Daredevil: Born Again

This Tuesday, the season finale of Daredevil: Born Again was released on Disney+. Daredevil: Born Again follows Matt Murdock as he once again encounters Wilson Fisk and must redefine what it means to be Daredevil. I enjoyed the original Netflix Daredevil show and was excited to see these characters return. This was my most anticipated TV show of the year.

In general, I was pretty satisfied with the show. I like how the show has much of the same tone as the Netflix series. Daredevil: Born Again manages to find the balance between being a continuation of the original series while also being an easy access point for those who have not seen it. It was just great to see all of these characters. Vincent D'Onofrio and Charlie Cox are fantastic as always. This show is a lot more character-driven and thus we get to see more of what makes Wilson Fix and Matt Murdock tick and these two actors are definitely up to the challenge. It was also great to see many other characters return such as Foggy, Karen, and The Punisher. The Punisher specifically has some great scenes in the show. Daredevil: Born Again does a great job working as a reconstruction of the Daredevil character. For most of the season, Matt is working on himself and has to redefine what it means to be Daredevil. I also really like the storyline the show took with Wilson Fisk as he works to become Mayer of the city. It adds some interesting tension and intrigue as you wonder what his end goal is supposed to be.

However, there were a few things that made the show not quite as good as I had hoped. The show does meander a good deal in the middle. It was hard to see any sort of discernable storyline. It is well known that the show was significantly reshot with new writers brought in and most of these middle episodes feel like the old version of the show that didn't work as well. The supporting cast also doesn't work as well as it is missing many of the key players of the original show. When it gets to the later episodes, fan-favorite characters come back and you can feel that is the point where the reshoots were and the new writers took over. You can also feel that the ending wasn't meant to be a season finale. Originally, the show was meant to be an 18-episode season but at some point was changed to two 9-episode seasons.

Overall, while the remains of the lesser version of Daredevil: Born Again hurt the show a little, I still thought this was a fantastic show and a great continuation of the Daredevil character. I think season 2 will be even better as I have a feeling that is the point where the new writers permanently took over. Even with its faults, this is still the best show to come out of the MCU.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A- Recommendation: This is a must-watch show for Marvel fans