Anthony Bergamini
Daredevil: Born Again is the newest Disney+ television show under the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) umbrella. Almost a decade ago, Netflix premiered the original Daredevil series in this same continuity, that was ultimately cancelled while Disney was attempting to get more viewers over to their new streaming platform. In the five or so years between these two shows, Daredevil and The Kingpin made multiple appearances in other MCU media, showing that they were still around as Disney and Marvel planned and worked on the new show. Because of this, Daredevil: Born Again is less of a remake/revival as it is a sequel series or continuation of what came before, with the typical creative overalls that come with changing studio perspectives and goals. It is impossible to not compare this show to the original Netflix show, as they are both cut from the same cloth. But as any comparison goes, there is a lot to be said about what Daredevil: Born Again does differently, right, and wrong.
What Disney and Marvel have done between Netflix’s show and this new show with the characters has been somewhat controversial at times, often keeping the characters at arms-length. As Daredevil: Born Again was being developed, Daredevil and The Kingpin made various appearance, some better than others. This started with Matt Murdock (Daredevil’s alter ego) appearing in Spiderman: No Way Home in a brief cameo that reveals he was Peter Parker’s lawyer. He then went on to appear in a couple other projects like Echo and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, although in these instances Marvel similarly kept him either relegated to the background or put little focus onto what he has been up to over the last few years, making these appearances more for style and flair than anything else.
Likewise, The Kingpin makes an appearance at the end of Hawkeye, where he is revealed to be the actual big bad. This appearance garnered some criticism considering how Marvel appeared to give him some sort of strength augmentation abilities. But much like Daredevil’s appearances in other projects, his role did little to move the character in any positive direction, serving in more of a shock appeal aspect than anything else. The biggest departure here was in Echo, where The Kingpin actually gets a lot to do, with the show showcasing his relationship with Maya Lopez and returning him to The Kingpin that most people remember him as. This show actually served as a lead-in to Daredevil: Born Again, showcasing many of the more mature themes and storytelling that made the Netflix show so popular, while also narratively leading in as well.
It is important to look at how the MCU used these characters and the world of Netflix’s Daredevil prior to comparing the old show to the new one. The MCU has received a lot of flack as of late for producing a lot of content that is subpar compared to its prior offerings, with much of the blame going to the studio for developing projects prior to completing scripts, relying too heavily on CGI and visual effects, and a lack of overall direction and focus. With many looking forward to Daredevil: Born Again because of its connection to a show that exemplified Marvel at its best, these fears became very understandable. This is compounded on by the fact that not all of Daredevil and The Kingpin’s cameos or features after the Netflix show were met with great responses. Additionally, Daredevil: Born Again famously was dramatically reworked after members of the production and studios saw that it was going too far in a direction that was not going to work.
One of the most notably different aspects of the new show is the use of CGI and visual effects, namely in the first ten-to-twenty minutes of the first episode. This was the first time audiences were going to see Daredevil back in action in his own show in over five years, and it was weird. First of all, the show showcases Daredevil swinging into battle in a way that is comic accurate but was never done previously in the Netflix show. As the fight scene commences, it becomes apparent that a lot of CG work went into certain aspects of the fight that likely could have been done practically, creating a weird dichotomy to the parts that are actually practical. It almost feels reminiscent of some B-films where a stunt double looks nothing like the actor.
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While the visual effects here leave a lot to be desired, Daredevil: Born Again does a lot of amazing things from a filmmaking perspective in this opening scene. Anyone familiar with Daredevil will know that he is a blind man who uses his enhanced other sense to navigate the world better than most people can. Daredevil: Born Again does an excellent job showcasing this from the perspective of Daredevil, using an amazing sound design as a narrative device for events that are occurring simultaneously with the action on the screen. This was done very well and is hopefully something the show will lean into as it continues. Despite the problems with the visual effects, the show does some things that are genuinely visually interesting. At one point the aspect ratio of the shot changes to showcase Daredevil hyper focusing on a sound. This makes the scene really engaging from an audience perspective, doing something very different but well warranted. Though it is done in a way that relies on the CGI, the scene also attempts to showcase this long fight from a pseudo-single flow, recreating elements from the famous Netflix hallway fight. Although the CGI messes up the execution of this, it is still nice to see that Disney is trying to lean into elements that made the original show so unique.
One of the benefits of any Netflix show is the way that it can work from an angle that other traditional shows would not dare. For example, the Netflix Daredevil show does not feature him in the suit until the final episode of the first season, with much of the season featuring the slow build of The Kingpin’s control over New York. Disney is totally capable of doing the same thing; however, they also often rely on sticking to what works for them. In the case of movies like Deadpool & Wolverine, Disney learned that it is profitable to lean into things like cameos and callbacks. For Daredevil: Born Again, the idea of cameos and callbacks is not as heavily leaned into, but it does feel a lot more like Disney content in the way it approaches pacing. In many ways, the show actually feels like Disney trying to appropriate the Netflix style to a way that works, but never quite reaches those highs. For example, there is an excellent court room scene in the first episode of Daredevil: Born Again that hits all the necessary beats but also glances over many of the court aspects that were more heavily featured in the original Netflix show. This is like a microcosm for the way the entire show feels, showcasing how it attempts to be similar to its predecessor while also speeding through things. To make an analogy, it’s like a child eating one piece of broccoli and proclaiming they ate their vegetables. Technically they did, but not in the way the parents intended them to. This is not to say that the Daredevil: Born Again show needs to mimic its predecessor, but it may be better off defining its own path rather than sort-of mimicking.
One of the reasons fans have been so excited to see Daredevil: Born Again is because this is the first true time that this character gets a solo outing that truly fits in with the MCU. See, the Netflix show technically took place in the MCU; however, it was always in a position where the events of the films didn’t greatly impact it and it didn’t impact the films. There were references made, such as a character describing the battle of New York in The Avengers; however, that was the closest that it got. Here, Daredevil: Born Again gets the opportunity to shine. The fact that The Kingpin is made mayor of New York is something that will have ramifications on the rest of the MCU and has been mentioned in other properties. The Kingpin even mentions Spider-Man at one point in this show, something that never would have happened in the Netflix show. Having an in-universe Daredevil is something that fans have dreamed of and Daredevil: Born Again makes that a reality.
Daredevil: Born Again is such a unique kind of show that Disney+ and Marvel are working on right now. It gets to continue the story of the great Netflix show that came before, all while playing firmly in the sandbox of the MCU. While it doesn’t stick the landing, it shows that Marvel’s heart is in the right direction, hopefully pointing at future seasons that learn from its pitfalls.
