Recap: Marvel’s “Daredevil: Born Again” Gets Off to a Wild Start

It’s been almost seven years since the man without fear has had his own series. We’ve seen Matt Murdock pop up in various Marvel projects, including Spider-Man: Far From Home, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Echo, but now it’s time to give the devil his due. Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again picks up where the third season of his Netflix series left off, only now there have been some developments in the Marvel Universe around him.

The episode opens with Matt, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page stepping out of their office. The third season of Daredevil ended with them forming the three-person legal team of Murdock, Nelson and Page. They head to Josie’s Bar, their usual watering hole, for an apparent retirement party for a police officer named Cherry.

We see Cherry sitting at the bar while another officer questions why he is quitting. He points out a news report on the TV of a vigilante named White Tiger busting up a robbery while telling his friend the police are obsolete. White Tiger is a character from the comics who draws power from a magical amulet. It appears here, they are protecting New York from low-lever crime.

Matt and Karen take note of the fact that Foggy is chatting with a woman at the bar and eventually point out that the woman is Kirsten McDuffie. This is another character from the comics, and one with whom Matt has a complicated romantic relationship, as Matt so often does.

Matt and Karen seem to be working on a romantic relationship of their own as the tension between them is clearly there once again. Their conversation gets interrupted though when Matt hears Foggy on the phone outside. Their client, a man named Benny, is trying to tell Foggy someone is coming for him. We then see a fly buzzing around a light bulb before being skewered by a paper clip. A gloved hand then reaches up toward the light bulb and we see the familiar mark of Bullseye on the glove.

Bullseye, or in this case Benjamin Poindexter, was introduced in season three. He was used by Fisk to impersonate Daredevil in an effort to destroy his reputation. We last saw him having his spine surgically repaired after Fisk broke his back in a fight.

Matt and Karen come outside where Foggy tells them he’s been stashing Benny at his apartment and he’s now freaking out. We hear an altercation on the phone as Benny screams and Matt heads off after him. We then see Daredevil leap across rooftops at he rushes to Foggy’s apartment. He stops though when he hears Foggy on the phone again. He hears Benny tell Foggy the man wanted to know where he was and simultaneously hears a gun being loaded. We see Bullseye staring through the scope of a rifle and Daredevil takes off back towards the bar.

Standing outside Josie’s Foggy hangs up the phone and begins talking to Karen before a bullet hits him in the chest. Karen screams and two people come rushing out of the bar, only to immediately be shot themselves. Bullseye tosses a smoke grenade into the bar and says “hello, Karen," just as he did in season three when he was impersonating Daredevil.

He approaches the bar but Daredevil tackles him, leading to yet another incredible one-shot fight sequence between the two. The fight eventually takes them to the roof, where Daredevil finally gets the upper hand. However, he pauses as he hears Karen reacting to Foggy taking his last breath and he begins to break down. He asks Bullseye why, but the assassin simply laughs. Overcome with grief and rage, Daredevil tosses Bullseye from the rooftop, seemingly killing him.

Matt removes his mask as Cherry reaches the rooftop, revealing his identity. Meanwhile, on the street, Bullseye opens his eyes and begins to move. He is clearly too injured to get away, but the killer is still alive. Matt tosses the Daredevil mask from the rooftop, signifying that he is done with his life as a vigilante. Yeah, Matt, we’ve heard that one before.

After the title sequence, we see that the show is taking place one year after Foggy’s murder. It is however, still unclear when some of Matt’s other adventures took place. Matt is no longer living in his loft in Hell’s Kitchen, but rather a much nicer apartment somewhere else in the city. A news report points out that there is no clear frontrunner for the next mayor of New York City. As Matt prepares for work, the report goes on to mention colorful murals that have been popping up around the city. It seems as though this will be coming back into play later.

Elsewhere, Wilson Fisk cuts into an expensive looking meal before selecting a suit. We then see a meeting of the crime families of New York, being led by Vanessa Fisk. The meeting is interrupted though and Wilson enters and the families leave. Wilson explains that he had to put himself back together after what happened with Maya Lopez in the events of Hawkeye and Echo. He tells her they can do great things for the city by stepping out into the light. He says he has the necessary signatures to announce his candidacy for mayor.

We then see a news report being shot throughout the city, with “The BB Report" in the corner of the screen. A woman behind the camera introduces herself to a New Yorker as BB Urich before asking questions about crime in the city. This is likely the daughter of Ben Urich, a journalist who investigated Fisk in the first season of Daredevil before being killed by the then Kingpin of crime. Her report shows multiple citizens lamenting the state of crime in the city. One even says they need Daredevil back.

