Plot: Matt Murdock finds himself on a collision course with Wilson Fisk when their past identities begin to emerge.
Season 1 of Daredevil born again was Very Good.
Pros: I like how they reintroduce & reinvigorate Matt Murdock & Wilson Fisk in unique ways. Math vigilante, Law, lost & anarchy all works with in this season favour. They successfully delivered with the action & drama. Having the BB report helped add a lot to the plot. I like how well paced this was. How it introduced the white tiger and how it all reconfigured this show now set in the MCU.
Cons: I didn’t like how they wasted the villain muse. The pacing felt a bit off at times & born again didn’t come as close to the original Netflix series but close.
Genre: Action-adventure, Crime drama, Legal drama, Superhero
Created by Dario Scardapane, Matt Corman, Chris Ord
Based on Marvel Comics
Showrunner: Dario Scardapane
Starring: Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Margarita Levieva, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Wilson Bethel, Zabryna Guevara, Nikki M. James, Genneya Walton, Arty Froushan, Clark Johnson, Michael Gandolfini, Ayelet Zurer & Jon Bernthal.
Composer by The Newton Brothers
Executive producers: Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Sana Amanat, Chris Gary, Dario Scardapane, Matt Corman, Chris Ord, Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead
Production Location: New York
Cinematography: Hillary Fyfe Spera, Pedro Gómez Millán
Editors: Cedric Nairn-Smith, Melissa Lawson Cheung, Stephanie Filo
Production companies: Marvel Television
Network: Disney+
Casts & Characters:
Main:
- Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock / Daredevil:
A blind lawyer with superhuman senses from Hell’s Kitchen, New York, who leads a double life as a masked vigilante. At the start of the season, Murdock focuses on being a lawyer due to the collateral damage that comes with being a vigilante and concerns about how effective that approach has been. Eli D. Goss guest stars as a young Murdock. - Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin:
A powerful businessman and crime lord, who becomes the mayor of New York City. D’Onofrio said the tone for his character in the Disney+ series Echo (2024) would continue in Born Again, which he believed was how the character was best portrayed. The season sees Fisk amassing power and “flexing his darkness” to “basically gaslight a city, and then eventually a country, and then eventually a world”. - Margarita Levieva as Heather Glenn:
A therapist and Murdock’s love interest. She and Murdock have differing views on vigilantism which Cox said “leads to some poignant conversations” between the couple. - Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page:
A former reporter and Murdock’s friend and partner at the Nelson, Murdock & Page law firm. Because it had been years since she last played the character in Daredevil (2015–2018), Woll was concerned about her performance feeling like an impression of herself. However, she found her return to be natural given the rapport she has with Cox and Elden Henson. - Elden Henson as Franklin “Foggy” Nelson: Murdock’s best friend and law partner. Cox described Nelson as “the heartbeat” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
- Wilson Bethel as Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter / Bullseye:
A psychopathic assassin and former FBI agent who is a highly skilled marksman capable of using almost any object as a lethal projectile. He previously masqueraded as Daredevil for Fisk, before Fisk broke his back. - Zabryna Guevara as Sheila Rivera: Fisk’s mayoral campaign director
- Nikki M. James as Kirsten McDuffie: A former New York assistant district attorney, and Murdock’s new law partner at the law firm Murdock & McDuffie
- Genneya Walton as BB Urich: A journalist for The BB Report and the niece of Ben Urich, who was killed by Fisk in Daredevil
- Arty Froushan as Buck Cashman: Fisk’s right-hand man and fixer
- Clark Johnson as Cherry:
A retired New York Police Department (NYPD) officer who works with Murdock as his investigator. Johnson modeled Cherry after Roy Scheider‘s character Buddy “Cloudy” Russo in the film The French Connection (1971). - Michael Gandolfini as Daniel Blake: Fisk’s protégé and member of his mayoral campaign
- Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Fisk:
