A decade after Netflix debuted its “Daredevil” series — which ran for three seasons on the streamer — Charlie Cox has returned as the blind, masked vigilante in Disney+‘s revival, “Daredevil: Born Again.” The TV show is a brilliantly detailed continuation, centering on a gutted Matt Murdock (Cox), whose newfound rage threatens to consume him. Furthermore, he’s contending with the re-emergence of Wilson Fisk a.k.a. Kingpin (a thrilling Vincent D’Onofrio), a volatile mobster who has just been elected mayor of New York City. This “Daredevil” revival is wonderfully complex. The show takes a sledgehammer to its former Netflix world, allowing the titular character and those orbiting him to transform under the weight and pain of time.
Created by Dario Scardapane, “Daredevil: Born Again” opens with several familiar faces. Matt and his best friends, Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), exit their law firm, Nelson, Murdock and Page. The moon looms large as the spirited trio heads toward Josie’s Bar to celebrate Cherry’s (Clark Johnson) retirement from the NYPD. Unfortunately, the party quickly descends into madness. Though Matt quickly suits up in his Daredevil costume, desperately fighting off Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) — a psychopathic former FBI agent who sweeps through Josie’s, leaving death in his wake — the night shatters Matt’s world forever.
A year later, Matt is trying to restart his life. Putting Daredevil firmly in his past, he’s launched a new criminal law practice with attorney Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James) and Cherry, who works as the firm’s investigator. However, when he learns Fisk has resurfaced and is looking to take control of New York, the rage he’s attempted to bury for the past year begins to spill forth. Also, a new romance with therapist Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva), who has differing views on vigilantism, further illustrates Matt’s internal divide as he struggles to stay firmly in the light, even as the city becomes crime-ridden and old adversaries like Frank “The Punisher” Castle (Jon Bernthal) make their presence known.
While much of Season 1 of “Daredevil: Born Again” focuses on Matt’s reluctance to fight crime outside of the courtroom, the series also showcases how people as maniacal as Fisk and his queenpin wife, Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer), use violence, terror and sheer force of will to obtain positions of power and shape the court of public opinion. Moreover, “Daredevil” highlights their strained marriage, which has fractured due to Fisk’s prolonged absence, his political ambitions and the duo’s differing leadership styles. D’Onofrio and Zurer are so menacing that it’s not clear until the later half of the nine-episode season — Disney+ sent the whole season to critics for review — whether they are working together or against one another.
Moreover, because many sequences in “Daredevil” occur within the walls of Gracie Mansion, the show brilliantly unpacks the rot of corruption and how it rapidly spreads. As Fisk settles in, silencing his opponents, elevating loyalists and building an anti-vigilante task force comprised of some of the most heinous members of the NYPD, his endgame and bid for total control are ever more apparent, especially as he ropes innocents — like Heather and young freelance journalist BB Urich (Genneya Walton) — into his web. BB’s reporting highlights New York City as a significant character in this series, offering an accurate assessment of the grit, texture and citizens that make it such a unique place, especially as a prolific serial killer looms large.
While most of the show focuses on Fisk and Matt barreling toward one another on an inevitable collision course, Scardapane and lead directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead also allow for some fun. Episode 5, which depicts St. Patrick’s Day, is a bit of a standalone. Loosely connected to the season’s major events, Matt decides whether he should lean on his abilities when a seemingly unremarkable meeting at his bank becomes a full-blown robbery and hostage situation. As the episode progresses, it becomes increasingly evident how distant he’s become from his alter ego’s moral code and processes.
Revivals and reboots are typically paltry reiterations of shows that have already had their time in the sun. However, “Daredevil: Born Again” rises above this trap. With a cast entirely at ease in their characters’ skins, and a darker tone, the series is a breathtaking example of what it means to revisit a known hero while offering him new reasons to fight for justice.
The first two episodes of “Daredevil: Born Again” premiere March 4 on Disney+ with new episodes dropping weekly on Tuesdays.
