Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 Review – A Decent Continuation But Subpar Compared to the Original Netflix Show

So, Daredevil: Born Again? Well, Matt Murdock doesn’t get a second belly button here, but he gets MCU-ified in a first season that’s both breathtaking and frustrating in equal measure. In other words, it’s everything you’d expect from the post-Endgame MCU.

Set in the same continuity as Netflix’s Daredevil series, the first episode features a tragedy that changes Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox). A year later, the viewer finds him retired from Daredevil-ing in New York City; instead, he focuses on his work as a lawyer. Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) decides it’s time for a change, too, as he sets his sights on becoming mayor of New York City, and one of his major goals is to get rid of all the masked individuals on both sides of the law. 

Matters come to a head after Matt represents a vigilante in court against a corrupt police force baying for blood. It also doesn’t take too long for a new mysterious villain named Muse to appear and wreak havoc in the city. The question is, will Matt suit up as Daredevil again to battle the decay of New York?

Daredevil: Born Again fails to do anything new

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room here: It’s no secret that Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 underwent a creative restructure after six episodes had already been filmed. Due to the cost associated and time spent on these episodes, they still feature in a recycled format, with newer material bookending the season and sprinkled here and there. Resultantly, there’s no escaping the clash of visions in this series. One can see what Daredevil: Born Again was originally meant to be versus what new showrunner Dario Scardapane wanted.

Scardapane’s influence is particularly felt in the first episode and the latter part of the series, which prove to be the best elements of Daredevil: Born Again Season 1. That isn’t to say that everything else in between is unwatchable – it just feels like roads already traveled in prior MCU and Daredevil storylines. Honestly, how many more times are we going to get a story where the hero grapples with his superhero identity crisis and wants to quit after a tragic event? At this point, these types of arcs should be outlawed in writers’ rooms.

The new additions to the cast are rather pointless

In addition to this, it’s clear as day that Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson and Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page were sandwiched in here as afterthoughts. Scardapane figured out a way to include them – for fan service and future storylines – but it doesn’t change how they feel misused in this specific story. After three seasons where they were both critical to Matt Murdock’s character development, they take a backseat as new characters – like Nikki M. James’ Kirsten McDuffie and Margarita Levieva’s Heather Glenn – take up more prominent roles. Unfortunately, neither of them possess the charisma or intrigue of a Foggy or Karen.

While the new characters fail to captivate the audience, the dynamic between Charlie Cox’s Daredevil and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin continues to electrify. Watching them face off never gets old, and Daredevil: Born Again Season 1’s strongest parts revolve around their conflict that twists and turns to new levels throughout the show. As already revealed in the marketing material, Jon Bernthal’s Punisher and Wilson Bethel’s Bullseye return as well. While they make full use of their screen time and deliver powerful performances, don’t expect to see them too often in the season.

The action can’t touch the excellence of the original series

Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 doesn’t shy away from the violence. There are moments in the show that will shock and surprise even those who aren’t squeamish, which is certainly a departure from the more traditional MCU that keeps everything within the realms of PG-13. However, chucking in more blood and bone breaks doesn’t automatically make the action better.

Netflix’s Daredevil succeeded because it focused on the fact that Matt Murdock was a man who heightened his senses and trained his body to become a living weapon. He wasn’t someone who was bitten by a radioactive spider or received the power of the gods. So, his fighting style remained more believable and grounded in reality, as he’d labor through his battles, combining his skill with his never-say-die attitude to overcome the odds. 

There are traces of this in Daredevil: Born Again, as Matt slugs it out in competitive and memorable fights, but Marvel Studios couldn’t resist to throw in the CGI and accentuate the superhero elements of the show such as the exaggerated jumps. Was it necessary? Probably not, especially when you consider how exceptional the fight scenes were without these elements.

Is Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 worth watching?

Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 improves as it progresses and proves to be a lot better than many of Marvel’s Disney+ series. However, you can’t help but feel as if it’s subpar in comparison to the sensational heights of Netflix’s Daredevil. It’s frustrating to see the potential and ability to be something great here, but it stinks of Marvel Studios’ dirty paws being all over the show. If anything, it demonstrates that just because something is under the MCU banner doesn’t mean it’s better than before.

Also, read our review of Captain America: Brave New World.