already announced second season coming in 2026.

Genneya Walton (Never Have I Ever, Candy Cane Lane) plays B. B. Ulrich, a journalist who runs her own blog about events in New York. Most episodes begin with video clips of interviews with New Yorkers (and occasionally these clips will play in the middle). Many of them talk about the status of the city, vigilanties, and more. As a friend of Daniel Blade, she catches the attention of Fisk to help him push his image to the people. She is aware there’s conspiracy with Mayor Fisk, so she keeps a low profile and will dive for information when the opportunity comes. She has a unique role to play as she steps into the crossfire between good and evil.

Absolute Cinema

© MARVEL 2024.

The new opening sequence is pretty cool. It foreshadows a crumbling New York City—the cracks occurring on the Lady Justice statue—and Daredevil, who was once broken, coming back together. The cinematography throughout the rest of the episode is great. Even the scene transitions are fascinating, especially when going back and forth between Murdock’s and Fisk’s daily lives. For example, at the end of a Murdock scene where he’s shown walking, the scene transitions to Fisk walking as well. It’s slick. The fight scenes are also fun and hard-hitting. They also don’t take up the majority of an episode. Instead, the storyline and the drama between characters remain the central focus, and the combat, while cool, serves to complement that. The music is dark with an appropriate serious tone, and when there’s action, the score builds up to make the scene more dramatic. It’s great stuff all around.

The Final Justice

Daredevil: Born Again marks the triumphant return of Daredevil in his own series. While there is a lot to know before jumping into what’s essentially season four, it’s absolutely worth it. Fans will love watching the tension build between Daredevil and the Kingpin. Plus, with another season already announced for 2026, the devil is well and truly back.

An early access to Daredevil: Born Again episodes 1-9 provided for this review.