Picking up where season one had left off, Wilson Fisk is the mayor of New York. After weeding out any dissenters he established his own army of goons, the Anti-Vigilante Task Force (abbreviated as AVTF), who now help Fisk rule the city with an iron fist.
On the surface everything looks great. Crime is reportedly down, the streets appear safe for once. But discord is brewing underneath it all. Their authority unchecked, the AVTF is not only targeting vigilantes but increasingly more, regular citizens of New York, taking them away, never to be seen again.
Murdock and Page are in hiding, seeking for anything that will disintegrate Fisk’s rule and topple his administration. A late night excursion by Daredevil onto a ship freighter uncovers something that may be instrumental to that crusade but the crew takes desperate measures to avoid capture.
All the while, a rogue Bullseye returns to New York, looking to exact violent revenge on Vanessa Fisk and anyone nearby.
Our core trio Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll and Vincent D’Onofrio are expectedly terrific. While Murdock wrestles against the urges to inflict real harm on the enemies of the people of New York, Page’s conflict becomes personal when Bullseye is back on the scene, having been mercilessly dropped by Vanessa Fisk after killing Foggy in Season One. D’Onofrio is one of the great actors of his generation and delivers an emotionally diverse Fisk that loathes and loves in equal measure.
An addition to the established, excellent supporting cast is the arrival of Matthew Lillard’s Mr. Charles. They play an agency man, it doesn’t matter which one, who is using Fisk’s free port for agency business. And, as we all know, agency business is never good business. Lillard is clearly enjoying themselves, delivering an animated performance to stick out from all the serious glowering and huffing. Sadly, the character flits in and out of the picture, and is criminally (pun intended?) underused. A shame really as Lillard has been one of those actors in the past few months that has appreciated rekindled attention on their career.
The action scenes in each episode are smaller in scale this season, more confined to a limited amount of space. There is no grandiose opening volley, or attempt at large-scale spectacle in this season. With that we are totally fine as bigger action scenes leave the production susceptible to cheap, fast special effects and tricks, like the ones in the season one opener which, despite the effort the make the action look really, really cool, took us out of the scene from the word go.
Daredevil is still deliciously violent. Fisk remains a turbulent, brutish force of nature. And counter to DD’s blunt force trauma Bullseye’s knives sink in with pinpoint precision. He does not show up looking for fulfilling conversation over a cup of coffee. Wind your way through the moral dilemas and criminal drama elements and fans do get one or two action set pieces in each episode.
One year later, season two arrives with more searing resonance, once again holding up a mirror to our current times. There is no escaping the social commentary in this one. When the first season of Daredevil Born Again premiered last March everyone, everywhere was already in a state of reeling. Neighbours and allies were coping with existential threats every day it seemed like. Average citizens were in a state of shell shock.
Not speaking for everyone, but perhaps a lot of fans of this show were not prepared for how eerily familiar Fisk’s rise to power felt. From a show that began production in ‘23, sandwiched in between two administrations by the same ‘transformative’ leadership, the production appeared to be hoarding a crystal ball within its walls.
And as season one aired production was already underway on season two. No one knew then what an America with a mobilized and emboldened ICE looked like. Not really, not yet. Not like it was later that Summer and into the Winter months.
It begs the question, how long will Daredevil Born Again be a mirror before it becomes a time capsule?
And does the show balance searing commentary on contemporary culture and comic book hero action that fans desire? As we said earlier, there is at least one action set piece per episode. Then it becomes subjective if the viewer is happy with the ratio of action to drama. Us? We like action. We would like to see as much as possible. Subjectively, we would have liked a bit more.
Also, is it not time for this Wilson Fisk story arc to end, for good? Which raises the question, are there no other worthy adversaries left for Murdock to face? The franchise has already burned through Bullseye, Muse (or has it?) and Punisher has escaped the confines of episodic structure into feature film. The Hand appeared during the franchise’s stint on Netflix, as did Elektra. Even Typhoid Mary had a non-canonical appearance during Marvel’s Netflix era. Who is left?
After watching the whole season, what is the most discouraging part is how unsurprising the season is. Everyone has a role, they fulfill the role to the end and what happens to each of them is just not surprising or unexpected.
Daredevil Born Again is lacking any real wow factor, perhaps too caught up in being the mirror to society. There are no water cooler moments, events that unfold that you cannot wait to talk to your friends about the next day. No moments that make you say, holy moly, did they just do that?
You knew after watching the opening scene, the digitally bloated oner of season one, that the trades would write editorials about it in the days following its premiere. In episode three, when White Tiger was executed on the streets, that was a big deal. It was bumped up by the untimely death of actor Kamar de los Reyes before the season aired, but that got people talking. We just do not know if anything that unfolds in this second season warrants that kind of attention. If there are, it is going to be a reach to make something of nothing, selling sand to their readers.
Daredvil Born Again continues to offer grounded, character-driven drama with moments of brutal, effective action. However, predictable storytelling, and unavoidable focus on social commentary have left it without the standout, conversation-sparking moments that once defined the series. It also raises questions about the longevity of its current narrative—particularly the continued dominance of Wilson Fisk—and whether the show can recapture the sense of urgency and surprise that made it essential viewing.