To understand Daredevil Born Again, we must look at the genesis of this new series. Originally, the plan was to start with eighteen episodes, and while we will never know how these would have been structured (over a single season or two seasons), we do know that the first draft of Born Again was halted in its production by the writers' and actors' strike. A blessing in disguise, as six episodes were already in the can, since Kevin Feige and the decision-makers at Marvel Studios realized that the series was not going in the right direction at all.
A series that lived two lives
Not violent enough? Not dark enough? What was revealed was that the tone and feel of the Daredevil series was not reflected in the new show. Out goes the old creative team, in comes Punisher showrunner Dario Scardapane and directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who had already worked in the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the series Loki (season 2) and Moon Knight.
It was by seducing Ethan Hawke, one of Vincent D’Onofrio’s long-time friends, that the latter, who was at one time wary of the hesitations of the first production, was convinced to stay on board and immerse himself heart and soul in the new version of Daredevil Born Again. It should also be noted that originally, neither Deborah Ann Woll, who plays Karen Paige, nor Elden Henson, the actor who plays Foggy Nelson, were planned. The reboot of Daredevil was supposed to be total and justify, in this specific case, the title of “Born Again”. While the idea of the character's resurrection has been retained, the direction taken has changed.
A hard-hitting introduction to (re)create the atmosphere
To keep the basic idea, the new team had to hit hard. Very hard. And that's the case, with the death of Foggy Nelson in the first minutes of the season, coldly shot down by a vengeful Bullseye, whose motives remained secret for a long time. The shock is as good as the intended impact and that's obviously where the story starts: Matt, deeply damaged by the loss of his best friend, believes that because of him, a line has been crossed and this line implies the pure and simple disappearance of his double identity, that of Daredevil. Obviously, time will move on and things will slowly lead Matt to increasingly abandon the lawyer's outfit for that of the vigilante. The rise of Wilson Fisk as mayor, the White Tiger affair, the Muse case, the creation of the Task Force, Bullseye... There are many reasons for Matt's reunion with his blood-colored costume.
The main problem – yes, because there is at least one – is the duration of the issues mentioned above. Two episodes for White Tiger, two for Muse, that's not enough for particularly anticipated moments in a season. The same goes for the Punisher, who offers us strong scenes - on this point, Jon Bernthal didn't lie - but a much less impactful presence than what the technical team had promised - on this point, we were lied to -. And the problem lies there, it's the lack of impact of these mini-narrative arcs, which certainly fuel the story (White Tiger leads to the emergence of a radical police force, Muse that of Fisk's plan, which is to outlaw vigilantes in New York) but which lack deeper development.
Disney + and its schedule didn't help
Honestly, having had access to all the episodes in advance, the season's progress didn't bother us. But it's clear that Disney+'s particularly convoluted release schedule—two episodes here, one episode there—has particularly highlighted this weakness, largely due to the connection between the first draft of the episodes shot and kept and those (the first and last two) produced by the new creative team.
What the release schedule didn't need to highlight were some special effects that weren't exactly pretty, accomplished, or successful, all listed in the same category: Daredevil's aerial scenes, with or without grappling hooks. It's a shame, because in addition to not being necessary, these effects still somewhat mar a top-notch production, which clearly emphasized violence without skimping, confirming the new direction taken on this subject by Marvel and, above all, by Disney. Born Again harks back to the cruelty of the first Daredevil series, with a particularly impressive sequence shot, both in terms of choreography and lighting in the opening, broken limbs, broken bones, badly damaged faces. Fisk-Murdock, an axis as powerful as ever Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk have a field day, releasing their true natures together throughout the nine episodes, breaking shins and a few other body parts and using his sticks (which wasn't really the case in the Daredevil seasons) for the former, threatening and tormenting a man or two for the latter, always with a welcome symmetry of scenes. id="attachment_50530425" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-50530425" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> Because, as we understand, Daredevil and Fisk are linked and one does not really exist without the other. One day, for the sake of the future of Born Again, the cord between the two characters will have to be cut, or at least temporarily, because Daredevil has other demons to fight and hunt. But the complicity and duality of the two best enemies is such that we accept it and savor this fight from a distance, which obviously will not change in season 2. Above all, we like it. This is also, besides the violence and the choreographic work of the fights, the strong point of this season, which is really more like the first part of a whole, with the desire to introduce as many important elements as possible for the future, such as Vanessa's true position on the New York crime scene, the Task Force, the true nature of Fisk's plan, Matt's return to the wild state and the separation into two camps of the main protagonists of the series, for a guerrilla war now expected... in a year.
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