Performance Review- DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN

“This fight- it is poison. It destroys everything. The City. The people we love. Nobody wins. We have to end it. Now. Because I’m not going to stop. I don’t know how. And I don’t think you do either.”

BACKGROUND:

Daredevil: Born Again was first announced by Marvel Studios in July 2022. At that time, the series was set to feature an 18-episode first season, but during the 2023 strikes, a decision was made to split that episode order into two seasons. The first season (consisting of 9 episodes) premiered a year ago in March. The eight-episode second season premieres on March 24th, 2026. Virtually the entire cast of season 1 returns for season two, including stars Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Wilson Bethel, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, and Ayelet Zurer. New additions for Season 2 include the return of Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones (she played the character across three seasons of Jessica Jones and one season of The Defenders on Netflix), and Matthew Lillard as the mysterious Mr. Charles. Season 1 showrunner Dario Scardapane returns for season 2 (with writing credits on episodes 1, 2, and 8) alongside directors and executive producers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (the duo directs episodes 1 and 2). Season 2 was filmed from February to July 2025.

OPENING THOUGHTS:

Daredevil: Born Again’s second season is a step up from the first, and arguably the best season of Daredevil ever, across both Netflix and Disney+. The third season of the original Netflix show is pretty unimpeachable, but I enjoyed all eight episodes of season 2. After the much-discussed overhaul of the first season left that season feeling stitched together in spots, season 2 is more cohesive. Scardapane, Benson, and Moorhead are telling a singular story across these eight episodes. Things pick up in the aftermath of the season 1 finale, roughly six months later. The Anti-Vigilante Task Force has been fully empowered by Mayor Fisk to enact his Safer Streets Initiative, designed to eliminate all vigilantes in the city. The mayor plans to make an example out of Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton) in the first high-profile “Vigilante Trial”. Daredevil and Karen Page, both wanted by the AVTF, are in hiding. The mid-season centerpiece event takes place at Fogwell’s Gym, a charity boxing match featuring the mayor himself.

Gone are one-off episodes like the fifth episode of season 1 (which I quite liked) in favor of a more propulsive story that is always entertaining while pushing the plot forward. It is more violent, vulgar, brutal, and unrelenting than the first season. If season 1 was filled with nods and winks to the Netflix canon, season 2 fully embraces every corner of the Netflix Universe that began with Daredevil in 2015 and continued through 2019. There are several moments where longtime fans will find themselves quietly fist-pumping or pointing at the screen like Leonardo DiCaprio.

SUPERLATIVES:

One constant across all five seasons of Daredevil television is the incredible acting on display from its two leads, Charlie Cox as Matt Murdoch/Daredevil, and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin. Both actors are given some great scenes to work with in the new season, and as you might expect, they rise to the occasion. But the real joy comes from some of the other actors in the cast who get their chance to shine and do not disappoint. Specifically, Wilson Bethel as Bullseye, Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Fisk, Margarita Levieva as Heather Glenn, and Michael Gandolfini as Daniel Blake all have standout moments (and episodes) in season 2. Bethel and Zurer are the best they’ve ever been. Levieva and Gandolfini, who were new to the cast in season 1, have now fully settled into their roles. Levieva’s Glenn is still haunted by her encounter with Muse in season 1 and is forced to confront the PTSD she is experiencing. Gandolfini’s Blake was a pleasant surprise in the first season, and now finds himself torn between his longtime friend BB Urich (Genneya Walton) and his emerging mentor Buck Cashman (Arty Froushan). His scenes with both lead to some of season 2’s most emotional moments.

The show confronts the question of vengeance versus justice and whether those two ideas are independent or intertwined. Scardapane is fond of pairing off characters to debate these ideas and other questions of morality and justice. Daredevil and Kingpin, Daredevil and Bullseye, Matt and Karen, Buck and Daniel, and Heather and Vanessa all have these moments, and they are some of the season’s best scenes.

My favorite episode of the season is the fifth, written by Jesse Wigutow and expertly directed by Angela Barnes (Ironheart). It features the best use of Netflix lore. The season reaches its first crescendo in the fourth episode, and the fifth serves as something of a coda before the final three episodes ramp up again. The show peaks again in the finale, and I am ready to say that the complaints about Marvel’s Disney+ finales can finally be put to bed.

There are several clever winks and nods to the wider MCU that hardcore fans will appreciate. The creators accomplish this without it ever feeling like there are other projects you must watch to understand Born Again. Lillard’s Mr. Charles is used to establish these connections, and Lillard revels in the role. Krysten Ritter slides seamlessly back into the role of Jessica Jones, and the writers have wisely moved her character’s story forward after it really stagnated in seasons 2 and 3 of Jessica Jones.

Much like season 1, the real-life parallels in season 2 are uncanny and often unsettling. Mayor Fisk’s reign over New York, using masked cops with seemingly no rules or repercussions, will make you just as angry as some of the news headlines you see every day across the United States. It is a credit to the show that it does not shy away from these parallels, nor are they sanitized in any way for the audience. Riots, protests, social media influencing, warrantless searches, courthouse corruption, and more are all here in season 2.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:

I have heaped a lot of praise on this show so far, but like nearly every other Disney+ Marvel show (Loki is perfect, and I won’t hear otherwise), it has some ups and downs, particularly in the early episodes. I watched every episode twice for this review, and the first three are a little slower and more methodical than the rest. Marvel just announced that episodes 2 and 3 will air together on March 31st, and I think that is a smart decision. Benson and Moorhead are seasoned MCU veterans at this point, and they use plenty of camera tricks and lighting techniques to keep you engaged, but the early episodes are ultimately more about setting the table for what is to come and moving the chess pieces into place for the remainder of the season.

As with season 1, there are also moments where the dialogue is occasionally a little too cheesy or on the nose, and the action scenes flirt with being repetitive (how many different ways can we get Daredevil into a hallway?). But these are minor complaints in an otherwise great season of television.

THE FINAL WORD:

I think it is fair to say that Marvel Studios is on quite a roll right now. Agatha All Along, Ironheart, Wonder Man (just renewed for season 2!), and now Daredevil: Born Again have shown that Marvel has figured out the secret sauce for making television. Head of Marvel Television Brad Winderbaum and executive producer Sana Amanat deserve a lot of credit for their work here in shepherding Born Again through a sometimes-rocky season 1 and into an excellent sophomore outing.

Daredevil: Born Again ascends to become one of Marvel’s best shows with season 2, and combined with January’s Wonder Man, gives Marvel Studios a great start to what could be a banner 2026. I cannot wait for season 3.

9/10

-Greg