Wilson’s wife, who took over his criminal empire while he was away. Vanessa struggles with losing control of what she made successful, and longs for the “worse” version of Wilson rather than the version that is attempting to do good as mayor. Director Jeffrey Nachmanoff described their relationship as a “twisted” love story. Sandrine Holt was originally cast as Vanessa for the series before Zurer, who portrayed the character in Daredevil, was brought back after Born Again‘s creative overhaul. - Kamar de los Reyes as Hector Ayala / White Tiger:
A vigilante whose enhanced powers come from a mystical amulet. Executive producer Sana Amanat said Ayala becomes a reflection of Murdock’s own journey in the season. - Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / Punisher:
A vigilante who aims to fight the criminal underworld by any means necessary, no matter how lethal the results are, following the brutal murder of his family. Murdock asks Castle to help him with something he is unwilling to do, and Castle becomes “the devil on [Murdock’s] shoulder” pushing him to become Daredevil again. Bernthal said the season was a “toe dip”, re-introducing Castle following Daredevil and its spin-off series The Punisher (2017–2019), to see if the creatives could “let Frank be what Frank is”. He wanted the character to be dark, psychologically complex, and challenging for the audience, and felt the season “opened the door to getting closer to the Frank Castle that I really, really want to portray”. Bernthal credited showrunner Dario Scardapane, who was a writer on The Punisher; the series’ stunt team; and Nick Koumalatsos, a former member of the Marine Raiders, who helped Bernthal prepare for the role. While training for the season at a gun range, Bernthal crossed paths with Thomas Jane, who previously played the character in the Lionsgate film The Punisher (2004). The two discussed the character, which Bernthal appreciated. - Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan: A Pakistani-American citizen from Jersey City who works as an assistant bank manager at New York Mutual and is the father of the superhero Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel
- Tony Dalton as Jack Duquesne / Swordsman: A wealthy socialite who is a sword-wielding vigilante
Recurring:
- Patrick Murney as Luca: A criminal and leader of one of the Five Families
- Ruibo Qian as Angie Kim: An NYPD detective. Qian previously played Mei in the first season of Marvel’s Netflix television series Jessica Jones (2015).
- Hamish Allan-Headley as Powell: A corrupt NYPD officer and a member of Fisk’s Anti-Vigilante Task Force (AVTF)
- Hunter Doohan as Bastian Cooper / Muse: A masked serial killer who makes art with the blood of his victims and is a patient of Glenn, with whom he is obsessed
- Michael Gaston as Gallo: The NYPD Commissioner. Gaston previously played Gerald Sharpe in the seventh season of the Marvel Television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2020).
- Ashley Marie Ortiz as Soledad Ayala: Hector’s wife
- Camila Rodriguez as Angela del Toro: Hector Ayala’s niece
- Jeremy Isaiah Earl as Cole North: An NYPD sergeant from Chicago and a member of the AVTF
Guest:
- Cillian O’Sullivan as Devlin: A criminal behind a hijacking and later a bank robbery
- Gino Anthony Pesi as Viktor: A criminal and leader of one of the Five Families
- Victor Verhaeghe as Carlo: A criminal and leader of one of the Five Families
- Susan Varon as Josie: The owner of Josie’s Bar, reprising her role from Marvel’s Netflix series
- John Benjamin Hickey as Benjamin Hochberg: The New York City district attorney. Hickey previously played Peter Lyonne in the third season of Jessica Jones (2019).
- Andrew Polk as Fitzgerald “Jerry” Cooper: A New York City judge. Polk previously played Morty Bennett in the first season of The Punisher (2017).
- Nick Jordan as Nicky Torres: An informant who was accosted by corrupt NYPD officers
- Johnny M. Wu as Forrest Tam: An associate of Murdock and Cherry
- Jefferson Cox as Kel Shanahan: A corrupt NYPD officer who is accidentally killed while fighting Ayala
- Elizabeth A. Davis as Sofija Ozola: A New York City prosecutor
- Charlie Hudson III as Leroy Bradford: A homeless man who commits a petty crime and is represented by Murdock
- Lou Taylor Pucci as Adam: An artist who had an affair with Vanessa and is taken captive by Fisk
- Annie Hägg as Selene: An accomplice to the bank robbers at New York Mutual bank
- Jimmy Palumbo as Johnny Santini: A New York City Department of Sanitation worker
- Daniel Gerroll as Arthur Sledge: A socialite and Artemis’s husband
- Katherine LaNasa as Artemis Sledge: A socialite and Arthur’s wife
Additionally, news anchor Pat Kiernan appears as himself after doing so in various other MCU media.
I highly recommend watching this series on Disney+.
Rating: 8 out of 10 Stars
Ryan Balkwill:
Resident TV reviewer,
Level Best Art Cafe