DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN Review: Matt Murdock, Attorney at Law. And Sometimes He Is Daredevil.
“Does the mask allow us to be our true selves, or, does it strip away our identity and allow us to act like animals?”
What should have been a night for celebration ends in tragedy when the assassin Bullseye nearly wipes out a bar full of cops, and more. The brazen act of violence pushes Matt Murdock, the Daredevil, over the edge so much that he takes justice into his own hands then hangs up his cowl, perhaps for good.
One year later, he has excelled at his law career while sticking with his prerogative to take on cases that no one else thinks can be won. Murdock also starts to date therapist and author Heather Glenn, someone who expresses an interest in writing about vigilantes for her next book. But Murdock knows nothing about that kind of thing.
Wilson Fisk, fully recovered after Echo tried to aerate his face with a bullet, returns to New York and reunites with his wife, Vanessa, who has since taken over his criminal empire. Fisk turns his attention towards politics and runs for mayor of New York City. Old habits die hard and Fisk eventually resorts to old tactics to achieve his political goals.
THE ACTION
This is partly why we’re here, no?
The new series Daredevil: Born Again opens with an action set piece that puts our story in motion. It is big. It is violent. Planned and stitched together to give the illusion of a oner once the shock of the events that play out during the season opener wear off the scene will fall under scrutiny from action aficionados.
There is a lot of average, low lit, computer effects going on here, specifically when Daredevil sprints across the rooftops. As Daredevil and Bullseye crash through the bar and up flights of stairs, all of that as well looks… okay. Something feels off about the motion.
Sadly, it is something we’ve come to expect from Marvel, the good old ‘give the impression of something awesome - you have five minutes’ approach to visual effects the studio has become synonymous with. And maybe it’s because this reboot of the series was rebooted again only a few months after the writer’s strike ended and filming was only completed in April of 2024.
The action picks up again in the back third of the series as Fisk grows in power and influence and other external forces come into play. The final episodes handle a balance of real world and comic world threats for everyone. We will give credit to the one ‘Holy Fuck’ moment of horrific violence in the final episodes. You will know it when you see it.
After the Netflix series raised our expectations for episodic action scenes we felt a bit let down by the action scenes in the Disney+ reboot. The attempt in the season opener to outdo the much lauded Old Boy hallway oner from the first series ends up being grandiose. Someone in the trades is going to write an editorial about the opening scene of the first episode, about how it was done and how the team pulled it off. Guaranteed. That’s all fine and good, we’re not entirely sure it will be warranted, cause we’re stuck up action nerds
The impression is when Daredevil or Frank Castle run headlong into the fray things are going to get clubbed, or shot, or clubbed then shot. A lot of the set pieces later on end up being indiscernible, shot too close, or chopped to ribbons by the editing team. We understand this is a subjective response. Maybe you like your action in your face, to give you the impression you’re in the thick of it. We ended up disappointed with a lot of it, cause we’re stuck up action nerds.
THE STORY - “Since when did the writers’ room make use of crystal balls?”
We know the series went back to the drawing and writing boards at the end of 2023 yet here we are at the beginning of 2025 thinking the root story feels eerily familiar. Mayor Fisk creates division among the ranks by cutting benefits in certain sectors, and things like blackmailing leaders of industry and public service. Remind you of anyone?
Perhaps someone’s first term in office had such a lasting effect (but not perhaps) that when the writing room reconvened in ‘23 these themes could have made its way into the story. A plot device that would have you say, “Remember when?” Now it’s more like PTSD. What we’re telling you shouldn’t come as a surprise. Anyone watching the promotional materials leading up to tonight’s premiere will have made the same connection. It’s all just an unintentionally weird and wacky coincidence. How could those prophets in the writing room have known?
Murdock and Fisk are on journeys of their souls. At the very top we shared these words from Glenn as she spoke about vigilantes with Murdock, “Does the mask allow us to be our true selves, or, does it strip away our identity and allow us to act like animals?” Can Murdock and Fisk resist the urges to revert back to their prior selves? Jeez, we hope not, that’d make for horrible storytelling. Everyone lived happily ever after. Boo, booooo! We want blood!
Murdock has to make his journey, to try to do things the right way, through the appropriate channels, to realize that sometimes in the world - this microcosm of the world called New York City - extreme measures are needed to bring about justice. The cowl is going to have to be worn again.
A special mention does have to go to the story arc of Hector Ayala/White Tiger (played by the late Kamar de los Reyes) for it is this role and character in the show where police corruption is brought to light. It is the one arc that truly had us at one point close our eyes and grit our teeth as we awaited another person to say one, or two words. Then there was a sense of dread as we awaited the inevitable. de los Reyes would have been proud of what this role in the series has accomplished.
THE CONCLUSION, so far…
After watching the first nine episodes, we have thoughts. We don’t know if there is enough Daredevil action going on in this first block of episodes to satisfy action fans. Set pieces of note happen at the beginning of the season and near the end, spread out across the final three episodes.We get it, things have to pick up before Daredevil has to put them down.
It does take a while for things to pick up after that big opening though. It is a necessary evil. Murdock needs to take this journey if he is to realize how needed Daredevil is in New York City. It’s just, nine episodes is quite a long time to do that, to hammer home the message, yes, the vigilante Daredevil is going to be necessary.
We know that production has already begun on the second half of this season. The order of things has returned to normal, more or less, by the end of episode nine. Masks have come off, and gone back on. Everything appears back on track, which should mean an uptick in hero action in the second part. Lines in the sand have been drawn once again.
We think.
We hope.
The first two episodes of the new season of Daredevil: Born Again stream tonight on Disney+ at 9pm EST.
Daredevil: Born Again
Cast
- Charlie Cox
- Margarita Levieva
- Wilson Bethel
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