Matt walks into his new office, where we see he is now working with Kirsten at their own firm. She asks Matt how he’s doing as he prepares to go to Bullseye’s sentencing hearing. She also asks if he has heard from “her," clearly referencing Karen. Matt tells her he has not.

In court, Matt gives an empassioned speech about losing his friend and urges the court to give Bullseye the harshest sentence possible. He is interrupted when Karen walks into the room, but eventually carries on. The judge asks Bullseye if he has anything to say for himself, but he tells her he does not. He is then sentenced to life in prison, to the delight of both Matt and Karen.

In the hall, Matt and Karen sit on a bench and talk. We learn that Karen has moved to San Francisco and they have not talked in some time. Karen refuses to go anywhere else with Matt and she doesn’t seem willing to patch up their relationship. She asks about Daredevil and Matt tells her that part of his life is behind him. Karen reaches into her purse and hands Matt a horn from his mask that had broken off on the night Foggy was killed, before she walks off.

That night, Matt hears a news report of Fisk declaring his candidacy for mayor. The next day, we see Fisk meeting with his campaign team. There is some debate as to whether or not Fisk needs to change his message before a young man says Fisk is blowing up on social media. He sites The BB Report, and says everyone is talking about him as though he has a legitimate shot of winning. Fisk takes interest in the man and learns that his name is Daniel Blak, a name that doesn’t necessarily spark interest from Marvel fans.

In Matt’s office, Kirsten reminds him he has a meeting with a potential client named Heather Glenn. This is a name from the comics as Heather is a romantic interest for Matt. Things don’t end well for her in the comics, but we’ll have to see if things turn out differently here.

Matt makes his way to the meeting while listening to the people of New York talk about Fisk, both positively and negatively. He makes it to the coffee shop where he meets Heather only for them both to learn that they have been set up on a blind date. They both feel as though their time has been wasted initially, but they eventually hit it off.

Matt confronts Kirsten about the date but eventually tells her to text him Heather’s number before going to a meeting with Cherry. Matt has seemingly asked the former police officer to investigate Fisk and his campaign. Cherry explains that everything is clean, much to both of their surprise. Matt tells Cherry to let this investigation go before he heads off.

The BB Report asks people on the street if they would vote for Fisk, which gets mixed responses. Matt listens to coverage of the debate, during which Fisk says he would outlaw vigilante justice. The next day, Matt confronts Fisk and the mayoral candidate agrees to sit down with him.

In a diner, Matt and Fisk sit at a table and reminisce. They both admit they don’t make it to Hell’s Kitchen much these days. Fisk tells Matt he had nothing to do with Foggy’s death, referencing a promise that he has kept. That promise would be that Fisk cannot tell anyone about Matt’s secret identity or hurt Foggy or Karen, or Matt would expose Vanessa as the criminal that she is. Eventually their conversation gets to be a bit hostile and Matt tells Fisk if he steps out of line, he will be there. Fisk tries to goat Matt a bit, referencing his attempt to kill Bullseye. He tells Matt he will not tolerate vigilantes in his city and warns him there will be consequences if Daredevil returns.

Matt meets Heather for dinner and the two walk the city afterward. Matt is distracted when he hears the results of the election and learns that Wilson Fisk is the new mayor of New York. There is a story arc in the comics in which Fisk is the mayor of New York, during which he tries to take on all superheroes by making their work illegal in the city.

The people of the city react with chaotic celebration while the Fisk campaign celebrates their win. Wilson meets Vanessa on a rooftop where he tells her he knows about “Adam." Vanessa doesn’t flinch but asks her husband not to kill him. Wilson says he’s not that man any more.

Fisk gives an address, in which he promises peace on the streets. Matt walks Heather back to her apartment where they kiss. We see a mural being painted as chaos continues in the streets. Eventually, we see that the new mural is of Fisk, with the word King below him. The episode comes to a close with Matt walking through the chaos and Fisk looking down on the city from a rooftop. A red light illuminates half of Matt’s face, foreshadowing Daredevil’s return.

This show wasted no time getting right back into that the Netflix series did so well. That huge shocker in the first 15 minutes is certainly going to create some buzz and the chemistry between all of this show’s cast is enough reason to watch. This is going to be a very fun addition to the MCU.

Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again is now streaming on Disney+.